Mastodawn

Liza Nov 9, 2022

This looks like it might turn into the first big drama of this #TwitterMigration

http://scholar.social (academic server) is defederating from http://journa.host (journalist server) because of the history of some of the journalists on the latter.

If others follow suit, there might be a lot of confused journalists out there soon.

https://scholar.social/@socrates/109310119094734208

Scholar Social

Microblogging for researchers, grad students, librarians, archivists, undergrads, high schoolers, educators, research assistants, profs—anyone involved in learning who engages with others respectfully

Mastodon hosted on scholar.social

Another day, another warning of #defederation or blocking.

Yesterday, #journalists on a profession-based instance were the target.

Today it's because a country-based instance has allowed their #police force to set up an account. I've never seen any mention of this being an issue in any server's rules, not even on the instance that issued this warning.

.::PH4GE::.Nov 11, 2022

@mykd what does the actual process of defederation work like? Beyond just blocking an instance

@PH4GE That's it as far as I know. You don't peer with it so you don't send it any messages and you don't read any coming from it. There's probably more details here somewhere: https://socialhub.activitypub.rocks/

SocialHub

Where ActivityPub developers coordinate their efforts to make the Fediverse a great space for cooperation

SocialHub

.::PH4GE::.Nov 12, 2022

@mykd hmmm. Should have a better term then, cause hearing "defederate" gives me the impression of a consensus, when in reality this could just be as small as one instance blocking visibility of another

@PH4GE you should post this suggestion to a few of the old hands here. I believe they’re very much enjoying getting lots of proposals for how they could improve things round here 😏

Jan Garten. Barmbek (oder so).Nov 9, 2022

Big drama? Come on, don't exaggerate. They give good reasons for their decision, and if some accounts don't agree with that they can move.

It's a huge universe. There's room for everyone.

@jangarten I think it might blow up for two reasons.

It involves academics and journalists and both groups enjoy a lively debate. 😃

And it cuts to the heart of one of the stresses that is already becoming apparent: is the fediverse a "nice" place because of the architecture, or because it only allows nice people to participate, and how is "nice" defined?

I don't know the journalists involved but Jonah Goldberg seems an odd choice to be called out in this way.

Ryan Schultz Nov 9, 2022

@mykd As an academic, with an account on scholar.social (which I use to follow their local feed), I can understand their wish to be proactive in protecting their users, but at the same time, I really feel for @adamdavidson, who I think had the best intent, only to have it backfire like this. I’m feeling torn.

@ryanschultz @adamdavidson

I don't know the journalists involved, but on flicking through his wiki entry Jonah Goldberg seems an odd choice to call out in this way. It will be interesting to see if he can be called out to be in violation of the server rules.

Deuley Nov 9, 2022

@mykd I have a suspicion, if Mastodon really ends up being what people coalesce on, it'll take a number of shakeups before territorial lines are well drawn. Reminds me of a lot of old IRC drama that shook out in the same fashion

flagrama Nov 9, 2022

@mykd and the great thing about a distributed network is that you can let someone/some community curate what you see for you and pick and choose between them, or can choose to create your own instance where you curate what you see yourself.

I don't really trust anyone to curate for me, nor to have any potentially private data on someone else's server, so that's the route I've chosen.

That's partly why I'm being very lazy and sitting in a big instance where there's enough(!) local activity that admin choices become less important.

It will be interesting to see if large instances will develop "personalities" or if that's going to be the preserve of those that stay small enough to be curated in that way.

flagrama Nov 9, 2022

@mykd yeah, hard to say.

I think it's very possible. It would just require the right size team of like-minded moderators.

I'm sure it's not something a lot of people are familiar with in these days of centralized services, but in the past different websites and chat networks always seemed to self-regulate like that. Each one had a distinct feel to it compared to the others I'd visit.

@flagrama That's the model I was thinking of -- when every site had its own phpBB etc forum but the discussions and norms were wildly different.

Aria Ritz Finkelstein Nov 9, 2022

@mykd This is actually a pretty good object lesson in how federation works for those of us who are still quite clueless here. Thanks for posting it!

@AhhReeUhh Oh there's a much better object lesson out there: the right-wing Gab social media site runs on federated software but isn't seen as part of the fediverse: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/12/20691957/mastodon-decentralized-social-network-gab-migration-fediverse-app-blocking

How the biggest decentralized social network is dealing with its Nazi problem

Mastodon is a decentralized social network designed to be accessible to anyone. It’s now dealing with the migration of Gab, a social network known for far-right extremism.

The Verge

Aria Ritz Finkelstein Nov 9, 2022

@mykd Oh my that looks like it'll be a fun read. One thing I wish the internet hadn't turned into an alarm bell is an adorable green frog. Saving to read later 🙃

@AhhReeUhh ah, my first exposure to Pepe was after he had been co-opted, so sadly he has never been adorable for me.

dawnatella Nov 9, 2022

@mykd @AhhReeUhh

Between this and the counter-social split, it's like the MCU over here! Where is the movie? #FediWars #FediverseStrikesBack

FinCanSco Nov 9, 2022

@dawnatella @mykd @AhhReeUhh I'm just wondering who the Romulans are in this Federation.

Derek Caelin 🌱Nov 9, 2022

@mykd [so_it_begins.gif]

Kelley Graham Nov 9, 2022

@mykd if you follow the link, you can see it play out. #boundaries.

Faf/Social

Liza Nov 9, 2022

Nothing like server drama

R Saravanan Nov 9, 2022

@mykd As a recent migrant to mastodon, this is an interesting development. I mostly follow "nice" people, but also follow some "contrarians", because I like to know what they are saying. If my current server prevents that, I will migrate to different server or, being a computer geek, create my own (that may cost less than $7.99/month!).

@RSarava that’s why I find this so fascinating. I like to be exposed to different views, but on Twitter I was quite happy to block individuals with extreme views. I’m not sure I feel comfortable with an admin making such choices on my behalf unless they do so by reference to well-defined (and pre-existing!) rules that I have accepted as reasonable.

Dell Cameron 🐈‍⬛Nov 9, 2022

@mykd I don’t want to be a part of any drama so I’d just leave the server, but I just transferred here so… I can’t for a month.

I understand the issue w/ the (3?) people that were named. But I don’t understand what this means (screenshot). It’s definitely an accusation, but since it’s not directed at anyone in particular, I feel like I’m a target. Feels like being accused of something close to theft or plagiarism? Doesn’t feel great.

@dell that’s a really interesting aspect. I wonder if there are any template “codes of conduct” for journalists’ use of material found on social media that could be used as a starting point for a discussion of what is acceptable here.

Dell Cameron 🐈‍⬛Nov 9, 2022

@mykd well, before i try to figure out whether i need a new set of rules to live by, i’d really like to see an example of what they’re talking about.

i’ve definitely used social media data in my reporting before. for example:

Parler: https://gizmodo.com/parler-users-breached-deep-inside-u-s-capitol-building-1846042905

Ring’s Neighbors app: https://gizmodo.com/ring-s-hidden-data-let-us-map-amazons-sprawling-home-su-1840312279/amp

is this what they’re talking about?

Parler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows

At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the hoard of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata.

Gizmodo

@dell oh those are fascinating (and really impressive!) examples, and really tough test cases. I can imagine some of the arguments that could be made on either side, but the details are way out of my league. But that’s the sort of issue that the fediverse needs to be thinking about now. I wonder if anyone has engaged with the EFF or similar groups.

Robotbeat Nov 9, 2022

@mykd Human nature is undefeated!

Moffin'tosh Nov 11, 2022