Me: writes an end-of-year blog post that talks about a pessimistic interpretation of the current tech industry, and the need to appeal to other bad aspects of humanity rather than an imaginary "better nature"

Soatok Dreamseeker

Lobste.rs users, apparently: "boo hoo he called some of us assholes at the end, maybe he's the real asshole"

I swear some of the dumbest motherfuckers on the planet feel the need to comment on my writing whenever someone else sees fit to submit it there.

They couldn't find a clue if I surrounded it with neon lights that say "CLUE HERE, DIPSHIT" with arrows pointing directly at it.

Yes, the people who try to selectively use the "no self-promotion" rule, especially backseat moderators, are assholes. Even moreso when they're trying to use it to gatekeep security researchers or minorities from participating in the discussion. That's textbook asshole behavior.

But it wasn't the goddamn point.

Soatok Dreamseeker

"What was the point?"

The point is that artists, writers, and researchers on the Fediverse should be aware that... that pressure they're used to existing under, which tells them they're not supposed to self-promote their own work for fear of being judged on places like Lobste.rs, Hacker News, Reddit, or even Slashdot?

We don't do that here.

You aren't expected to minimize yourself here.

You aren't expected to stay invisible here.

We want to see your work, but there is no algorithm to appease that will show it to us if it thinks we're interested, so you need to be willing to put yourself out there a bit more.

If me saying that offends a bunch of sensitive brats on message board, maybe it's a good thing I stopped participating there.

Soatok Dreamseeker

"But Soatok, you're being an asshole right now."

Yes, good.

In the wake of assholes that want to shut others down for not having other people willing to share their work for them, which almost certainly reinforces existing societal power balances, I'm going to be an asshole.

In an era of AI-generated slop, it's almost impossible to build an audience without self-promotion. I'd rather scroll through a dozen pages of so-called "blogspam" every day than see one goddamn output from GenAI.

Soatok Dreamseeker

I've spent the better part of the past 5 years encouraging other furries to start blogs.

My motive was the antonym to self-interest: The more furry bloggers exist, the less novel or special my own writing will be. If I wish to continue standing out, in such a world, I'd need to push myself harder, cover more interesting topics, or just generally be a more entertaining person.

There would be no resting on one's laurels. "Furry blogger that writes about cryptography? Which one??"

The upside for me is that there'd be more queer representation in professional spaces. Even better, the path to reach this would be bottom-up, not top-down, which almost certainly would result in a more equitable outcome for everyone involved. The true diversity of our communities would shine through.

That is what I actually care about here.

Fuck these thin-skinned tech bros.

Soatok Dreamseeker

"But was it necessary to call some Lobsters users assholes?"

Yes, motherfucker, it was necessary.

The blog post opened by acknowledging that forums like Hacker News literally would not give a shit if I died tomorrow.

This isn't because of a lack of technical merit, it's because I'm not ashamed of being gay, or a furry.

Zeiros Lion

@soatok
I'm glad you're an asshole about something that needs to be an asshole about. Being civil only goes so far, especially with people who WANT you to be civil so they can project a sense of power at your expense. Never give them that satisfaction. Make them OD on the copium!

pasta la vida

@soatok thoughts:

[minions] hehe, bottom.

[frozen] "nice is different than good." ("nice guy" like megamind/titan, before incel was a term)

*gasp* you have an OTHER website?

happy nude deer