Mastodawn

Batt76 Jan 12, 2023

Twitter suspension of the DC transit system account may well have been an unintended goof, or a software issue, but it's one more reason to stress how important it is for public agencies not to rely on the Musk-controlled, highly centralized system. What I said about why journalists should migrate off the birdsite goes for everyone else who wants to control their online destinies: https://www.techdirt.com/2023/01/04/journalists-and-others-should-leave-twitter-heres-how-they-can-get-started/

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

Red Shirt Dude Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor This is an excellent point which I would expand upon.
I was a software developer for many years and am making an educated guess here. I'm guessing that DC transit has an IT staff and a spare computer lying around that could be added to the #fediverse in less than a week.

@Red_Shirt_Dude
They could set up a #mastodon instance in about 3 hours using a DigitalOcean Droplet. Including upgrade to v4.

Costs like $10/mo.
@dangillmor @GhostOnTheHalfShell

Red Shirt Dude Jan 11, 2023

@notroot @dangillmor @GhostOnTheHalfShell I was using #Scotty #StarTrek estimation. I think I nailed it. BTW, anyone looking for a project manager?

Claire Barnes Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor Medical and public-health twitter has been invaluable during #COVID & given all the misinformation & disinformation it is surely the sector that most needs a sound interference-free platform. It's therefore disappointing how many of the key scientists appeared only briefly here & continue to focus on the dangerous birdsite. Could IT-savvy medics, #pandemic-savvy techies, & relevant institutions, all please support development to meet #MedSci needs on the #Fediverse ?

Claire Barnes Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor Initial ease-of-use is definitely an issue...
https://med-mastodon.com/@kmpanthagani/109383499358719122
Many scientists have set up backup accounts here but have not become active, learned how to navigate the many quirks of #Mastodon, or found an adequate community of professional peers.
There's a huge #PublicInterest in #OpenSource #OpenAccess #SocialMedia #DigitalInfrastructure for #PublicHealth #SciCom ... who is working on #Fediverse solutions, as alternative to biassed sites & walled gardens?

Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD (@[email protected])

This site has to make it easier to follow people from different servers. Going and copy and pasting their url into your own server is a little ridiculous. Unless I'm missing something as a mastodon newbie?

Med-Mastodon

Mark Saltveit Jan 12, 2023

@ClaireFromClare @dangillmor To my eye, ease of use is fine. It's the culture that's hard to get used to, and the fact that you have to be more active to find what you want, since the algorithm isn't spoon-feeding you.

For example, I like jokey accounts and missed the good gags on Twitter -- until I saw one good gagster, followed them, scrolled through their timeline and found another half-dozen good follows, and now I'm set.

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 11, 2023

@ClaireFromClare @dangillmor med-mastodon is a troll-free haven of good COVID info, if you're looking for users/a good server to follow, and the users are verified by the admin.

Claire Barnes Jan 12, 2023

@thespoonless Thank you for the recommendation. I'm grateful to those who relay good #Covid info here; my point was that most top medical / scientific / #PublicHealth professionals who provide cutting-edge #pandemic discussion have briefly tried #Mastodon & then stayed on birdsite. I'm hoping that #ITdevelopers are analysing the needs of this important group & working to find solutions on the #Fediverse ... ?

#TwitterMigration #FediDev #MastoDev #Mozilla
@EU_Health @dangillmor @mackayim2022

Ian M. Mackay, PhD (he/him)Jan 12, 2023

@ClaireFromClare @thespoonless @dangillmor @EU_Health For my part, I simply don't want to go back to the start. I don't have time to learn too many new social media things and I don't really want to do all the same work all over again. I'm not here to learn about the tool, I'm here to just use it. 🤷

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 14, 2023

@mackayim2022 @ClaireFromClare @dangillmor @EU_Health It's really not that bad, though. I think a lot of the "But it's sooo haaard" posted on Twitter could also have been disinformation, designed to keep the avian droppings container's users trapped.

Dominique Julia Jan 12, 2023

@ClaireFromClare
My guess is that they have invested a lot of time, developed new, strong, international professional networks & a lot going on through DMs on birdsite. Plus, if public messaging for large public, clearly not here yet.
@thespoonless @dangillmor @mackayim2022

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 14, 2023

@Smokescreen @ClaireFromClare @dangillmor @mackayim2022 This is why I wish the Canadian federal government would follow the EU example, and start their own instance. That's definitely way too much to ask for, though.

