BIG NEWS: Pawoo.net, the world's 2nd biggest Mastodon instance, has just been acquired.
The entity acquiring them is the Mask Group, a business that also runs mstdn.jp and mastodon.cloud. They are also active in the so-called "Web 3.0" space.
If you haven't heard of pawoo.net, it's because many instances have de-federated from it.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/mask-network-acquires-pawoo-net-070000858.html
Like it or not, it should no longer be assumed that "volunteers" are running your instances.
The Mask Group, which now runs three large instances "has raised over US$50 million from private and institutional backers"—their words not mine.
@atomicpoet What is the perceived revenue stream that justifies such an investment?
@atomicpoet @bullivant They may try to copy what Truth Social is doing & insert ads within people’s timelines.
Even though there are corporate-owned instances, it is particularly jarring that a corporate overlord assimilates instances now.
But I think we will see more of this for one reason: Twitter is dying, so companies are trying to “buy the next Twitter” instead of building one.
@atomicpoet @bullivant I agree. We might see corporations target #Pixelfed instances next.
Also, #Mastodon admins are going to receive lucrative offers soon, & some might sell if they are unable to pay operational costs for their servers.
It will become critical for members to support their local servers.
Establish #PlatformCooperative|s:
→ https://mastodon.social/@jpreisendoerfer/109551581704521128
Pls also take note of this posting which explains an #international|ized legal variant of #Coop|s from #Europe:
→ https://mastodon.social/@jpreisendoerfer/109552671629249750
🌺
🏷️ #Genossenschaft #ICA #InternationalCooperativeAlliance #Introduction #Cooperative #CooperativeEconomics #SocietasCooperativaEuropaea #SCE
#EuropeanCooperativeSociety
@darnell @bullivant @SocialCoop
Nice!
Thanks for drawing my attention to it!
I think it would be okay for such #cooperative|s to be #ForProfit (which essentially comes down to support for their members).
Very often, there is an almost immediate reflex to think of a #coop as something which must be #NonProfit.
However, #trade, #craft, #commerce & #service are concepts which are orthogonal to #Capitalism. One can responsably do the first without the latter, even more so in a coop.
🌺
@darnell absolutely agree with you that ads are coming to the Fediverse. Not entirely terrible because servers cost money, but I’m very grateful we have alternative funding mechanisms.
Question of “when” and “how much”.
Timeline injection is the obvious route. That gives the possibility of getting boosted into ad-free instances you’re not otherwise welcome on.
I expect instances with ads on the web UI and locked down APIs.
@darnell @atomicpoet @bullivant I wonder if #ActivityPub is ready for this. How do we converse with people on ad-supported instances without subjecting ourselves to the marketing?
Ad-supported instances will be free but spammy. User base will tend less-technical and less-privileged. If we just de-federate them we will lose valuable diversity.
@darnell @atomicpoet @bullivant One option: protocol level “sponsored post” metadata. Let instances auto hide those. Block instances that broadcast spam without self-flagging. There should be enough good actors for less-privileged users to find an instance that behaves.
Of course, the bad actors will not flag ads. They’ll do sneaky stuff like shove a banner add image onto user’s posts without asking. I’m not looking forward to that.
Chris Trottier
iamBullivant
Darnell Clayton 
Richard Bairwell
alternative_be✅🖖🏻
Jörg Preisendörfer
Peter Bronez
tumble
Sage (is the Name)