Dan GillmorJan 5, 2023

I keep saying journalists should leave Twitter and use Mastodon, which is better for them in every way. At TechDirt I've posted a somewhat lengthy why-and-how: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/04/journalists-and-others-should-leave-twitter-heres-how-they-can-get-started/

#journalism #twitterexodus

Journalists (And Others) Should Leave Twitter. Here’s How They Can Get Started

Summary: Elon Musk has demonstrated contempt for free speech in general, and journalism in particular, with his behavior at Twitter. He is also demonstrating why it is foolhardy for anyone to rely …

Techdirt
Show threadBritish Tech Guru
@dangillmor The problem with Mastodon is there's no uniqueness to user names. Joe Dingleberry can find he can be [email protected] but somebody else could be [email protected]
Jan 5, 2023 at 1:19amWeb
Show threadwilliam.maggosJan 5, 2023

@britishtechguru @dangillmor

this was always possible on Twitter, except now the server could be your company's domain name. I'd assume that would be better for journalists.

Show threadBritish Tech GuruJan 5, 2023
@wjmaggos @dangillmor Only while they work for that particular company and then what about truly independent journalists?
Show threadBannedalotJan 5, 2023

@britishtechguru @dangillmor

Actually 'I'd suggest the opposite is true, as journo@domain is unique in a way that Twitter handles can never be, enforced by DNS.

Show threadDavidJan 6, 2023

@bannedalot @britishtechguru @dangillmor

One aspect of journo Twitter is that many of them are there to build their personal brands, not the brands of their employer. There's a lot of job-hopping in that field, and they'd presumably have to leave their corporate account behind when they leave for a competitor.

Show threadBritish Tech GuruJan 6, 2023
@hcetamd @bannedalot @dangillmor Absolutely. Journalists get fired - a lot - so being tied to a newspaper instance probably isn't good. Hence the verified instance might be better. Better for everybody else too if politicians etc all go onto specific instances because each instance can be blocked.
Show threadLambert HellerJan 5, 2023
@britishtechguru @dangillmor With Mastodon (or any other Fediverse service, for that matter) you can use your own domain name for your username. This more unique than anything@ twitter .com. Plus, you factually *own* your username.
Show threadBritish Tech GuruJan 5, 2023
@Lambo @dangillmor Then it goes from free to costing money which isn't that far off from paying for a blue check mark.
Show threadLambert HellerJan 5, 2023
@britishtechguru @dangillmor Sure, it's cheap and easy to have a unique name within someone's arbitrary business model. It's just as unique, sustainably yours, as they want. Just as anything else you do/have on their platform. On he other hand, there *are* other models than paying for your own domain name out there, e.g. municipalities, cooperatives owning and sharing their server infrastructure.
Show thread ninboyJan 5, 2023
@britishtechguru @dangillmor Is this not true also for email addresses? You wouldn’t assume [email protected] to be the same as [email protected]. I believe what’s needed are more “official” servers, like newsrooms or press associations having their own masto server with their journalists having accounts there. But we are far from that.
Show threadBritish Tech GuruJan 5, 2023
@ninboy @dangillmor Perhaps there's money in having a verified server where everybody's identity is verified. Somebody setting up such an instance would be able to charge for membership and everybody else could block that instance. No better solution exists.