lisardggyNov 23, 2022

One of the fascinating aspects of the #fediverse is how much it resonates with left wing ideology (or rhetoric, at least). "Seize the means of production" from the tech billionaire class.
https://mastodon.lol/@andthisismrspeacock/109385456117954973

But at the same time, the vibe is also nostalgic to 90s internet idealism, DIY web sites and self governed communities, which really resonates with *right wing* ideology, Jeffersonian self-governance through the libertarian prism of John Perry Barlow and Esther Dyson.

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AndThisIsMrsPeacock 🏳️‍🌈 (@[email protected])

Timeline of a new Mastodon user: Day 1: this sucks servers are confusing and why is my feed empty Day 2: why is there no quote tweet this is dumb Day 3: mastodon better make some changes if it wants to compete with tw_tter Day 7: hm, people are really nice here Day 10: loving the no ads and real conversations Day 15: THE WORKERS MUST SEIZE THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION AND EXECUTE CAPITALISTS :ablobcatrave: #TwitterMigration

Mastodon.lol
Show threadlisardggyNov 23, 2022

What changed? One thing is that sometimes these ideologies defy the convenient single-axis spectrum and have many similarities in practice. But I think the interesting part is the change in the landscape that you are rebelling against, or perhaps revolutionizing.

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Show threadlisardggyNov 23, 2022

In the 90s, the internet was a frontier. Anything could be yours if you built it, and no one to tell you what to do. A libertarian fantasy.
In 2022, the internet is a Gibson-esque sprawling corporate-controlled sprawl where your actions are constantly monitored and controlled by those people who run the system.

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Show threadlisardggy

To borrow an infosec term, those are two different threat models that require different solutions. Sometimes it looks like a solution works for both - "build a new network in the empty spaces of the internet!" - but the motivations can be very different. And the threat model - what we want our network to do for us, what we want it *not* to do, who is it for - are very different.

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Nov 23, 2022 at 10:26amWeb