@Sheril agree… mostly. Mastodon has a good technical-human architecture to allow for a better information. But it is also a human system and it is subject to all human “vices”.

This means: corruption, manipulation, lies, marketing, ecc.

Am optimistic about mastodon. Not so much about humanity.

@Sheril agree, though it’s not just Twitter tbf, but that was certainly the saddest instance of this algorithm tyranny.

Seeing your feed entirely dictated by the outcomes of your last click, and watching extremists get rewarded for dog-whistling, was depressing.

So many of our political problems today are driven by the fact that moderate, sensible views simply aren’t interesting to AI.

Don’t understand yet how this place works, but a de-centralised model is refreshing! 🙂

@Sheril

I am incredibly hopeful for this space

@Sheril I am not sure what the landscape is like where you are but in Canada if one is willing to pay a few small subs it goes along way to supporting in-depth trustworthy indie sites: https://thenarwhal.ca/
https://thetyee.ca/
https://ricochet.media/en
https://www.capitaldaily.ca/
https://www.aptnnews.ca/
https://www.vancouverite.com/

Not all perfect I'm sure but better than Murdoch's monopoly...

@Sheril Very true! Some of it probably involves better designs and incentives for the people creating and maintaining Mastodon. And they have a huge task ahead!

But it’s also up to us, users, to be conscious of not chasing the dopamine rush all the time. Perhaps we will be better off when we learn to live with slower social media.

@Sheril

I like the spirit, but... if most journalists and most politicians ended up here, what would stop a repeat of the same story?

The social network most suited to those who have short messages to announce to the world will attract the two above-mentioned categories, and when they are all there, they'll get in fights with each other...

@Sheril New to Mastodon here, but it feels like there are lots of ways it could be corrupted and abused.

I'm wondering.. what are the features that separate it from Twitter and, in particular, make you hopeful?

@Sheril Agree except "algorithms" cannot "dictate". Algorithms do not have agency, they are tools through which advertisers influenced the narratives. Absurd attention-seeking reporting is as old as the advertisement funded business model.

To that end, I do not believe #Mastodon represents a competitive alternative business model yet.

@Sheril Trending on Twitter has meant that screaming into the void is voting in the culture every day. People in political and entertainment circles pay attention to those things.

When I post elsewhere, a tiny fraction of my followers will see it. But there was a chance of my voice reaching farther on Twitter.

@Sheril truth has been spoken!

Been trying to figure out how to best engage with news content here. Learning to use CW feature more.