Chris Trottier

Dear journalists, please stop referring to Mastodon as “Web3”.

While Mastodon is decentralized, it doesn’t utilize blockchain or token-based economics.

While you may believe this buzzword makes you sound smart to readers, it really just generates confusion.

https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2023/04/social-networks-face-the-wisdom-of-crowds/

@fediversenews

Social networks face the wisdom of crowds

Web3 promises a new world of social media where you are the boss. The problem? You are now the boss.

Apr 17, 2023 at 7:19pmIceCubesApp
Show threadStewartApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews It seems to me that "Web3" is beginning to mean much more than the narrow blockchain-based definition that the crypto bros originally gave it. As a catch-all term for all things decentralised, I don't mind it
Show threadJupiter RowlandApr 17, 2023
@Stewart @Chris Trottier Originally, in mainstream media, #Metaverse referred to Zuckerberg's #HorizonWorlds because nobody except Neal Stephenson, his readers, the #OpenSimulator community and a select few others had heard that word before. For some media outlets, it still does.

#Web30 referred to what would follow on the heels of "Facebook's Metaverse" using blockchains, cryptocurrencies and NFTs as something allegedly essential and inevitable in the creation and operation of #VirtualWorlds. In other, fewer words: get-rich-quick schemes. Probably not few of them went under in the crypto crash, especially those that relied on existing currencies.

Unfortunately, neither mainstream media nor tech media nor their audience could hear the #SecondLife and #OpenSim users laugh. Since people believe the former shut down before spring 2009, and almost nobody has ever heard of the latter, the cryptobros can continue implying that blockchain, crypto and NFTs are absolute necessities for virtual worlds.
Netzgemeinde/Hubzilla

Show threadi.grokApr 18, 2023
@yourfootmyface @atomicpoet @fediversenews they've already poisoned it, they can keep it
Show threadFeralRobotsApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet
OTOH I do find it a little funny that the Web3 crowd so badly failed to link the buzzword up with the blockchain that now some journalists are using it for the #fediverse, which is in some ways almost its inverse.
@fediversenews
Show threadColin WatsonApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews The W3C says there is no such thing as Web3 https://w3c.social/@w3c/109836177272710553
World Wide Web Consortium (@[email protected])

Do you know why you won't find any mention anywhere on the W3C website of #web3? It does not exist. BOOM! There is one web.

w3c.social
Show threadIan TindaleApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews it’s not even web – twitter and mastodon are apps
Show threadAlisonW ♿🏳️‍🌈♾️Apr 17, 2023
@u0421793 @atomicpoet @fediversenews
Both _have_ apps but both are websites at root.
Show threadAngus Marshall  Apr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews Besides, eny fule kno it am Web 3 point Oh!
Show threadMatěj KoubíkApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews It's also "decentralized" in a way that it has no single centre. Not in a way it's permissionless and trustless.
Show threadRumblestiltskinApr 17, 2023

@atomicpoet @fediversenews I think web3 is just referring to the evolution of the internet away from centralised corporations serving and holding your data.

Crypto people thought blockchains would accomplish this but maybe federated networks will be the ones to do it. And maybe blockchains still have a place there too... 🤓

Show threadDavid Penfold Apr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews Or as we like to say, "It's a load of old bollocks".
Show threadJamesApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews the irony is also in how few of those ‘decentralized’ project do their shilling outside of centralized platforms.
Show thread[EUnomia Trust Factor: 21/100]Apr 17, 2023
@jmalone @atomicpoet @fediversenews It's on here if you know where to look for it. Admittedly "Mastodon" is pretty hostile to cryptocurrency/nft/"web3". @10grans has been here since like 2018 and @randomencounter since 2020 (since retired.) it wasn't even possible to play randomencounter on mastodon because of the lack of features like emoji reacts so it never caught on on this side of the network but for a while 10grans was pretty popular.
Show threadGreenDotGuyApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews posted from my phone, which says '5G' in the signal bar, but is using what is essentially 4G for data and entirely 4G for operational network functions.
Show threadAhri Boy (archived)Apr 17, 2023
@DarcMoughty @atomicpoet @[email protected] 5G has serious problems, and only few people use it. Just stick to 4G for now. Rural areas will stick to 4G as only urban areas have 5G masts.
Show threadGreenDotGuyApr 17, 2023
@ahriboy @atomicpoet @fediversenews I live in the city. I typically get 4G speeds on a nominally '5G' connection, but the 'real' 5G works fine when I'm a stone's throw from one of the access points. I got 440Mbps to my phone a few weeks ago... which is cool, but sorta useless to me (very useful for the telco though, since now they can support more density).
Show threadi.grokApr 18, 2023

@ahriboy @atomicpoet @DarcMoughty @fediversenews I think it would be better to say it would be a waste of money to go out of your way to upgrade your hardware for 5G

Actually avoiding it when you have the hardware for it is just pain for no reason (it's fine when you have it, it's just useless)

Show threadAhri Boy (archived)Apr 18, 2023
@igrok @atomicpoet @DarcMoughty @[email protected] 5G plans are absolutely expensive. I watched the Mrwhosetheboss video again and I stayed with 4G.
Show threadGreenDotGuyApr 18, 2023

@ahriboy Interesting, I didn't even know some providers were charging more for it. My plan doesn't have a 5G tier, you just pay your bill and get whatever service & signal your device can use best.

