So, not trying to be a jerk (well, maybe a little), but here is the conversation tech journalists and ex-X/Twitter folks should be having with the #Bluesky CEO.

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So, not trying to be a jerk (well, maybe a little), but here is the conversation tech journalists and ex-Twitter/X folks should be having with the #Bluesky CEO.

Q: You are a corporate platform and your owners include blockchain tech bros. Why won't what happened at X happen here?

A: Distributed system... global namespace... transportability... public domain code... billionaire proof...

Q: So, where can I sign up for one of these non-Bluesky distributed instances?

A:

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Seems harsh, but this is the fundamental point. Either you are in fact distributed and defensible or you are not. It is great to be designed to be so, but until you are, the myriad issues associated with actually running a widespread multi-host system have not been acid tested and resolved either technologically or socially.

Plus, and this is essential, for those fleeing one completely enshittified network, there is no, actual in fact, defense against corporate capture and marginalization.

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No one likes these conversations. No one wants to invite this guy to the party. It's much more interesting and fun to talk about feeds, and starter packs and protocols and influencers. But we really do need to ask this question before rushing into the arms of another corporate master, no matter how appealing and sincere this one seems now.

Want me to join #Bluesky? Great, won't get fooled again. Show me, don't tell me, how it is safe. Prove it. How is it defensible now?

Lee 🌏

@mastodonmigration
I find on Bluesky that search and discover are better. It's probably the one thing I would like to see improved here. But that's not as important as being on a platform built on real open protocols.

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@MrLee

That's one of those issues that is greatly simplified when everyone is on one server. Not saying Mastodon search isn't a bit techy and arcane. It's actually quite powerful, but super user friendly, no.

That said, think about what it does. Users don't really care, but it paws through thousands of servers looking for the answer. It's pretty miraculous, and something that BS doesn't need to deal with since everyone is on the same server.

wendinoakland for Kamala

@mastodonmigration I can’t genuinely recommend bsky. The on-ramping is a bit easier and there’s some hand feeding of starter packs, but I immediately came across some very unabashed racism and trolling. Maybe for a newbie, for someone with crushing decision-making problems, or without any technical know how, but I’m not convinced. I check in there, but it’s not appealing.

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@wendinoakland

Interesting to know. But even if it were a perfect nirvana, just can't get past the threshold issue of defensibility from corporate capture.

Except for that Mrs Lincoln, let's discuss the play. Ummm, no.

Josh :everything_bagel:

@mastodonmigration I mean, who cares? If you don’t want to join Bluesky, don’t. I also don’t intend to. But clearly there are a lot of people who just want a nice, easy, well designed way to do what they were doing before on Twitter, and Mastodon simply isn’t that. Most people don’t give a shit about the ideology behind the technology they use, as long as it does what they want it to.

If it ends up turning to shit like X did in the future, so what? People will just move onto the next thing, like they did when Twitter became popular outside the tech community. I’m on my fourth Mastodon instance after the first one shut down, and the second decided to defederate entirely, and become a standalone community. I’ll stay on Mastodon as long as it’s more worthwhile than the next option, according to my own specific needs and likes, then I’ll move on.

There are still people out there using IRC and Usenet, which are basically just the precursors to Twitter, Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky anyway.

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@josh0

The actual 'so what' is that most people now get their news and information from social media. When a corporation controls what news and information people get, they effectively have control over disinformation, and can get people to believe stupid things, like what has gotten us into this political mess. So, yes it is important.

Josh :everything_bagel:

@mastodonmigration there’s a whole lot of people believing stupid things on Mastodon, and far less ability to control disinformation here. We have generally unpaid, volunteer moderators, spread out across a multitude of instances, each with their own rules, ideals, and biases. It’s incredibly inefficient, often counterproductive, most likely unsustainable, and quite probably wholly unable to withstand any actually malicious attempts at misinformation. It’s already created an environment that is decidedly unfriendly to various minority groups.

There are many ways in which a decentralized, non-commercial model is better than a centralized, for-profit one, but controlling misinformation is absolutely not one of them.

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@josh0

Sorry, just because you say so doesn't make it so. Mastodon (or more properly the Fediverse) has many problems, like any broadly based and kind of disorganized ecosystem does, but deliberate directed control of misinformation by a single overarching controlling entity is not one of them. And this is the essential thing. It is, for all its faults, a defensible space.

Josh :everything_bagel:

@mastodonmigration right back at you. What makes Mastodon more resistant to misinformation than any other group of people?

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@josh0

Didn't ask you for a reply. Beginning to regard this as sealioning, and done with the conversation. Please let's move on.

Lee 🌏

@mastodonmigration
Yeh, I totally get why it's harder.
I work on UX/UI projects. I can see how even small bits of friction like this affect the choices people make. But it's a big world, and there are enough thoughtful people who, once they understand the Fediverse, will choose it over Bluesky.

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@MrLee

Yup.