David ChartierNov 9, 2022

Whoa whoa whoa...

Whoa.

You mean to tell me that #Mastodon has *zero* algorithms deciding what I should read, and that the vast majority of instances banish Nazis into their own shadowrealm instead of tolerating them in the name of EnGaGeMenT?

Hah! Next you'll tell me there are no advertisers wielding influence over feature design so they get more marketing eyeballs!

Wait, what??!

Show threadKodaNov 9, 2022
@chartier But if they don't build a model to help fund the expense of running servers, this will all got the way of IRC, Email, Newsgroups etc. Users must be the customer in order to prevent becoming the product.
Show threadWilliam Gunn
@zaskoda @chartier What if professional organizations ran servers and paid for them via providing verification? A rel=me link in your profile page at your professional society's website would be meaningful verification from the perspective of the person reading posts.
Nov 9, 2022 at 9:10pmMastodon for Android
Show threadKodaNov 9, 2022
@williamgunn @chartier In that specific context, the problem of paying for the server is resolved - assuming that organization has the budget for it. While that model works great for lots of things, it's not a solution to the greater problem. Consider that email is federated and any company can run their own mail server but we still live in a world where most people get their email from one of a few large providers who abuse their data.
Show threadWilliam GunnNov 9, 2022
@zaskoda @chartier People mostly want something that works reliably, based on my observations over a decade or two and experience communicating product changes at Quora.
Show threadDavid ChartierNov 10, 2022

@williamgunn @zaskoda It's the early days for some, but others have been here for years. The system is built around a collection of ideally small nodes that are all relatively cheap to run. People flock to some of the larger, established instances, which usually start taking monthly contributions to cover admin costs.

Management companies are already here to reduce friction for non-technical users. It works. It's the original internet in action again.

Show threadWilliam GunnNov 10, 2022
@chartier @zaskoda I would expect to find that what works at one scale will be different from what works at a different scale. The sufficiency of donations is likely one of those things.
Show threadElle of the Past Nov 10, 2022
@williamgunn @chartier @zaskoda How is Wikipedia paid for? I imagine that's similar to how this will go for some larger instances.
Show threadHans GerwitzNov 10, 2022
@chartier web0 is back
Show threadJuho MäntysaloNov 10, 2022

@zaskoda @williamgunn @chartier

The problem with email is that it's hard to change the service after-the-fact if you didn't think to separate the service from the address from the begin. This isn't the case here.