It's sort of silly to charge customers for 5G; the marginal cost of people using it should be significantly lower than 4G. I'm guessing providers charging more for it are riding the hype wave to soak as much money up from people who think they need it, when it's actually the telco companies that need people to switch over.

Show threadi.grokApr 18, 2023

@ahriboy @atomicpoet @DarcMoughty @fediversenews wow, who is/where are they doing that?!

Maybe they're aware it's all hype and are tired of customers pushing for it, so they're trying to price it out of the market? Lol, if only...

Show threadGreenDotGuyApr 18, 2023

@igrok there *is* a lot of hype, but there's also a legitimate reason we need it. What's going on is that the telcos are pitching us 'faster amazing new stuff' and pitching policymakers on 'transformative information economy enablement' which are both bullshit.

The truth isn't that I need 400mbps to my phone, car, or IoT things; a few Mbps is enough for all those things to work just fine. It's the telcos that need to be able to support all the smartphones, cars with telemetry, IoT street lights, etc. without throttling everyone.

Show threadKevin DavidsonApr 18, 2023
@ahriboy @atomicpoet @DarcMoughty @fediversenews @igrok Where is this?
Here (UK) I get 5G pretty much everywhere, except out in the countryside where it will drop to 4G. When I’ve measured the speed it’s usually faster than my home fibre connection. And there’s no such thing as a 4G plan. Everyone gets 5G as standard (if your phone is capable).
I’m paying £15 a month for unlimited calls/texts, 30GB data 5G, better deals exist.
Show threadGreenDotGuyApr 18, 2023
@MetalSamurai I can't speak to where others live, but the USA has absolutely giant swaths of middle-low density (US portion of people living in flats is about half of UK), and most people aren't very close to the 'really fast 5G'.
Show threadJablonskiApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews so much for the freedom of speech Twitter says it defends.
Show threadSven GeggusApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews #Usenet predates Web 1.0 and was already decentralized.
Show threadantlersApr 17, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews wtf
Show threadBroken TrolandApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews The world would be a better place if Mastodon and its philosophy of decentralization was the Web3 bandwagon everyone was writing about, rather than crypto bank schemes and token grifts pushed by celebrities.
Show threadPhilip Mallegol-HansenApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews Maybe I’m just cynical, but this doesn’t seem like an innocent act of confusion. Rather a purposeful ploy to keep “Web3” relevant.
Show threadDavid Blue ⁂ ∆Apr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews and in terms of advancement, it's definitely more like Web6 or 7.
Show threadjoeygApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews web3 will always mean decentralized to me.
Show threadShannonApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews All your posts are always on point.
Show threadGen X-WingApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet It’s retro web! :)
Show threadAswath RaoApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet
We have to keep repeating & emphasizing that the operative word in Fediverse is federation; decentralization is incidental. OTOH, Web3 stops at being decentralized (to be generous); federation has never been an objective.
@fediversenews
Show threadJeroen BaertApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews run from anyone using the phrase "web3". It's hollow, undefined buzzword dribble.
Show threadTony NovakApr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet @fediversenews Seriously, what’s a better term for us simple folk?
Show threadxyhhxApr 18, 2023
@Onlineadviser @atomicpoet @fediversenews is web0 what you want?
Show threadChris TrottierApr 18, 2023
@Onlineadviser @fediversenews Just call it Fediverse.
Show threaddgeo ☕Apr 18, 2023

@atomicpoet

I'd propose "It's web1.1", used by people that avoid ".0" versions ;)

@fediversenews

Show threadClaudius (legacy account)Apr 18, 2023
@atomicpoet
The term web3 has been around for 15 years. It used to be the semantic web that we never really got.
I always hated that the crypto-idiots claimed that term for themselves. I would not let them have it.
@fediversenews @aral
Show threadDr. Angus Andrea Grieve-SmithApr 18, 2023
@claudius @atomicpoet @fediversenews @aral Yeah, I'm not a fan of "the semantic web" or crypto-scams. Using "Web3" for the fediverse is a way of retconning the crypto-mistake!
Show threadAsbjørn UlsbergApr 18, 2023

@atomicpoet @fediversenews @IronCurtain I hear you, but the way I see it, the only ones who lose anything by “web3” becoming a confusing term are the cryptobros.

Perhaps we can take this opportunity to completely obliterate the original meaning of “web3” and have it permanently disconnected from crypto. I wouldn’t mind that.