Taylor LorenzPeople are saying I want to bring "clout chasing" and "toxicity" to Mastodon bc I said it should add quote posts. Not true! Let me explain my thinking 1/
In my opinion, quote tweets don't lead to harassment any more than replies lead to harassment or tagging leads to harassment. The feature was born out of organic user behavior and users manually typing "RT" in front of stuff they were quote tweeting in order to share. Not having native QTs and forcing people to manually type "RT" with the text they were quote tweeting led to confusion and misinformation spreading as ppl would often alter the manual RT text! 2/
In my experience, people are far more likely to harass in the replies than in the quote posts bc quote posts posts to their own timeline. And regardless, I think having a native way to amplify and comment or add to content on a platform is really important. This is why TikTok has the Stitch and Duet function. 3/
Even on Tumblr, the Reblog feature includes the original post. Do Tumblr reblogs lead to harassment? No!! This is natural user behavior and makes the sharing of ideas, information, commentary, etc easier. It's what users will do anyway whether or not you facilitate it. By refusing to acknowledge this and making it harder for ppl however, the platform will be less useful and re-shared information will be less reliable 4/
I think if people want Mastodon to be a place where news media thrives, where ppl can openly and freely exchange ideas, amplify content etc we need a quote post/Tumblr reblog-like function. The way to curb harassment isn't to refuse key features imo, it's to give more control. For ex, giving users the ability to turn quote posts on/off, etc. And I just want to reiterate again that this is all simply my own personal perspective! I know many disagree and that's fine :D 5/
(((Baslow)))@taylorlorenz
I've been on Mastodon for over three years. People didn't express much desire for Mastodon to be a place "where news media thrives", although they bemoaned the fact that news media didn't reflect the reality that it offered a very different model of social media....
I've been on Mastodon for over three years. People didn't express much desire for Mastodon to be a place "where news media thrives", although they bemoaned the fact that news media didn't reflect the reality that it offered a very different model of social media....
Aron Fischer@baslow
who does mastodon belong to?
I trust that you are not asking that question seriously but rather as an ironic commentary on the lack of knowledge some people have brought to Mastodon...
@baslow
@taylorlorenz
No, I meant that ultimately these decisions (is this meant as a space for news media?) are up to the current members, not the original OGs.
The mere fact that people didn't express that desire before does not invalidate it now.
Especially after such a massive influx.
If you've been here longer, this can feel like an invasion of your space. I've been through such transitions before too.
But at the end of the day, it is an open network and thus norms must be able to change.
@taylorlorenz
No, I meant that ultimately these decisions (is this meant as a space for news media?) are up to the current members, not the original OGs.
The mere fact that people didn't express that desire before does not invalidate it now.
Especially after such a massive influx.
If you've been here longer, this can feel like an invasion of your space. I've been through such transitions before too.
But at the end of the day, it is an open network and thus norms must be able to change.
@cobordism @taylorlorenz
Sure. My argument is with the *presumption* that people want what Lorenz seem to claim they want. My point is that there were a lot of people who were happy with Mastodon the way it functioned and that she has not made a deep enough case as to why people should value something different.
She's calling for a bunch of technical changes that will require her to enlist help from the people who built this thing.
Sure. My argument is with the *presumption* that people want what Lorenz seem to claim they want. My point is that there were a lot of people who were happy with Mastodon the way it functioned and that she has not made a deep enough case as to why people should value something different.
She's calling for a bunch of technical changes that will require her to enlist help from the people who built this thing.
@baslow
I agree. Except that she can also implement the changes with other people :)
Indeed I'd welcome experimentation with ActivityPub servers.
The great thing about everyone moving to open source world is we no longer need to request features and depend on silicon valley to implement them.
And we don't depend on mastodon GmbH either.
We can all just do it ourselves. No permission required.
@cobordism You might want to ask @taylorlorenz whether she feels even remotely as if "she can also implement the changes with other people". She's also free to form her own spacefaring company but I doubt that she has the wherewithal, so it is a very abstract, theoretical sense of the word "can". In effect, I believe she is asking a lot of anonymous other people to implement the changes she is suggesting. She'll have to persuade them.
@baslow
Example: I have already consulted with a team to implement a mastodon server that stores its data in the ethswarm p2p network.
I can't do that myself - I don't code - but I also don't expect mastodon OGs to ever even consider doing this (judging by the hostility I have encountered here over any hint of "crypto" (blockchain) systems.)
But I don't need to beg for it and I don't need to ask permission either.
Same goes for quoting. Anyone is free to implement it.
@taylorlorenz
Example: I have already consulted with a team to implement a mastodon server that stores its data in the ethswarm p2p network.
I can't do that myself - I don't code - but I also don't expect mastodon OGs to ever even consider doing this (judging by the hostility I have encountered here over any hint of "crypto" (blockchain) systems.)
But I don't need to beg for it and I don't need to ask permission either.
Same goes for quoting. Anyone is free to implement it.
@taylorlorenz
@cobordism @taylorlorenz
True, but you may find that many of the people who have set up Mastodon sites before you refuse to call your new site "Mastodon". You will have forked something new, something no longer "Mastodon". You are absolutely free to do so but you may find yourself needing to call it something else.
The question of "owning" mastodon is irrelevant; it's a question of what people think Mastodon *is*.
True, but you may find that many of the people who have set up Mastodon sites before you refuse to call your new site "Mastodon". You will have forked something new, something no longer "Mastodon". You are absolutely free to do so but you may find yourself needing to call it something else.
The question of "owning" mastodon is irrelevant; it's a question of what people think Mastodon *is*.
@baslow
It was purely my instance's 500 character limit that precluded me from using the more accurate phrase of "an ActivityPub server forked from the Mastodon codebase".
It was purely my instance's 500 character limit that precluded me from using the more accurate phrase of "an ActivityPub server forked from the Mastodon codebase".
@cobordism
Well, okay, but you opened with the question "Who owns mastodon?", leaving you plenty of characters left to use ...
Well, okay, but you opened with the question "Who owns mastodon?", leaving you plenty of characters left to use ...