eddiNov 20, 2022
Austin Kocher, PhD 🌎

Meet Eugen Rochko (@Gargron), founder of @Mastodon, who just got a profile in TIME magazine. I encourage you to really read the entire excellent interview, bc not only will you learn more about the ethos behind Mastodon, but you can also hear what it’s like for an intelligent human being to talk about social media.

“Thousands Have Joined Mastodon Since Twitter Changed Hands. Its Founder Has a Vision for Democratizing Social Media.”

https://time.com/6229230/mastodon-eugen-rochko-interview/

Thousands Have Joined Mastodon Since Twitter Changed Hands. Its Founder Has a Vision for Democratizing Social Media

Thousands of users have joined Mastodon since Elon Musk took control of Twitter. Mastodon's founder Eugen Rochko says it's been a vindication

Time
Nov 20, 2022 at 1:53pmWeb
Show threadAustin Kocher, PhD 🌎Nov 20, 2022
“I think that is a very uniquely American idea of creating this marketplace of ideas where you can say anything you want completely without limits. It is very foreign to the German mindset where we, in our Constitution, our number one priority is maintaining human dignity. And so, hate speech is not part of the German concept of free speech, for example. So I think that when Elon Musk says that everything’s gonna be allowed, or whatever, I generally disagree with that.” – @Gargron
Show threadAran HegartyNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron The fundamental disagreement that I have in the German position is "who" determines what is "human dignity" and makes these often arbitrary decisions as a centralized authority. Individuals are more than capable to determine and block sites and speech that they find offensive. We can use social and economic pressure to mute these voices of hate.
Show threadRagnell the Mildly UnpleasantNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron My only gripe with that is Elon Musk is not American. He's a South African racist who idealizes American racism and has squatted in a place where he doesn't have to pay taxes. His idea of "free speech" stems from there, hence why within a week he was locking down name changes and suspending accounts that mocked him.
Show threadRagnell the Mildly UnpleasantNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron There is a problem with free speech absolutists in the US, but there's also a problem with foreign racists seeing it as a safe place to continue their racism and Musk is part of the latter.
Show threadNew GoliathNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron bankrupting other nations and having a leader reign for 16 years is totally cool.
Show threadGryph LaneNov 21, 2022
@NewGoliath @austinkocher @Gargron At least their government actually works
Show threadNew GoliathNov 21, 2022
@MxG84 @austinkocher @Gargron what does it succeed at doing? Neo-colonialism and welfare capitalism?
Show threadAlexandria BrangwinNov 22, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron Most importantly, freedom is nothing without responsibility.
In countries where one has freedom of speech, they never have freedom from consequences...sadly people like musk think those consequences are freedom denial.
Twitter only banned non-advertiser friendly individuals because they were a threat to revenue.
...and Germans should know what happens when you let hate speakers gather https://youtu.be/vGAqYNFQdZ4
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Show threadarcepiNov 23, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron I always think of how different the Internet would be if the social networks had been created in Europe. We have different views on what is acceptable and what isn't compared to the USA.
Show threadmojtaba ahmadiDec 11, 2022
@austinkocher@mastodon .social @Gargron
Show threadPaddyj1325Nov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon
'I named it Mastodon because I'm not good at naming things' -- ha! Very good interview. He comes off as a very thoughtful and modest man.
Show threadottoNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon
I note in that interview, Rochko's distrust/disgust with the"top down" design of Twitter administration. It is a rock solid and inescapable consequence of media ownership by a corporation with a board of directors beholden only to share holders who only want more money. It is the very design of dictatorship. Rochko hasn't quite broken the mold singlehandedly. App Dot Net was half way there but had venture capitalists to please.
Show threadClinterestNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Mastodon @Gargron Great article! I loved this quote for its basic humility: “I called it Mastodon because I’m not good at naming things. I just chose whatever came to my mind at the time. There was obviously no ambition of going big with it at the time.”
Show threadottoNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher Did Time spell Eugen's name incorrectly? Its a name I want to respect.
Show threadTomNov 20, 2022

@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon

Having the ability for servers to stick together, block #hate-speech servers and exclude them from the majority of the #mastodon #ecosystem is a nice and #democratic way to do social media better than the money-trail companies like #Twitter and #Facebook must follow...

Show threadiChasNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon
@laurekatrine
Can this be right? Donald Trump is here in Mastodonia?
From:
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/twitter-migrants-flock-to-mastodon-how-does-the-open-source-social-network-work/
“Mastodon servers aren't required to be connected to the Fediverse, In fact, the most famous Mastodon instance is Truth Social, the social network of former US president Donald Trump.”
Twitter Migrants Flock to Mastodon: How Does the Open Source Social Network Work?

As Twitter's turmoil continues, some users are switching to decentralized social media.

CNET
Show threadAlyssa EverettNov 21, 2022
@iChas @austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon @laurekatrine From what I understand, Truth Social is based on the same open-source code that Mastodon uses, but is not affiliated with Mastodon and has not shared the modifications to Mastodon's code it has made, a violation of the license terms. According to this article, Eugen Rochko has threatened to sue Truth Social over it: https://www.pcmag.com/news/trumps-social-media-site-quietly-admits-its-based-on-mastodon
Trump's Social Media Site Quietly Admits It's Based on Mastodon

Mastodon had originally threatened to sue Trump's 'Truth Social' site for allegedly violating its open-source license.

PCMag
Show threadMike LaursenNov 21, 2022
I don’t think so. I have an account on TRUTH Social, and it doesn’t look like Mastodon. It is very much, though, a clone of Twitter.
Show threadMuesli-AntjeNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon
Das ist auch ein guter Artikel @mimikama
Show threadNicholasBuzzredNov 20, 2022

@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon this is a very sane and sensible approach, and from my very limited experience - he not only sounds sane and sensible, but it simply correct!

So far Mastodon is a very welcoming place, using the app to create an account made it absolutely straight forward, and the people I've interacted with have been friendly.

On Twitter the dynamic is generally absoltlutly about going viral, follower counts, like a kind of game.

So far so good!

Show threadblubberberdNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon great article, and great dude
Show threadEdwardHendloNov 20, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon
Show threadmyrmepropagandistNov 21, 2022

@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon This is interesting, but I think we should step back and recognize how they found a way to make this all about a "guy in charge" even if he isn't totally a guy in charge.

It's just how these stories are set up. The King of the Twitter vs. The King of the Mastodons.

I think it kind of misses what's really going on.

But explaining the movement is too difficult and alien.

"Guy vs. Guy" is easier.

Show threadTanja GrasshoffNov 21, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon
Sehr interessant. Ich bin hier neulich eingetreten und wunderte wie Mastodon funktioniert. Danke fur die Erklarung!
Show threadEncourageable EmpathNov 21, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon Thanks for sharing! Sounds like a great guy and I’m very thankful he took up this hobby to give us an alter native to Twitter. Sometimes human amaze me and this is a case of that.
Show threadTwigletNov 22, 2022
@austinkocher @Gargron @Mastodon Really interesting- and as you say, very worthwhile background.