Why did we start moving from the #Birdsite is now well knoan. But what can we do to make #mastodon better and not repeat the mistakes of #birdsite. Some thoughts in a #thread
The unfortunate aspect of social media is that it isn't very social. It quickly descends into cliques or closed communities, where echo chambers thrive. There is no real egalitarianism, even though we claim to uphold it.
We also look for similar people. So that out confirmation biases get reinforced. For example, on #birdsite we have #FF (Friday Follows) or recommendations on who to follow. To my mind, that was wrong
When we start recommending lists, people to follow, we end up building social capital that is inherently non egalitarian. It becomes an exercise of our privilege, or adding to the privilege of others. How is that egalitarian?
Isn't everyone equally good enough to follow? Should I arrogate the right to recommend others? Why can't I leave people to decide for themselves? And why can't they exercise their agency to discover new voices, new thoughts?