AZITADec 10, 2022
Darius Kazemi

So Seth Abramson is one of the sloppiest public thinkers I have ever encountered, who circa 2016 helped invent the rhetorical style of the buckle-up-for-some-politics Twitter mega-thread. He has advised people who listen to him that they should avoid "Mastodon" (he means the Fediverse I think).

https://post.news/article/2IanIj231d7nc5bxqOxIJpFfGwe

I cannot overstate how much this means we are doing something right over here.

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Dec 9, 2022 at 8:51pmWeb
Show threadnevDec 9, 2022
@darius thank FUCK
Show threadjonDec 9, 2022
@nev @darius yeah really. it's weird, i was looking to make a screenshot of muting and blocking somebody and i was looking for his account -- i could have sworn i blocked him a while ago -- but couldn't find it. now i know why!
Show threadnevDec 9, 2022
@darius can we all chip in like $0.01 and get whoever suspended him a beer
Show threadRoDec 9, 2022
@darius Calling that dude sloppy is being very, very kind.
Show threadmike bayer  Dec 9, 2022
@darius the top comment is "Interesting. I never joined Mastodon because I couldn’t figure out the business model. "
Show threadDarius KazemiDec 9, 2022
@zzzeek ahahahahhahaa
Show threadBrian HawthorneDec 9, 2022
@zzzeek @darius People who ask, “but what’s the business model?” just can’t seem to understand that there are forms of human cooperation that are not businesses or governments!
Show threadWurstsemmel 🕊🇺🇦 #SlavaUkraïniDec 10, 2022
@zzzeek @darius He didn't realize he wouldn't get paid by "Mastodon". 🤣
Show threadKim Spence-Jones #FBPEDec 18, 2022
@zzzeek The business model is “it’s useful”. 😁 Just like the business model for email.
Show threadMs. Penny OakenDec 9, 2022
@darius
Show threadDarius KazemiDec 9, 2022
@PennyOaken lol wow
Show threadMs. Penny OakenDec 9, 2022
@darius I don’t subscribe to Freud but sometimes a subtext just screams out
Show threadBuffalo RudeDec 9, 2022

@PennyOaken @darius I mean, I’m not much of a joiner but ok..

Lmao.

Show threadMaria BustillosDec 9, 2022

@darius

🎯

Show thread"Big Emmy" CariglinoDec 9, 2022
@darius oh no, anything but keeping us from "seeing journalism" whatever that means lmao
Show threadBerkubernetusDec 9, 2022
@darius I really love the whole uber-privilege argument of "If they can suspend me, what will they do to you?".
Show threadindriDec 9, 2022

@fuzzychef @darius

Interesting take here in one of his comments. How exaclty is the admin going to know that he might have made a mistake if he isn't contacted? Mind reading?

Show threadTim PalmerDec 9, 2022
@fuzzychef @indri @darius
I was willing to give him some benefit of the doubt until that. FFS, there’s a button.
Show threadT.WllmsDec 9, 2022

@indri @fuzzychef @darius

Sounds like that one orange f’cker… …

Show threadBerkubernetusDec 9, 2022
@indri @darius But you don't UNDERSTAND. Seth isn't just some user. He's IMPORTANT PEOPLE. And Important People are handled differently!
Show threadChris [list of emoji]Dec 10, 2022

@fuzzychef @indri @darius

This.

Show threaddeutrinoDec 10, 2022
@indri ahh yes, another important and deeply culturally relevant Blue Check who quite properly insists that everyone attend to his self-perception of clout @fuzzychef @darius
Show threadDanDec 10, 2022
@indri @fuzzychef @darius hahahaha good luck with that eh
Show threadmvanderheideDec 10, 2022
@indri @fuzzychef @darius

What really helps in these cases, is to be *member* of a small instance and know who the admin/moderator is/are. Then you can simply talk-it-out. And if you really have an issue with each other, then simply find an instance that matches your way of thinking better.
Show threadYusuf ToropovDec 10, 2022

@indri @fuzzychef @darius So basically what we have got here is a situation where if you cop an attitude and get snarky you might get banned. Even if you were or are a big deal on the bird app.

He is not a customer and this is not a failure of customer service. This is him being a jerk.

Show threadDarius KazemiDec 10, 2022
@YusufToropov @indri @fuzzychef "He is not a customer and this is not a failure of customer service." that's possibly the best summation I've seen out of literally dozens here, well said!
Show threadYusuf ToropovDec 10, 2022
@darius @indri @fuzzychef I used to thread through all his stuff on the Bird App, thinking that doing so and retweeting it would eventually get rid of 45.
Show threadBerkubernetusDec 11, 2022
@darius @YusufToropov @indri one of the things we'll continue to see for the next 3-6 months is folks who were Big Parrots in Birdland being shocked to discover that it's a status that doesn't transfer elsewhere.
Show threadYusuf ToropovDec 11, 2022
@fuzzychef @darius @indri yep, also conversations matter more than lectures
Show threadJoostDec 16, 2022

@YusufToropov @indri @fuzzychef Counterpoint: banning people from social media because they're snarky about the admins/service/owners seems... bad?

Like, Elon could ban half of Twitter with that logic. He still might! And we'd presumably think that a bad thing?

Anyway, this is Seth Abramson we're talking about, so who tf knows what happened. But "get snarky and you might get banned"? Eh.

