Chris TrottierDec 6, 2022

Twitter is NOT the public square.

It literally exists on a server farm owned by Elon.

If he wants, he can literally pull the plug on Twitter.

No one should base their online life on that thing. Or anything owned by Meta, for that matter.

I've said this previously in a reply, but it deserves its own thread 🧵

Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022

The following is a form of public square or can be made into one:

* Fediverse
* Email
* HTML pages

Twitter is NOT the public square because it is *physically* owned by Elon Musk. You can't start a Twitter instance.

Hence why the Fediverse is not the same as Twitter.

For example, on Mastodon, you can easily migrate to whatever instance is of your choosing, or you can host your own instance if you're willing to put in the work.

Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022

Someone might say, "But people can own a Fediverse server."

Sure, but a key difference is that the Fediverse is built for redundancy.

Twitter has no redundancy.

If it were to have anything resembling redundancy, it would be Mastodon -- which is decidedly NOT Twitter.

You can set up a Fediverse server if you wanted to do that, which would build more redundancy.

You can't set up your own version of Twitter, though.

Thus, Twitter is *not* the public square -- but the Fediverse is.

Show threadChris Trottier

Some folks also say, "Wherever the public congregates, that's the public square."

I don't think that applies to Twitter.

When I say that Twitter is *physically* owned by Elon Musk, that's not a small thing. It's actually a big deal.

And that should tell you a big difference between the Fediverse and Twitter right there.

No one can pull the plug on the Fediverse.

Dec 6, 2022 at 7:33pmWeb
Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022

You can go ahead and say the public square is wherever the public congregates. But that means nothing when -- not if -- Elon Musk decides to pull the plug, and everything disappears.

Everything you do on Twitter is all under the aegis of Elon Musk's whims.

Nobody owns the Fediverse.

Nobody stops you from downloading all manners of Fediverse software -- almost all which is free -- and running it yourself.

Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022

You know what I just realized?

Some people view "public" as "centralized and government owned."

They like Twitter because it's centralized and seemingly endorsed by governments.

Which is a notion that I fundamentally disagree with -- simply because I likewise disagree that the state and industry should merge into each other.

Show threadflipkoin   đź”»Dec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet but they are
Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022
@flipkoin Oh yeah, they are merging—and that's scary.
Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet I think we have a lot of different meanings in these words. For T==tPS, Public is not ownership, but about where people are and ease of access. Not just centralized but “centrally located in social systems.” The “Square” marks a mental space. Journalists using Twitter increases the sense of “public-ness” in a self-reinforcing way. This #publicsquare metaphor is important though. It’s why EM wanted to buy it. And even “the” is important in this metaphor! 1/3
Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet “The” Public Square implies singularity. So we have a desire for a single, shared cognitive space for… (whatever we do, which is a whole lot more different meanings.)
I think this indicates a need for greater cohesion *for new users* in the #Fediverse. Easier #search, maybe new ways to do #timelines, simpler #app on-ramp, etc. It looks fragmented from the start, and adds to the learning curve, and thus deters adoption. 2/3
Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet I see the potential of Fed/Masto. I think that there are some key #mastodonfeatures that can help it achieve that potential. Ease of use, reduced initial #complexity, and mapping onto at least some parts our existing metaphors and frames are likely to be important to do so and get strong (and broad!) network effects. 3/3
Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022

@jakemiller And this is where I ask, "But at what cost?"

We've seen what happens when social media, as well as the Internet, get centralized.

Perhaps what we need is decentralization that simulates centralization.

Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking! Decentralized architecture? Excellent. But the fediverse has a sense of chaos around it, which is a deterrent. Some sort of wrapper, which makes it easy to get in and then get to understand what’s awesome (and what a more civilized online culture can be.) And I think that’s not just one thing, it’s in code, in online services, and in moderation activity.
Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022
@jakemiller This will take careful consideration because anything that results in recentralization is a net negative.
Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet oof, started a reply which was getting really wordy and complex. There are lots of pressures both toward and away from centralization. Local timelines create pressure for some centralization, but might cap it when it becomes a firehose. (Is there a way to subscribe to another server’s local/feds? This would be a big decentralizing pressure!) Replication behavior creates central pressure, I think… structure will depend on a lot of factors around delivering value!
Show threadChris CarlinDec 6, 2022

@jakemiller @atomicpoet
But The Public Square evolves out of analogy to squares in each town. There's one public square... per town, but there are many towns.

We have a desire for places with critical mass, with network effects, places where people we want to talk to will congregate to make communication practical.

