Mark NewtonNov 22, 2022

@jaystephens @[email protected] If someone's an asshole they'll behave like an asshole regardless of the setting they're in.

You seem to be taking a technocratic approach here, where if we can just establish the correct rules of engagement we'll get on top of the "toxicity" and everything will be fine.

I submit that that's never been true before, and that Mastodon won't make it true now.

Mastodon is "nice" because hardly anyone uses it. Let's see what happens when it has a billion DAU.

Show threadAndrewNov 22, 2022
@NewtonMark @jaystephens @aqualung I think this misses some nuance. Mastodon has made deliberate design decisions about quoting, algorithmic ranking and search that mitigates some of the worse things about Twitter. They don't eliminate them all but they help
Show threadMark NewtonNov 22, 2022

@aerohead @jaystephens @[email protected] Mastodon developers made *assumptions* about what some of the worst things about twitter were, decided that they were quoting, algorithmic ranking and search, and did some things differently in those spaces.

The assumptions were never validated. People have strong opinions about them.

The lack of quoting matches Twitter until approximately 2017. You can embed a link to a toot instead, just like we used to do on twitter.

Show threadAndrewNov 22, 2022
@NewtonMark @jaystephens @aqualung you can but it doesn't alert the person, so that is better. I know what you're saying, I agree to a point, but I also accept that there's UI and platform design choices that make a difference here, and mostly for the better. We'll see how things evolve.
Show threadMark Newton
@aerohead @jaystephens @[email protected] As I said to Jay earlier: Assholes will be assholes. They'll be assholes differently here vs twitter, but I doubt they'll be better. They'll slide right up to the limits without quite crossing them (so you can't ban them) and be assholes with impunity. That's what assholes do.
Nov 22, 2022 at 12:44amWeb
Show threadAndrewNov 22, 2022
@NewtonMark @jaystephens @aqualung I think the difference is that one site made money from tech choices that ended up, deliberately or otherwise, encouraging assholery and other base behaviours, so the fact this one doesn't should make it better in some ways. It definitely won't solve assholes, though.
Show threadMark NewtonNov 22, 2022

@aerohead @jaystephens @[email protected] I think this is where we differ.

You're suggesting Twitter's tech choices encouraged assholery.

I don't think assholes need any encouragement; assholery is innate, and will result in roughly the same amount of awfulness regardless of tech choices.

e.g., If assholery is a vector, platforms can influence its direction but not its magnitude.

We see that already: Some of the worst noxious waste from twitter has already colonized this place, and it's fuckin yuk.

Show threadMark NewtonNov 22, 2022
@aerohead @jaystephens @[email protected] TL;DR: I don't think this place will be any better or worse, it'll just be different. If it ends up with hundreds of millions of users, it'll be the new hellsite, with different colored decor.