Ross of Ottawa

That #Guardian article on #Mastodon today has inaccuracies and implicit bias in its perspective.

"While technically anyone can spin up a Mastodon server, most users agree that the network has a left-leaning bent."

This propensity to push everything into right-vs-left polarization is annoying. Masto users seem to have a higher education level on average, and being well-informed, factual, and evidence-based get labeled "left" as if those things are some sort of political position.

Nov 2, 2022 at 1:30pmTusky
Show threadRoss of OttawaNov 2, 2022

As someone once said, "reality has a left bias."

Interesting that the author followed up that comment by pointing out moderators have to agree to โ€œactive moderation against racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobiaโ€ as if those things were the right-wing political platform (they are sadly becoming overtly so).

Those should be right-versus-wrong divisions โ€“ crazy that they can be seen as simple political positions.

Show threadZezeNov 2, 2022

@ottaross

Related
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/oct/22/twitter-admits-bias-in-algorithm-for-rightwing-politicians-and-news-outlets

Where's the bend?

Twitter admits bias in algorithm for rightwing politicians and news outlets

Home feed promotes rightwing tweets over those from the left, internal research finds

The Guardian
Show threadLinuxLoungeNov 2, 2022
@ottaross this, it just so happens that left wing ideas are based on facts and common decency, so naturally reality has a left wing bias
Show threadLydia Conwell Nov 2, 2022

@ottaross Yeah, I agree the right-left take is a simplification and missing the point.

It felt to me like the journalist was kinda making Mastodon sound sappy, like everyone gets along and is too afraid to assert an opinion.

I don't think people here are left wing. There are left leanings but not exclusively. It's just not full of a-holes like twitter is.

Anyway, that article was at best bland. It's a token article to show the Guardian is (supposedly) paying attention.

Show threadmathewNov 2, 2022

@ottaross Personally I'm progressive, but as I understand it the statement "moderators have to agree to active moderation" is just plain wrong. Each server has whatever policies it wants, right?

The *network* may have a lean, but the technology doesn't. Or am I misinformed?

Show threadMichael PorterNov 2, 2022
@ottaross Everything is on its own spectrum, to be sure, but I've found that there's a pretty strong correlation between political leanings and those other traits. Perhaps it's a consequence of our ever-increasing polarization, driven by algorithms and the pursuit of the almighty dollar... I blame the Right ๐Ÿ˜„
Show threadTane Piper โ‚Nov 2, 2022

@ottaross whenever I see that I suspect the person has an axe to grind or an agenda to push.

This is the basis of modern day "us-vs-them" mentality

Show threadThomas =:-)Nov 2, 2022
@ottaross Seems to be a "feature" of the anglosphere in particular
Show threadarfonzoNov 2, 2022

@ottaross while I was glad to see some mass-media coverage of #Mastodon and the #fediverse, I have to agree with your gripes.

Still, I'll take it. Free coverage, and hopefully any interested parties will keep their minds open as they explore #fedi.

Also, it's tha #Guardian--what'd d'you expect? ๐Ÿ˜น ๐Ÿคท

Show threadTagomagoNov 2, 2022
@ottaross We're so guilty of blocking nazis!
Show threadkelbot โ—–โŽšโˆ โŽšโ——Nov 2, 2022
@ottaross I always find it hilarious (in a sad and infuriating way) when people equate being educated to leftist or "indoctrination". And this is the people that hold these backwards bigoted views bring this up. They are outright admitting that they hold the beliefs they hold because they are dumb and uneducated. They can identify that getting an education pushes views to the "left" but can't connect the dots that being on the other side is...being uneducated. Some of them are proud of that even.
Show threadPieter StaelensNov 2, 2022
@ottaross also the cultural war as it is going on on many media platforms is, in my opinion, 'rational, reasonable and science-based' vs 'bigoted, non-factual and hate spewing'. Not strongly related to any left-right political position.
Show threadBRUHNS ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡บNov 2, 2022
@ottaross its just another way of saying "right wingers are stupid" which I dont disagree with.
Show threadRobert WalkerNov 2, 2022
@ottaross because the Guardian article said that is the reason I looked for it.
Show threadVirtue signal ๐Ÿ’‰๐Ÿ’‰๐Ÿ’‰๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ฆNov 2, 2022
@ottaross #Guardian appears to have a couple M accounts that were abandoned in the spring.
Show threadDigital Mark ฮป โ˜•๏ธ ๐ŸŒฎ ๐Ÿš€ ๐ŸŒ—Nov 2, 2022
@ottaross It is admittedly quite hard to find auth-right sysadmins and programmers. A lot of anarcho-right, anarcho-left, and a few tankies, but goosesteppers? You have to thread a fine line to be that dumb and still technically competent.
Show threadPete BleackleyNov 2, 2022
@ottaross Note that The Guardian is a left-leaning paper.
Show threadCalicosineNov 3, 2022
@PeteBleackley Only on some stuff, because I've heard from people that know way more than I do that it tends to be transphobic (not surprising, as it's from the UK), so I try to stay away from it when possible.
Show threadlarryfeltonjNov 2, 2022
@ottaross I think there was much too much emphasis on the multiple-server aspect too, which is the very thing confusing people who, like me, arrived here from Twitter. It's not that it isn't an important. But the article framed it as a thing that endangers keeping your followers/friends.
Show threadJohn ConwayNov 2, 2022
@ottaross It's also completely false, Gab and Truth Social use Mastodon!
Show threadML2Nov 2, 2022
@john @ottaross I saw that. Gab and Truth Social may have been based on Mastodon, but they currently have ActivityPub turned off, so they aren't even accessible from Fedi
Show threadJohn ConwayNov 2, 2022
@mathlover2 @ottaross Yeah, that's fair enough. There are a lot of edgelord instances out there though, not sure you'd call them left-wing. They may have been de-federated from mastodon.social etc though, making them less visible if you come in that way.
Show threadAdamas NemesisNov 2, 2022
@ottaross Besides, there's a thriving base of right-wing users on the Fediverse, even if they're less numerous, so I think this whole description of theirs is misleading.
Show threadSenor SquishyPantsNov 2, 2022
@ottaross That kind of thing drives me crazy. Who even are "most users?" At best, you'd be able to poll people from a few dozen servers - hardly "all"!
It's all in where you look. There are plenty of servers pushing plenty of opinions - most users just don't like to put up with the crazies.