That doesn't mean there has to be one single place, and having just one has its own issues

Federated instances providing different places to choose from satisfies this need better

Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@crcarlin @atomicpoet I agree - I think this is a solid architecture which produces some nice advantages! But I believe it also *can* replace Birdsite and users and society will be better off for it. But there are certain things that it is “for” which Mastodon today doesn’t do, which is why some people are experiencing disappointment. (Some, loudly.) Many do desire a unified national/global square, which Birdsite does imperfectly but better than others.
Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@crcarlin @atomicpoet And I think for journalists in particular, in an era of defunding news organizations, Twitter became a critical part of their operations. Self-reinforcing! Mastodon isn’t that, but it doesn’t need to be. Alternate approaches could theoretically deliver enough value for those uses - and then users come to prefer the unique value of the Fediverse.
Show threadChris CarlinDec 6, 2022

@jakemiller @atomicpoet To clarify, do you mean a sense of national/global square that is created by the algorithms doing the curation?

I wonder what the difference is between what you're referring to here and the global tab (whatever it's called) in Mastodon where it shows content from everywhere.

Is the difference purely a matter of algorithm?

Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@crcarlin @atomicpoet Fundamentally, I mean that Twitter users have a sense of the site as a “singular place,” despite having unique feeds! But there are specific features like Trending Topics that some people will use, and that reinforce the idea that everyone has a shared experience.
I might be wrong, but I think you’re talking about the Federated feed. This shows basically what people on the instance are subscribed to, afaik.
Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@crcarlin @atomicpoet I think it’s a super powerful feature (but is not in the official iOS app!) because your Masto neighbors are the algorithm. The idea is reinforced by features but it’s really a shared mental model. Easier to support such a product concept in a more centralized system, but deliberate design decisions in a decentralized system could serve this concept too.
Show threadChris CarlinDec 6, 2022

@jakemiller @atomicpoet You might be touching on yet another thing now.

Where DO Twitter users get that sense of the site as a singular place? I think that's an attitude that I've come across, but for the life of me, I don't understand it.

I asked you if that sense of national/global square came came from algorithm's curation, but this might be something different, more related to marketing, giving users a feeling regardless of how the site actually functions.

Maybe Masto. needs branding? :)

Show threadJake MillerDec 6, 2022
@crcarlin @atomicpoet Yeah, this is a whole other thing, while being intricately related. I’ll just throw out one possible contributor: Kimmel’s Mean Tweets segments. It shows that randos can heckle celebrities on Twitter. So, “all one place.” And I’m actually curious what impacts those segments had on discourse on the site in the following day/week. But you have these design “affordances” too like a single handle namespace. All build the concept.
Show threadXantulon  Dec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet I notice this attitude with cloudflare. Sure, one company should run 1/4+ of the internet backbone. They can stop DDoS attacks, right?
Show threadJacobDec 6, 2022

@atomicpoet The whole thing is:

Who owns the fediverse? Us.

Who owns Twitter? Elon Musk.

It’s a lot harder to shut down a collectively owned network than one singularly owned by one person/company

Show threadMelissaDec 6, 2022

@atomicpoet
\
Money, disability, and the digital divides are actually real, though. I literally can't decide to try to work with my chronic illness, continue to meet my obligations and run a server. I probably wouldn't be able to afford it, either.

Public, for many of us, means accessible.

Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022
@MelonDC Can't speak about obligations, but I can confirm that running an instance is affordable. It costs me $5/month.
Show threadMelissaDec 6, 2022

@atomicpoet

Well, I don't have the knowledge, and I spend a lot of time just trying to make a living.

My body forces me to sleep 2 hours during the day or I start swaying back and forth and my vision gets blurry.

It's true for a lot of the people I know who live with chronic illness and disability. We don't have energy/have brain fog/cognitive issues.

They don't call it disabling because it makes life easier or gives you more leisure.

Show threadChris TrottierDec 6, 2022

@MelonDC So I'm not saying that you should run an instance. What I am saying is the *cost* is not as big of a barrier as you may think.

Further, if you don't want to run an instance yourself, someone can do managed hosting for you at an affordable price.

Think of this like a Netflix subscription but substantially cheaper.

Show threadRobin BairnDec 6, 2022
@MelonDC @atomicpoet Not everyone has to run their own server for the Fediverse to be an open, public place. We get a lot of power from being able to choose which instances we join and being able to freely migrate between them, while still being able to associate between them. That's not something we get from centralized social media.
Show threadlevel 5 troon hazardDec 10, 2022
@MelonDC @atomicpoet the point isnt that everybody has to run their own instance, the point is that server infrastructure is not controlled by a single entity. The barrier of entry to starting a server is low enough that there can be a wide proliferation of independent instances rather then a single corporate service or small handful of such.
Show threadAndiDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet and people are actually rewarded for being sane here.
Show threadArindam BasuDec 9, 2022
Point to remember and repeat!
Show threadKevin TinkerDec 6, 2022
@atomicpoet "Public squares" are "owned" by the "public", i.e., a governmental authority. Twitter is not "owned" by the public - it is owned by one person.