Richard MacManusDec 21, 2022
My interview with @blaine, who was there at the very beginning of Twitter; now he's focused on building #fediverse infrastructure that will help #Mastodon scale. https://thenewstack.io/why-a-twitter-founding-engineer-is-now-all-in-on-mastodon/
Why a Twitter Founding Engineer Is Now All-in on Mastodon

Blaine Cook was there at the very beginning of Twitter; now he's focused on building fediverse infrastructure that will help Mastodon scale.

The New Stack
Show threadJames GleickDec 21, 2022
@ricmac @blaine I happen to agree with this: “Many people would like to join a Mastodon instance that lets them open their posts up for indexing, so that we can search content on that instance — it’s good for topic tracking, monitoring news, etc.”
Show threadWiredfire Dec 21, 2022

@JamesGleick @ricmac @blaine I'd argue that the safety of those who have historically been targeted by trolls using such indexing trumps that.

Of course being instance-specific lessens the impact but also the usefulness.

But rather than bend Mastodon into something it’s not designed to be the better question is “is Mastodon the right place for such discourse?”. The answer might be “no”, which is absolutely ok.

The web is not short of platforms, you may find one better suits that use case.

Show threadRonja A-R (e/em/eir ; hen)Dec 21, 2022

@wiredfire @JamesGleick @ricmac @blaine

Exactly. No point building yet another platform/network, spexes based on a few hundred million people's comfort. Meanwhile around 7.5 billion potential users' critical needs would again be sidestepped.

"I would love for everyone to search in everything that I have tooted" = they have never been & are unlikely to become seriously bullied & have no marginalized near & dear = globally a minority.

Show threadblaine

@ronja @wiredfire @JamesGleick @ricmac I fully agree that we need to build networks that can adapt to the needs of *everyone*, not just the needs of rich white people.

That said, folks like @shengokai have been very vocal that things like QT are an important tool, culturally and liberationally, for (at the very least) Black people in America.

Similarly, white narratives have long overshadowed e.g. indigenous voices. "History is written by the victor" and all that.

Dec 21, 2022 at 8:46pmWeb
Show threadblaineDec 21, 2022

@ronja @wiredfire @JamesGleick @ricmac @shengokai which is really just to say that *agency* is the important outcome here, *especially* for marginalized people who have historically been denied that.

In that sense, Mastodon's form being set (to use a gentle word) by a white European man is a real problem, even if he purports to speak for the wider "mastodon community."

I have faith we won't end up in that situation, though!