mccDec 21, 2022

Re: https://mastodon.social/@lrhodes@merveilles.town/109552108127349128

Another important warning from the pawoo acquisition: The purchaser, Mask Network, is a cryptotoken company that pushes the "web3" myth and openly runs NFT scams*. A lot of people comment that when Twitter started failing it was ActivityPub that wound up being the decentralized way forward, not blockchain tech, but blockchain scammers have a financial interest in making it look otherwise. (1/2)

* Explaining this comment to ward off lawsuits: all NFT sales are scams.

Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022
@mcc I actually chatted with the new owner of Pawoo on Mastodon, & it’s not as nefarious as it seems. It’s closer to a Automattic (aka WordPress.com) buying Tumblr acquisition than a Meta (aka Facebook) buying Instagram acquisition. I will try to talk to the new owner tomorrow over Zoom about this.
Show threadFugue State Machine Moto
@darnell @mcc @tchambers beware the benevolent colonist. That’s all I’ve got left to say on the topic.
Dec 22, 2022 at 4:09pmWeb
Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022
@cmdrmoto @mcc @tchambers Person is of Asian descent so calling them colonist is a bit offensive. 🧐
Show threadFugue State Machine MotoDec 22, 2022

@darnell @mcc @tchambers bringing money into an environment that’s functioning just fine without money. That’s what makes the buyers colonists.

What the hell would the nationality of the person have to do with it?

Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022

@cmdrmoto @mcc @tchambers Colonists have historically raped, killed, enslaved & violently subjugated numerous individuals in regions on Earth.

It would be like me accusing you of being a violent, sadistic, human trafficker.

Buying a company does not make one a colonizer. Even a hostile takeover (Elon Musk buying Twitter for example) is not colonization.

Show threadFugue State Machine MotoDec 22, 2022

@darnell @mcc @tchambers Money is exchanging hands. The appearance is, the purchaser expects to obtain control over a group of people (or more specifically, some of their data).

Money changing hands, with the intent being to purchase control over people.

That’s why I say this purchase looks like an attempt at colonization.

Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022

@cmdrmoto @mcc @tchambers Believe it or not money was not exchanged with the “acquisition” of Mstdn.jp or Mastodon.cloud as Mast.io took over the bills & liabilities to prevent those instances from shutting down.

I suspect something similar with Pawoo as well (I doubt that instance was profitable), but I will confirm over Zoom when I chat with the new owner.

Show threadFugue State Machine MotoDec 22, 2022

@darnell @mcc @tchambers does Mast.io simply pay the bills, and otherwise keep their hands off the other instances they’re supporting?

Or are we seeing attempts by profit-motivated corporations, to acquire a critical mass of users, as phase zero of yet another “embrace / extend / extinguish” cycle?

Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022

@cmdrmoto @mcc @tchambers There are already companies with #Mastodon instances now or who will enter, although I do not see many trying to buy an established Instance for now due to monetization factors.

It’s the same reason why Tumblr had trouble finding a buyer.

Most Mastodon instances are not profitable & operate at a loss (which is a major issue).

Show threadFugue State Machine MotoDec 22, 2022

@darnell @mcc @tchambers Company wants to use a private fediverse instance for self-promotion, similar to how corporate twitter accounts work? Sound fine to me.

It’s the instances whose primary resource is their user base.

When those users are sold to the highest bidder, will they even know that they’re being peeled away from the free-software herd?

Do they even *see* the profit-extraction mechanisms they’re about to be fed into?

Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022
@cmdrmoto @mcc @tchambers I will let you know when I ask the new owner questions about acquiring Pawoo. 😉😜
Show threadDarnell Clayton Dec 22, 2022

@cmdrmoto @mcc @tchambers The alternative was for the sites to shut down, which happened to Mastodon.Technology by the way.

Running #Mastodon instances is becoming increasingly expensive, with some people paying $200 to $2000 a month now in operational costs. This is not sustainable long term, & unless members donate funds to support the site it will eventually shut down or the admin will transfer ownership.

Show threadFugue State Machine MotoDec 22, 2022

@darnell @mcc @tchambers for sure, any successful instance will need to find a sustainable revenue model; computronium and bandwidth does have real-world costs.

Historically, when a for-profit company buys up a company that’s been operating with an unsustainable revenue model, it’s bad news for whoever just got Bought.