David Slack

The whole idea of the town square is that it belongs to the town. No one should be able to buy it. And honestly, they can’t.

Twitter isn’t really the town square, any more than Facebook is or MySpace was.

We are the town square. It goes where we go. No one can buy that.

Nov 4, 2022 at 5:35amWeb
Show threadDetective MangoNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture I truly hope that is the case
Show threadrealcaseyrollins ✝️Nov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture He probably wants it to function as a public square to some extent, and doesn't care as much about whether or not it's owned by the people.

We see some aspects of this, with him waiting to get a new censorship board to change moderation rules, and taking in user input before making final decisions (like the price of #TwitterBlue). But with some moves, like unilaterally having the homepage of #Twitter changed, it certainly sounds like this "public square" concept isn't something he's willing to tie himself down to all that strictly.
Show threadJohn CarlsenNov 4, 2022

@slack2thefuture Twitter is not a town square, but a private shopping mall.

Just like Facebook and MySpace, when one becomes more popular, an older one gets boarded up and forgotten.

Show threadRichardNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture Starbucks wanted to be a social meeting place where people could hang out and feel welcome. Then they started locking the bathrooms.
Show threadDoug MasseyNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture Twitter is literally a colosseum with gladiators and spectators. I saw a thread this morning suggesting that there shouldn't be any moderation on here. If we encounter an instance that allows any behaviour we wouldn't allow in our communities or workplaces - we can just block the instance entirely. This decentralized structure of social media gives you choice about the community you want to "live" and participate in.
Show threadOndřej PokornýNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture And no one should be paying $8 for priority access to the town square. :)
Show threadJeff HaluskaNov 4, 2022
@ondra @slack2thefuture Mr. Free Speech wants to charge $8/mo for Speech priority. 🤦
Show threadSarah T. RobertsNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture @Pearlbear Preach.
Show threadDave in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Nov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture I think we are the town, but the square is a shared bit of infrastructure and the community that thrives around it. We can have cafes and galleries and parks jutting onto public space that we all enjoy or it can be like those private parks in the financial district in NYC that you can only hang around at the discretion of the owner
Show threadBeverleyNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture Concur!
Show threadJuan Jiménez A.Nov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture I think is the public nature of communication (and in Twitter was that: whatever you said the default is anyone could read and reply) the main point of 'town square' metaphor.
Show threadPaulSeesequasisNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture
Show threadJeff MesserNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture The problem is that he seems himself and the benevolent dictator who can make sure it's safe for us all to speak freely. If he understood the principle you're talking about, he would have worked with existing Twitter management and joined the board like they'd talked about, and tried to make genuine improvements rather than as a now clearly hostile takeover.
Show threadPEEPOOPEEPOONov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture great take
Show threadmlexNov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture the spiders live to weave yet another web, always...
Show threadAnton P. Nym (aka Steve)Nov 4, 2022
@slack2thefuture Yeah, in my opinion the public square can't be privately owned... that, or it's time to sit down at chain restaurant and strike up conversations with other folks there instead of ordering anything.
Show threadzippuliNov 4, 2022

@slack2thefuture

except this is not a town square. it's a collection of cafes & clubs scattered through the village, with confusing directions and rules on how to navigate from one to the other.

Show threadDodgerNov 29, 2022
@zippuli not Mastodon, or the Fediverse is the town square, We (the users) are.
Show threadNeethi NairNov 5, 2022
@slack2thefuture Our man is losing it already. I still can't believe the speed at which things went down at #twitter
Show threadJohn OttoNov 5, 2022

@slack2thefuture Well said. This shift reminds me a lot of the Great #Digg Migration. A small group of decision-making power users disenfranchised Diggers who left en masse for the fledgling #reddit where they could have a democratic voice.

I'm brand spanking new to Mastodon, but relieved to have found it and everyone here!

Show threadJamie SchlerNov 5, 2022
@slack2thefuture hey hey David!
Show threadDeborah RoseNov 5, 2022
@slack2thefuture Yes! I understand this now. 💯
Show threadOpalNov 5, 2022
@slack2thefuture
Over here on mastodon.nz we have our own David Slack @davidslack and he is as wise as you about community building as you are.
Show threadEddie ClarkNov 5, 2022
@slack2thefuture It's funny, the privatisation of the 'town square' in this way in physical space is something people have been worrying about for a while - shopping malls being the most obvious example. It's all fine until it's not. Which is the problem.
Show threadRayWNov 6, 2022
@slack2thefuture As you say a town square is where the community go, no community, no town square.
A town square can used for sharing the news, selling, music, fun. But it can also be used for executions, gatherings of deplorables and general misinformation. Musk may be losing the people who made the former and keep those that generate the latter.
Show threadReclaimerNov 6, 2022
"Asgard is not a place, it's a people."
Show threadjljacobsonNov 6, 2022
@slack2thefuture +1000
Show threadAuthor Brianna WestNov 6, 2022
@slack2thefuture Exactly! We have all the power, and it's often portrayed as though we don't. We are stronger together and united, and they can't ever take that from us.
Show threadCoach Pāṇini ®Nov 7, 2022

@slack2thefuture Twitter was an airport terminal: a public-private partnership, subsidized by taxes and advertising dollars, to shuttle various constituencies back and forth from their stable destination.

The want-give nature of users is what made the product valuable to brands seeking audiences for their goods and services.

Show threadiainmaclNov 7, 2022
@slack2thefuture exactly. those were more like shopping malls, privately owned and with their own interests at the core and us allowed in as long as we were providing them with potential for revenue.
Show threadCJNov 7, 2022
@slack2thefuture Yes indeed - a town square full of good debate and friendly banter. A place to share ideas and meet with friends.
Show threadjeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷNov 8, 2022

@slack2thefuture

welcome to the club!

Show threadDaniël Franke 🏳️‍🌈Nov 12, 2022

@slack2thefuture If the fediverse becomes the town square (and considering it's an exchange of many kinds of social media, it would be great) a lot of the older residents will hate it, as they really like how quiet and hidden it was.

Can't blame them, but I do think having a non-privately-owned town square is something that we need.

Show threadAspiringOne Nov 17, 2022

@slack2thefuture

I want to believe that but If this was really true, one uberwealthy person wouldn’t be able to buy the town square, wreak havoc on it and destroy it in fine form within days according to their whim. Musk has the power to restructure every algorithm and line of code according to his liking not the public’s. He can literally flip and switch and turn out the lights on the livelihoods members have built there over the years. What a mess. #TwitterTakeover

Show threadErin SchnabelNov 18, 2022
@AspiringOne @slack2thefuture Same could be said for facebook or Instagram or Snapchat or ... none of those are permanent things, though we have poured our collective souls into them over the past few years (and really, in the scheme of things, it hasn't been that many years.. )
Show threadDan Berky "דן" ℞ MS 🇺🇲 🇩🇪 🇮🇱Nov 21, 2022
@slack2thefuture Absolutely correct. The corporate model is the very antithesis of democracy.
Show threadSaturniusMons Nov 21, 2022

@slack2thefuture I'll buy that for a dollar!

(Reference for young folk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cL1HisrNc)

Robocop - I'd Buy That For a Dollar

YouTube
Show threadIsaac FreemanDec 16, 2022

@slack2thefuture
[stands up]

I’m the town square!

[waits for the next person to stand up Spartacus-style and declare that they are also a square]

Show threadDavid SlackDec 16, 2022
@isaacfreeman I am the town square!