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 14, 2023

@ClaireFromClare @dangillmor @mackayim2022 @EU_Health Yes, I agree, but unfortunately, as long as the government agencies/universities those professionals work for, refuse to leave Twitter, they will never make the switch; they literally can't!

And so their replies are filled with vicious toxicity, and disinformation, and they're...boiled frogs, basically.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog

I'm happy to have found/curated the good scicomm list I have. Use it in good health!

Boiling frog - Wikipedia

Shoq 🌿Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor The civic connection has been on my mind since last year. It's structurally uncomplicated. But we need more mature and stable platforms for mass adoption.

Jeff Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor no one can trust Twitter

Johan Diederik Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor i say this over and over again: Musk is the guy “Carver” in 007 film Tomorrow never dies. Go and see it and you will agree to this.

Flaming Cheeto Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor
Being back Google Reader.
RSS everything

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 11, 2023

@PizzaDemon @dangillmor RSS hasn't died! RSS never went anywhere!

https://blog.feedspot.com/rss_directory/

RSS Directory - Feedspot

Feedspot Blog

cowboybanjobiker 🤠🪕🚴Jan 11, 2023

I can't agree enough

Nicole Parsons Jan 11, 2023

Reminder that Musk is coordinating with other Republican billionaire donors. He is enacting the will of his investors.

OPEC and Morgan Stanley want to thwart any transition away from fossil fuel use.

Republican billionaire donors don't like public transportation. They want to control redistricting. They want Democrat voters concentrated into a single district for gerrymandering.

https://www.good.is/articles/this-is-why-republicans-hate-mass-transit

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/climate/koch-brothers-public-transit.html

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/transportation/story/2022-11-27/san-diegos-rail-expansion-survive-gop-election-shake-up

This Is Why Republicans Hate Mass Transit

A chart from Transport Politic makes it clear as day why Congressional Republicans don't care for mass transit: it's density.

GOOD

Iαn has moved account Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor
If you are on Twitter or any centralised network, you draw in other users, who draw in even more users and keep them there. They can't leave or they will lose their followers. This is how users make a monopoly and then complain when Twitter doesn't care any more. The fediverse's open networks don't have that problem.

So the solution is clear. If you are on Twitter, stop being selfish and short sighted. And stop blaming others for problems you helped cause. Quit Twitter now.

xs4me2 Jan 11, 2023

It is very simple. Social media do not belong in the hands of private enterprise but in the regulated public domain. The days of the wild west and gold rush are over.

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 11, 2023

@xs4me2 @dangillmor Social media does not belong on the Internet.

Robert Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor But then many Mastodon servers still run on centralised servers. Unles syou pick one on the Threefold decentralised grid, this one. 😉 #threefold #decentralised

newsorpigal Jan 11, 2023

It was probably some AI system running amok. AI is not good enough for these kinds of tasks and generates too many false positives.

PJ "Vote Green" Coffey Jan 11, 2023

Curating as:

#DanGillmor #twittermigration #journalists #TwitterBan #DCTransitSuspended
#MastodonFuture

Barry Schwartz 🫖Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor WIth journalism organizations and journalists, I start from the observation that their jobs are to present the maximum number of words to the maximum number of eyes, without receiving distracting talk-back.

‘Freedom of expression’ barely enters into this, except as a theory diverting attention from the foregoing facts.

So there is really no large chance of journalism orgs leaving Twitter over Skum’s antics.

Barry Schwartz 🫖Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor (This may also help explain why so many of them are so very wordy.)

Arena Cops 🇺🇦✌Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor Good advice! Political leaders & government agencies of free western democracies should stop relying on wannabe-monarch Musk's microblogging network.
Democracy & arbitrary punishment, silencing of critical voices don't go together well!

#Mastodon #Freedom #SocialMedia #LeaveTwitter #MuskMuzzles #RottenBird

The Spoonless Kitchen Jan 11, 2023

@dangillmor Oh, it wasn't unintended at all; bet cash money, the foreign state bad actors are getting desperate enough (now that everyone recognizes "Trending" is basically foreign state-sponsored propaganda campaigns), that they're trying to disrupt "the west" in any and every way they can.

Thus, hundreds or thousands of false reports later, and the "automated" processes "automatically" kick the targeted account off the website.

That's not very "automated" at all, now is it?