mccNov 29, 2022

The paradox of Mastodon is no one (not even mastodon.social) likes mastodon.social dominating the network, or Eugen G being the sole arbiter of extensions to the common protocol,

but on the other hand, ultimately, the reason we all use Mastodon (IE, the part of the Fediverse people think of as "Mastodon", modeled on the Mastodon extensions to ActivityPub) instead of Secure Scuttlebutt or identi.ca or whatever is because Mastodon was the AP implementation that had one person's singular vision.

Show threadmccNov 29, 2022
We *need* standard protocols like ActivityPub, but ultimately, users do not want a protocol. People do not want a formless ball of infinite potential. They want "Products". They want a clearly presented thing that they can put into their web browser or phone and it slots them into a legible user flow satisfying a specific user story. This is not because they are brainwashed by capitalism. It is because most people *have other shit to do* and don't want to bother with software that's unfinished.
Show threadCassandra GranadeDec 1, 2022

@mcc I've been saying that Mastodon (and AP more broadly) are a lot like e-mail as a counterargument, but maybe that cuts another way, too. E-mail took off in public adoption after HoTMaiL, OWA, and GMail offered progressively more integrated and opinionated *products* backed by e-mail.

As a client, GMail is indistinguable from GMail as a service — that e-mail as a protocol backs both is invisible to the user as anything other than getting Metcalf's law for free?

Show threadCassandra GranadeDec 1, 2022

@mcc Even today, if you run clients as disparate as Thunderbird or Windows 10 Mail, they offer how to get an e-mail account — users view services through the client, rather than picking a service first, such that feels like completion of how their software works?

Apologies for rambling, and for idle thoughts...

Show threadmccDec 1, 2022
@cgranade A thing I still would like to exist is a variant of joinmastodon that instead of giving you 100 servers gives you between three and six which are large enough to be well-moderated but small enough to be well-moderated and says "pick one, it doesn't matter which" because it really doesn't.
Show threadCassandra Granade

@mcc Agreed, though the "well-moderated" part is kind of the kicker.

Sad that there's what appears to be an actual attempt at setting standards for cross-instance moderation policies, but it's run in bad-faith by libertarian self-described moderates who want to debate everything to death while the rest of us are harassed off the internet. Sigh.

Dec 1, 2022 at 9:40pmWeb