chikorita157 🐰Jul 3, 2023

Yikes, look how much Meta wants to collect from you with their new “Threads" app, which is defederated by most servers.

#threads #meta

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/threads-an-instagram-app/id6446901002

‎Threads, an Instagram app

‎Say more with Threads — Instagram’s text-based conversation app. Threads is where communities come together to discuss everything from the topics you care about today to what’ll be trending tomorrow. Whatever it is you’re interested in, you can follow and connect directly with your favorite creator…

App Store
Show threadRagashingoJul 4, 2023

@chikorita157 Defederation is going to kill Mastodon. Maybe Bluesky or Threads won't gain traction, but something where a handful of admins don't utterly destroy the SOCIAL CONNECTIONS built by their users will come along and be good and this place will cruise along banning each other over increasingly narrow ideals until there is no one left.

Normal users don't want all this crap, they just want to follow friends and have everything work... :(

Show threadDylan Roskams-Edris

@Ragashingo @chikorita157 I don't like being That Guy but isn't the point that if you don't like what your server is doing you can migrate to another one? Or run one?

In my experience the admin ( @quokka ) and mods for scicomm.xyz did an excellent job laying out the up and downsides of federation with Meta instances, solicited feedback and consultation, then clearly explained their decision.

That isn't infighting and banning.

It's community consultation.

Jul 4, 2023 at 1:12amWeb
Show threadRagashingoJul 4, 2023

@dylanwre @chikorita157 @quokka Social networks didn’t get popular on the tagline: “It’s great, just run your own server!” That’s inching towards out of touch tech elitism.

I have huge respect for those that do the hard work to make tech happen, but they are and should be the exception. Normal users just want things to work and don’t want to see all their friends vanish with each new ideological threat that they didn’t even know existed.

Show threadDylan Roskams-EdrisJul 4, 2023

@Ragashingo @chikorita157 @quokka
I get that ease is important.
But still, that "i just want it to work without thinking" smacks of the same unreflective consumerism that has led to so much catastrophe in other domains (ubiquitous plastic, surveillance capitalism).

I have to do very little on the instance I'm on other than pay some little attention to emerging issues and occasionally donate to ease the cost. I work a bit harder to find people. It's ok

That seems like a reasonable cost to pay.

Show threadDylan Roskams-EdrisJul 4, 2023

@Ragashingo @chikorita157 @quokka I don't want to get into a flame war about it. Maybe we just want different things. I'm OK with it not being super easy if that's the trade off for avoiding centralized control and therefore centralized power.

Maybe Mastodon won't become 'popular' for a given definition of the word, but that's also OK with me. Having a smaller community where I find cool stuff, talk to cool people, and am not surveiled and the object of constant ads is pretty great.