Dr. Johnathan Flowers

Okay this right here is a big fucking problem I have with how many mastodonians engage with the critiques of mastodon by scholars of color and users of color:

https://masto.ai/@Pineywoozle/109351510911500578

The argument that history doesn't matter because we have an influx of users is unconvincing to me for a variety of reasons, which I'll enumerate below.

@pineywoozle (@[email protected])

@[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] @[email protected] Even the past history of Black M users is a null in that the platform is currently undergoing such a huge influx of non traditional M users that that experience is no longer the norm so can’t be used to judge future performance.

Mastodon
Nov 16, 2022 at 4:16amWeb
Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022

Here, I'm going to draw on Sara Ahmed and John Dewey: a history provides an account of where a thing is and how it functioned within the world that made it possible. A history also provides a record of the embodied habits of a space: it is what gives the space its shape and contour through the actions taken within it.

In short, histories allow us to understand the space and how we can and cannot move through it as well as the kinds of life the space supports.

Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022
This is important when you think about social media as spaces. So let's take Mastodon. The history of the ways that Black users have been treated, the ways that their instances have fallen, informs the future engagements of new Black users insofar as they indicate how Black users have been and will be positioned within a social space.
Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022

It also tells us something about how black users "unfold" and the points from which the space "unfolds" as a space.

To be clear, the treatment of Black users on mastodon, as indicated by the recurring cycle of discourse around CWs, quote tweets, and the policing of other ways that Black users make present their experience and identities, makes clear that the point from which mastodon unfolds is whiteness.

Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022

That is, mastodon demonstrates how it inherits whiteness through the histories of how it treats its Black users and other mastodonians of color. It demonstrates this through the social norms around how users are expected to use the affordances of the site to enact their identities and articulate their experiences.

The fight over CWs is a pretty good example as it seemed to boil down to the preservation of a white entitlement to comfort over a Black need to be fully present on mastodon.

Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022

Indeed, understanding this history is why the current resolution (what I'd call a tense armistice) is so surprising from my brief understanding of the history of mastodon.

But let's leave that alone for a moment: knowing this history is key to knowing the history of a community. In this case, a community that was, and will continue to be, born of struggle. To understand how mastodon maintains whiteness is to understand the history of mastodonians of color.

Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022

And understanding this history can help new mastodonians of color understand what kind of treatment they can expect on this platform, especially as the platform has been treated as the "future of social media" by tech journalists, mastodon supporters, and people in favor of the migration.

Histories, dear reader, are developments from a past. And if this past includes the marginalization of Black mastodonians, I wonder at the future.

Show threadDr. Johnathan FlowersNov 16, 2022

To wit, the history of mastodon's treatment of mastodonians of color, of sex workers, of disabled persons, is relevant as the population expands because it tells us something of the nature of the platform where these populations are concerned.

And, insofar as many of these communities are leaving their "home" for a promised future on here, it tells us what kind of fight we'll have to wage.

Show threadAlx 🐈Nov 16, 2022
@shengokai My question is both on the narrative of 'leaving' and 'promised future', which can expand beyond the blackness issues you are rising. I wonder if this kind of dualistic language and either/or approach shouldn't instead be corrected and internalised as both Mastodon and Twitter communities, whether minorities or not, can exists simultaneously, exploiting their current aspects for enhancing different characters of those communities.
Show threadAlx 🐈Nov 16, 2022
@shengokai that said, I don't want to downplay the necessity of a proper discussion about the biases in ux design (which no platform is immune to) that tends to reproduce matrix of domination, a conversation I find healthy and necessary for digital spaces to improve. My question around the dualism Twitter or Mastodon arises as much of the discussion seems to revolve on a strange competition on 'which platform is better' and 'how to turn Mastodon into Twitter'
Show threadWill Tuladhar-DouglasNov 16, 2022
@shengokai
@Are0h probably has a better historical and critical understanding but my observation has been that the Fedi has a specific problem with whiteness that conditions the way in which it has, actually, been protective/supportive of certain disabled, trans, and sex worker folk. It has a similarity to toxic white autism advocacy, and my wish for the present influx is that we gain the critical (pun intended) mass to uproot that violence.
Show threadSheeri CabralNov 16, 2022

@shengokai the argument they make, that "it doesn't matter what the population in this space used to do, because an influx of new users wants to use it in a different way," just feels like virtual colonization to me.

"What are you going to do, there are more of us than you here? You can have your own tribal servers, sure, but you don't make the rules any more."

Show threadTinaRRRRNov 16, 2022
@shengokai
Hi! firstly I m very sorry that this happens and secondly, how does this happen? My bubble like on twitter is unfortunatly but to be expected mostly white, so these things mostly don't come up.
Show threadRDS (shawphd on Twitter)Nov 16, 2022
@TinaRRRR @shengokai Maybe start broadening your circle? Not to collect BIPOC like Pokémon, but to share their experiences here? To break yourself of racial habits (all us white folks have them) like seeing Blackness as akin to a hobby or an interest rather than as a key aspect of whole persons? Gently interrogate those habits: If you’re following, say, white photographers but not Black ones, why? White birders but not Brown ones, why? etc.
Show threadTinaRRRRNov 17, 2022
@shawrd773 @shengokai
I'll try... i's hard obviously hard for me to shed the culturally grown shell,
Show threadKevix (he/him) :debian:Nov 16, 2022
@shengokai what platform wasn't created by white folks?
Show threadDr Lisa EvansNov 16, 2022
@kevix @shengokai WeChat?
Show threadGourd ClaeNov 16, 2022
@shengokai I don't really understand this point. POC are among the most vulnerable communities, putting sensitive content behind cws protects them more than white communities afaik? I get the white desire for comfort - from sensitive content that highlights their privilege specifically. But generalizing it to comfort in general seems less than useful, if I'm reading this right
Show threadRDS (shawphd on Twitter)Nov 16, 2022
@GourdClae @shengokai The problem is that racism directed at Black people and Black people’s own experiences in dealing with racism are seen by some white folks as equally offensive. CW on the first disrupts racism; insisting on CW for the latter perpetuates it.
Show threadGourd ClaeNov 17, 2022

