Dan GillmorMay 3, 2023

NPR is the only major journalism org to have shown a spine in dealing with Musk. So he's threatened to give the NPR username to someone else.

Yet even now -- despite Musk's growing contempt for and acts against journalism -- most media organizations and their employees STILL pour their work and some of their advertising money in to his rancid site.

What will it take for journalists to wake the hell up?

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173422311/elon-musk-npr-twitter-reassign

Show threadkurt baumgartnerMay 3, 2023
@dangillmor @dangoodin the problem is that this alternative is not terribly mature
Show threadDrFriendless 🇵🇸
@kurtisj @dangillmor @dangoodin The problem is that nobody wants to be part of an alternative vanity project for brands and celebrities. If maturity makes mastodon as awful as Twitter, why have it?
May 3, 2023 at 3:02amWeb
Show threadDan GoodinMay 3, 2023
@DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor Isn’t the bigger problem that people aren’t willing sacrifice something they like in order to defend fundamental principles?
Show thread1st Unoriginal Thot May 3, 2023
@dangoodin @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor I mean, make Mastodon fun and I am sure people will flock over.
Show threadDan GoodinMay 3, 2023
@slut @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor Are you saying that people, in particular journalists whose very avocation is threatened by the Twitter menace, should not follow a moral imperative to leave unless or until there's a place they like as much as Twitter?
Show threadDrFriendless 🇵🇸May 3, 2023

@dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor No not at all. I'm saying that journalists aren't leaving because they feel they have an audience on Twitter, be it ever so and increasingly deplorable. And because mastodon can't deliver them an audience which is centralised and captive they don't see the value in it. I feel if you ask a journalist or a politician or an advertiser to choose between morality or an audience, they will always choose the audience.

And the problem is that one of the things I love about mastodon is that I am not a captive audience for all of those egotists. And I don't wish mastodon to ever evolve into that. I would like mastodon to be a place where I follow those that I respect.

Mastodon is a peaceful village square, Twitter is Times Square where you are imprisoned in stocks and buffoons shout at you. When everyone is in the village square, what will the buffoons do?

Show threadDan GoodinMay 3, 2023
@DrFriendless @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor Sounds like you and I agree that Twitter is a lost cause that’s beyond redemption. My question was directed instead at those who refuse to do the right thing and dump Twitter simply because there is no alternative that has the same bells and whistles.
Show threadJarrod FratesMay 3, 2023

@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @NateSilver538
Is Mastodon a peaceful village square because it is inherently morally better, because it is more flexible, or because it hasn't become as popular so far?

For all the problems that could appear on Twitter, I had a curated feed that mostly (but not entirely) was comfortable. I was occasionally challenged, but I never had to deal with outright abuse. Maybe this is partly from being a cis white male, but I'm not sure how easily my name translates to that, and my avatar is a South American llama.

Show threadJarrod FratesMay 3, 2023

@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @NateSilver538

Many of whose who have stuck their neck out further than I have dared have come under fire. Part of that is undoubtedly because Twitter is a single realm. There are ways for Mastodon instance operators and I think individual users to block entire other instances. But what if mastodon.social or other major server becomes a problematic instance? It's not that easy to block without losing the platform, and we have Twitter Redux.

Show threadJarrod FratesMay 3, 2023

@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @NateSilver538

We have routinely seen new platforms coopted by everyone from edgelords to outright Nazis with varying levels of success, and I am skeptical that Mastodon as a platform is immune from that. It has the additional challenge that it's not hard to create an official-ish looking presence. Every time I look for someone I followed on Twitter, I get back half a dozen servers that apparently automatically repost anything tweeted by an equivalent Twitter account. It's not hard to slide in some fake stuff under that name. It's going to take a lot of work to avoid undermining the entire platform without establishing a new per-domain presence.

Show threadLZVolkMay 3, 2023
@jarrodfrates @DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @NateSilver538 Excellent points. It is possible to resolves some of these, yes? Especially if more supporters migrated here. Granted, 0 will never be reached, but could do better than Twitter is, and perhaps has. (Or is this ‘blind faith’ ;) )
Show threadMichael RothMay 3, 2023

@jarrodfrates @DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @NateSilver538

U mean the typical violence of Twitter comments is bad?

Show threadMarco RaaphorstMay 3, 2023
@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor “I feel if you ask a journalist or a politician or an advertiser to choose between morality or an audience, they will always choose the audience.” Good point!
Show threadLZVolkMay 3, 2023
@raaphorst @DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor Add scientists to that list. (And I’m a scientist, albeit frustrated by loyalty of other scientists remaining there).
Show threadPeter van Heusden (he/him) 🗿May 3, 2023
@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor Mastodon might be genteel etc but the audience is still largely there. And compare Sudan conversation on Mastodon (almost nonexistent) with what's going on on Twitter (plenty analysis, people coordinate plans for aid to people in need, etc). In fact Sudan updates are one of the few reasons I open Twitter these days.
Show threadHelenaMay 3, 2023
@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor Twitter is a never ending bar fight.
Show threadroodMay 3, 2023
@thelastpinkcar dangerous bars rarely go out of business where I live.
Show threadLZVolkMay 3, 2023

@thelastpinkcar @DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor

Best quote ever!

Show thread1st Unoriginal Thot May 3, 2023

@lzvolk @thelastpinkcar @DrFriendless @dangoodin @kurtisj @dangillmor All walks of people want to be at a bar, to watch the spectacle, to engage and exchange cross-culturally. Not many people want to feel policed by hall monitors 24/7 with a bent towards a specific monoculture. Especially, when the hall monitors tend to favor a specific group of people with implicit biases.

People are multifaceted and most folks don't have one special interest. Plenty of people from Twitter I knew used it professionally while also interacting with fandoms, spoke about fashion, and followed real-time political happenings. I don't really see BTS groups going viral or queer fashion mastodon blowing up. When this point is made, it is usually disregarded by white men who are focused more so on banging their heads against compilers than questioning how people can scratch their pop culture itch in a rewarding way here.

I understand the argument of wanting to have a safe and peaceful platform to engage in, I really do. I would just beg people to have the self-awareness that they shouldn't be moralizing the usage of hellsites simply because people like to engage in the zeitgeist differently than they do.

It reeks of elitism.

Show threadHelenaMay 3, 2023
@lzvolk @DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor 
Show threadLZVolkMay 3, 2023
@DrFriendless @dangoodin @slut @kurtisj @dangillmor The “audience” card is played by many science experts, too. Which, as I mentioned earlier, removes a notch on my respect for them. (And I’m a scientist.)
Show threadMichael RothMay 3, 2023

@dangoodin @slut @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor

Need a donations-based alternative to Twitter

Journalists getting their share depending on how many clicks they get

Show threadHelenaMay 3, 2023
@dangoodin @slut @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor it's building followers again that people hate, takes forever. Even accounts with over a million followers often have small engagement.
Show threadLZVolkMay 3, 2023
@dangoodin @slut @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor Again. That is a common response for staying on Twitter, even scientists. Nor, in my opinion, is it a valid justification and substitution for loyalty to the site. Loyalty to Twitter is allegiance to Musk.
Show threadMichael RothMay 3, 2023

@slut @dangoodin @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor

the most important is to take away the subscription for blue checks

Without it Twitter would be ok

Show threadLZVolkMay 3, 2023
@dangoodin @DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks this, too.
Show threadNafopositiveMay 4, 2023
@DrFriendless @kurtisj @dangillmor @dangoodin I get what you're saying, and your statement has validity.