And a bonus question!

nix

This seems to imagine that mastodon has nothing to offer over bluesky? I think there's a lot of people for whom, if the switching cost is 0, a FOSS platform would be nicer than a proprietary one.

Without data it's hard for me to sort out whether XMPP went that way because people caved to proprietary pressure, or because many of those users would've chosen the proprietary choice from the beginning if forced to.

(1/2)

molly in missouri

@sam @nix @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale precisely. Better to let people who prefer bluesky style interaction and potential to head on over and hang out only there, if 2 accounts is too onerous a burden.
When that environment enshittifies (like fb did to beliefnet when its grief beyond belief group caught its attention) we will still be here, not bluesky, when people are ready.

Solarbird :flag_cascadia:

@whatzaname @sam @nix @fluffykittycat @ascentale By talking up the bridge, I'm keeping Fedi an option for people whose friends are mass-moving to BlueSky.

I know it works; I have people who came back to Mastodon because of me.

This isn't theory, it's practice.

(Also, a couple of BlueSky people have been asking if they can see more stuff from here, which lets me say, "well... you could always get a PixelFed account...")

See, right now, Mastodon et al is mostly out of peoples' consciousness. It's gone.

Bridging continually reminds them that we exist... and that they _already have_ friends here.

Get it yet?

I'm laying groundwork for them to decide to come here if BSky goes bad.

I'm working to make it something that can actually happen.

molly in missouri

@moira @sam @nix @fluffykittycat @ascentale when corporate comes calling, you don't build them a bridge. The people that still fall prey to bs need someplace to go that bs hasn't ruined already when they realize their mistake or decide to change their ways... whichever.
Why would i want bs or any corporate poking around with their own motives, ever?
You don't build a bridge to fascism, you rescue people outta the water so the fascists don't have easy ways to attack.

We have seen this repeated different ways for decades now, and i am tired of watching the same tactics successfully used against each new generation.

Get it, yet?
I mean, you surely see that you aren't in charge of making sure adults swarm a site mindlessly instead of learning to choose wisely, on their own, as adults.
Bet they can figure out how to apply for an account on an instance, they've survived far more difficult challenges without our assist so far...

nix

@whatzaname @moira @sam @fluffykittycat @ascentale Serious question. Should smaller email providers block google? They're far more complicit in the surveillance state and upcoming regime than Bluesky.

If not, what's the difference?

Sam Whited

@nix @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale email is an *entirely* different thing (and no, they probably shouldn't). Email isn't a broadcast mechanism like social media, and for better or for worse it's the primary way which authentication is handled on the internet. It's fundamental communications infrastructure, not a billboard that people may or may not see.

Sam Whited

@nix @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale Also, Gmail for all their faults does a *very* good job at handling spam, so chances are you're not getting attacked as much or having to see bigotry via email, but even if you are there's a good chance that you can mark it as spam and call it a day. Now, gmail having too much power in that regard is also a problem (ie. they can arbitrarily blacklist your small server and other providers will follow suit), but that's a totally different problem.

Sam Whited

@nix @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale Also, as far as I know, they don't have a policy that explicitly encourages bigotry either way, so even if email were the same as a social network, I don't think gmail is the same as threads.

Sam Whited

@nix @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale Anyways, sorry for the multiple posts: TL;DR is "you're not likely to be radicalized via email".

nix

@sam @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale We're not talking about threads, we're talking about bluesky, right?

Sam Whited

@nix @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale oops, yah, fair. Either way though, same thing.

nix

@sam @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale Bluesky has a policy that explicitly encourages bigotry? If so this would change my stance on a bridge.

Sam Whited

@nix @whatzaname @moira @fluffykittycat @ascentale no, sorry, that part I was thinking of threads (but also, they'll get there, it's the same as any other corporate thing, if we wait until they do it we're too late). The other arguments all still stand for why email isn't the same thing though.