Mastodawn

Low Quality Facts Jul 3, 2023

Me: Mastodon is the best. People are friendly, there's no manipulative algorithm, and it's full of interesting content.

Journalist: Amazing, the headline of my article will be "Mastodon is social media's new hope".

Me: Also, there are no ads.

Journalist: Interesting. Let's change that headline to "Mastodon is a toxic cesspool that is already dead".

Show thread

Andrew Jul 3, 2023

@lowqualityfacts Hey. Before I start my rant, I want to apologize to you for being the recipient. You’re not the only one here who thinks #journalists should work for free, even if they need to eat and pay rent. So, nothing personal! But still, I get tired of the self-righteous attitude here that suggests #reporters twist facts for #clicks (most don’t give a shit) or that differing viewpoints always come from ulterior motives. Please be less simplistic. It’s not a good look.

Show thread

ferricoxide Jul 3, 2023

@andrew @lowqualityfacts

I don't ask reporters to work for free, but when shit's hidden behind a paywall, it's not the payment that's the problem, it's all the creepy tracking that comes with proving that you've paid. At least with getting a paper out of the street boxes, once I've put my coins in, there's no tracking of what I've read or how/where I read it.

Show thread

Andrew Jul 3, 2023

@ferricoxide @lowqualityfacts I get that, although it’s no different from buying anything else online that’s not tangible, like music or software. If you prefer a hard copy, use your coins, if you can. I think news #paywalls irk people because they got it in their heads that news should cost nothing. But what other hard-to-make product or service is free? We pay for volts, fuel, TV, mass transit. Why should #news be different?

Show thread

ferricoxide

@andrew @lowqualityfacts

If news sites didn't include trackers and didn't indefinitely log everything, it'd be a different. Get me a news sites that does that and I'd probably sign up. It's not so much a preference for hard copy, it's a preference for not being tracked.

News consumption is in a similar category as what I read at a library ...except my local library isn't selling my interests or compiling any kinds of profiles about me. Music that I don't have on disc, I stream ...but I get something in return for being tracked: better recommendations (what do I get of value for being tracked and profiled by WaPo etc Al?). And, frankly, the music I like doesn't really say as much about me as what news stories I choose to read. There's just a strong degree of "ick" to logging into a news type of site.