Annalee Newitz 🍜Gotta love tech journalists who describe Mastodon as "that impossible-to-use website." First of all, it's an app. C'mon. Second of all, aren't these the same people who write breathless explainers about the wonder of cryptocurrencies, which are not only impossible to understand but literally built from bullshit?
taylor hatmaker@annaleen it’s such a confusing sentiment bc it’s basically the same experience (without a few refinements) except you pick a server??
Jeremy Kahnpicking a server is almost exactly as fraught as picking a neighborhood to live in, only it's somewhat easier to move if/when you figure out that the neighbors aren't kind.
similarly, people with privilege can pretty safely just throw a dart at a map and come out okay; people with less privilege usually have to check with their own personal networks -- is it safe for me to be myself in this neighborhood? would the neighbors call the cops on me for walking my dog?
@trochee @Tayhatmaker I completely agree with that. Mastodon has a lot of problems, especially with abuse of marginalized folks. What gets me steamed up are tech journalists calling it "impossible to use" on what I assume are UX grounds, often without even bothering to try it.
Paul Guinnessy@Tayhatmaker @annaleen @trochee It’s the Metatext app that has changed the experience for me. Much much easier to use and more twitter-like. Of the 1400 I follow on twitter only 173 are here on Mastodon.
@Guinnessy @Tayhatmaker @annaleen when i said "move is easy" i meant from one mastodon instance to another.
In this respect, Twitter (and Post, Hive, etc) are the polities within the Infomocracy that have refused to let their citizens change centenals or agitate to induce their centenal to change coalitions (cf Malka Older's book by the same name)
@Guinnessy @Tayhatmaker @annaleen
Tumblr offering ActivityPub, and major press setting up instances, may be the crack in the dam that turns those corporate polities into outsider states
Long live the new Republic, and long live the Resistance, even then!
@trochee @Guinnessy @Tayhatmaker Yeah I'm super excited about Tumblr and Mozilla getting into the Fediverse
Indeed! Do you know, by the way, if M Older has found her way over here yet?
My best takes on the Fediverse all owe something to INFOMOCRACY
SpeakerToManagers@annaleen @Guinnessy @Tayhatmaker @trochee
I wonder how many existing instances will block one or more of them and how long that will take.
I wonder how many existing instances will block one or more of them and how long that will take.