Show threadindriDec 16, 2022
@almodozo @YusufToropov
I'd say there's a difference between a company with lots of employees and a monopoly in a certain area and a private citizen volunteering his time and money to provide a service for free in a system where you can move somewhere else without losing much (or nothing in this case, since he didn't post).
I'd expect the admin to make it possible to move the account with followers when asked though (unless there's major misbehavior).
Show threadBerkubernetusDec 16, 2022
@indri @almodozo @YusufToropov please leave me out of this discussion, thanks.
Show threadJoostDec 17, 2022

@indri Yeah, I dunno...

The message he got was that "You can still login to request a backup of your data," but I don't know if that also means being able to access the settings you'd need for initiating an account migration.

Yeah maybe if you ask the admin and they're willing to individually enable you to (but that seems like a big if?).

Then you could take your followers with you, but everything you tooted so far would be gone forever. (Not a problem in this case, but it would in others.)

Show threadJoostDec 17, 2022

@indri I get what you say about "a private citizen volunteering his time and money" — they run and pay for it, so they can do what they want, right?

But I keep thinking about the question what that means for people fleeing Twitter because they don't want to depend on the whims and (intransparent, inconsistent) decisions of one guy.

The social risks of a similar structure on a single Mastodon instance would obv be infinitesimally small. But to the individual user the downsides are the same, no?

Show threadJoostDec 17, 2022

@indri Sorry, just want to make clear I'm not comparing whoever the admin of Seth's instance is with Musk, obv! Pretty much anyone is likely to be a better human being than him... 😊

Just that, if the Mastodon offer is, like — "with us the admin of your instance can also throw people off just cause they feel like it, or you talked to them wrong — but don't worry, our guy is a good guy" — that would be.. not so persuasive maybe? 😁 Dunno.

Show threadindriDec 17, 2022
@almodozo
No question that there are problems with this system too. Difficult to solve though, moderation will always have some subjectivity unless it's extremely lenient and leaving it to an AI is probably worse.
I'd think in the long term it would be good to have some list/site where the servers are described in more detail, including the moderation principles.
Show threadindriDec 17, 2022
@almodozo
There's the additional problem of mods limiting or blocking whole servers they don't like, in addition to the obvious block list of nazis or porn. That's even more difficult to appeal, especially when you don't know it.
Lots of issues to work through, but I think it's also quite fascinating to see whether this kind of decentralization can work otu.
Show threadDianne HackbornDec 11, 2022
@indri @fuzzychef @darius Hm, sounds like he needs to have a journalist investigate this suspension.
Show threadJosh SutphinDec 9, 2022
@darius My god, he spilled *so much* ink just to say "I got banned and I'm mad about it"
Show threadT.WllmsDec 9, 2022

@invicticide @darius

That’s what it amounts to, self-absorbed schmuck is whining…

Show threadBrian VastagDec 10, 2022
@invicticide @darius But why did he get banned?
Show threadVolineDec 10, 2022
@brianvastag @invicticide @darius
Being Seth Abramson should be sufficient.
Show threadBrian VastagDec 10, 2022
@Voline @invicticide @darius self-righteous pile-ons are pretty gross
Show threadVolineDec 10, 2022

@brianvastag
Who’s getting piled on?

We’re you aware of this guy before today?

Show threadxianDec 10, 2022
@brianvastag @Voline @invicticide @darius mute
Show threadMagpieblogDec 9, 2022
@darius Since he first showed up as a prolific poster on the birdsite, he's been a self-promoter whose tweets are all clickbait aimed at increasing the audience for his paid outlets. I'm so glad he's staying away from Mastodon.
Show threadTim PalmerDec 9, 2022
@sarahc @darius
That was his pattern in bird world as well, so no surprise.
Show threadArmageddJenDec 9, 2022
@darius Is he the Time For Some Game Theory dude? Bc I can't click this link without knowing first if I have to steel myself for an alcohol and cocaine fueled rant that loses the thread like 2 paragraphs in
Show threadqueer as in fuck your bordersDec 9, 2022
@ItsJenNotGoblin That is exactly what this is. Save yourself, don't look. @darius
Show threadArmageddJenDec 9, 2022
@bright_helpings @darius thank you for confirming my (rare) good choices lol
Show threaddreww.ggDec 9, 2022
@ItsJenNotGoblin that was eric garland, but seth walked so eric could allegedly-drug-enhanced run. also im getting a procedure done to remove this knowledge from my brain
Show threadlippard✅Dec 10, 2022
@ItsJenNotGoblin @darius Different guy, similarly bad.
Show threadwb x64Dec 9, 2022
@darius isn't he like, very publicly a former national security advisor turned internet propagandist?
Show threadAustinDec 9, 2022
@darius i really love this is the point these people keep bringing up over and over, while at the same time Bari Weiss is over at twitter just casually perusing through people's dms
Show threadmyrmepropagandistDec 9, 2022

@powerllama @darius “anonymous overlords” — what kind of creepy server are they on?

That said I do think it could be more clear that DMs are like putting a note on a coworker’s office door— not like sending an encrypted email. Though who ever used twitter dms for anything sensitive anyway?

Show threadIke PigottDec 9, 2022
@futurebird @powerllama @darius <Anthony Weiner has entered the chat>
Show threadChampagneDec 10, 2022
@darius @futurebird @ike @powerllama hahahaha!