@shawrd773 @shengokai OH so this is talking specifically Abt ppl insisting on a cw for racism while trying to make a post Abt how a bad thing is happening. That's really awful and I agree! I thought this was talking Abt how like some ppl from Twitter are complaining Abt their communities asking for cws on seemingly mundane things.

Thank you!

Show threadSong Gao Nov 16, 2022
@shengokai Hi, sorry for being out of context but is there an article/post wheee I can learn more about this discourse around CWs? I’d like to know better so I can do the right thing.
Show threadsarantiumNov 16, 2022

@songgao @shengokai

I would also like a summary article link of some kind of available on CWs as I'm struggling to follow the argument and the proposed actions fully.

And I don't feel informed enough to think through the problem clearly or make the good decisions.

Show threadProtectiveHenNov 17, 2022
@songgao @shengokai I have been getting caught up on this issue by searching for #BlackTwitter and #BlackMastadon. Black people, as @shawrd773 noted, were getting responses from white people that they should CW their discussions of experiencing racism, as if this space excludes their trauma.
Show threadKevix (he/him) :debian:Nov 16, 2022
@shengokai is this any different than the comfort of other outgroups (autistics, trans people, pagans, ableds) who also are faced with trying to maintain a safer space for them?
Show threadKevix (he/him) :debian:Nov 16, 2022
@shengokai how would you compare the treatment of Black users in other social media spaces by other users and the platform moderators and how do you account for the difference? I'm not sure there is a difference? people can communicate to other group members which ensures better treatment but also deal with harassment in mixed spaces eg. groups on facebook or 'public' tweets.
Show threadGoosetodonNov 16, 2022
@shengokai the suggestion that a screenshot + hashtag is the same as a qt seems.. misguided at best
Show threadRoNov 16, 2022
@shengokai And the 'argument' she presents is bullshit, especially when you consider 1. the lengths the fedi community has gone to push out Black users specifically and 2. the silence of all the alleged good people she is alluding to.

One cannot say that history doesn't matter when a defining characteristic of the fedi up until now has been anti-blackness, which has been why so few Black users have stuck with the fedi until now.

That kind of conjecture is a big reason safety is such a concern, as so many people join the fedi. Bigots feast on 'progressive' whites giving the benefit of the doubt repeatedly.
Show threadjrm4Nov 16, 2022

@Are0h @shengokai

stealing "Bigots feast on 'progressive' whites giving the benefit of the doubt repeatedly." and repeating it repeatedly

Show threadRoNov 16, 2022
@jrm4 @shengokai It's freeware, so no need to steal at all, homie.
Show threadAndrew Jon ThomsonNov 16, 2022
@shengokai what do you think about the recent statement from mastodon creator @Gargron that he is not strongly attached to the idea of not allowing quote posts, and that he would consider adding that function if enough people ask for it?
Show threadleslieNov 16, 2022

@shengokai The error I got when trying to interact with your post as a Mastodon user illustrates your point.

Mastodon has some inherent friction that makes it hard to replicate some important Twitter communities, especially in cases where some of the functionality was being used in a culturally relevant way and not a technically relevant way.

Show threadProtectiveHenNov 17, 2022
@leslie @shengokai Yes, completely agree!!
Show threadCassandrichNov 17, 2022

@leslie @shengokai OMG I just realized. Lack of QRT is going to be a phishing vector.

Cite a post on a malicious instance. No firstclass quote so user ends up at login page for that instance. Submits their credentials. 😱

Show threadJernej Simončič �Nov 17, 2022
@leslie @shengokai I had to change my habits to not open mastodon links in new tab – this way I stay on my instance, and can boost/favorite/bookmark without getting that annoying dialog.
Show threadChristopherNov 17, 2022

@shengokai Thank you, Dr. Flowers, for your ongoing analysis and discussion on this. I've found your posts riveting and just overwhelmingly informative. As someone who is so white snow laughs at me, I know your posts aren't for me, but they've really opened my eyes to the struggles BIPOC folks have experienced and continue to experience with digital technologies steeped in whiteness and the different ways they've leveraged those technologies to create community. I've been drawn into the the topic by the discussions I've seen reshared about content warnings, but the current, uh, fight(?) over QTs is fascinating and moving.

The kicker around the QT issue is that I've seen no sign of experimental evidence that QTs actually drive the behaviour people are concerned about (or rather, that the lack of QTs have made Mastodon a safer space in practice for the communities that are up in arms). It's merely asserted to be a significant factor, when everyone is open about how active moderation and the lack of engagement optimizing content recommendation algorithms are also the key. We can't tell what the relative contributions of those factors are. Or at least, no one is presenting experimental evidence showing that the lack of QTs is a meaningful contributor.

It could very well just be a stone that keeps tigers away.