Aral BalkanJun 20, 2023

It’s very interesting to see who in the fediverse is falling in line behind Silicon Valley and Big Tech and who is not.

And no, we can’t all just get along.

Big Tech is the antithesis of the cooperative and humanitarian values of federation and decentralisation. You can either be an apologist for surveillance capitalists or support the nascent ethical alternatives to their toxic business model that’s detrimental to human rights and democracy.

Pick a side. History will remember your choice.

Show threadMastodon MigrationJun 20, 2023
@aral It is easy to get drawn into divisive rhetoric. Assume these demons are intentionally sowing dissention, are you not doing their bidding by gunning down half of our side before the enemy even arrives at the gate? We win this by standing together against corporate predation, by building solid consensus based on real information, not by creating chaos with assumptions and purity tests. You are right, this is a terrible threat, but we have the power here if we are smart, prepared and united.
Show threadAral BalkanJun 20, 2023

@mastodonmigration Well, if half “our side” was ready to fall in line behind Silicon Valley and Big Tech they were not on “our side”, were they?

Facebook is so anathema to everything that federation and decentalisation stands for in principle that none of this should have to be said.

Show threadMastodon MigrationJun 20, 2023
@aral That's the point, though. Half of our side is not behind Silicon Valley and Big Tech. By and large most people here despise corporate social media and have come here to escape its predation. We are not going back, and we are not going to let them take over our Fediverse. There are few enemies here. Some might need to understand better how these demon's fight, their history and what we need to do to prepare for them. But we can do that. We can build an effective response. We have the power.
Show threadAral BalkanJun 20, 2023

@mastodonmigration Right, so speaking out against Facebook/Meta/etc., is not “gunning down half our side” because half our side is not on the Facebook/Meta/Big Tech/Surveillance Capitalism bandwagon.

No one who isn’t in bed with Silicon Valley/Big Tech has reason to get upset about anything I’ve said.

Show threadMastodon Migration
@aral Well that's good. Seems like a good place to leave it. Appreciate your spirit and perspectives on defending open systems and the Fediverse in particular.
Jun 20, 2023 at 9:10amWeb