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Mastodon is Rewinding the Clock on Social Media — in a Good Way

https://lemmy.ndlug.org/post/139989

Mastodon is Rewinding the Clock on Social Media — in a Good Way - NDLUG

> In many ways, Mastodon feels like rewinding the clock on social media back to the early days of Twitter and Facebook. On the consume side, that means that your home feed has no algorithm (this can be disorienting at first). > Practically, it means that you see only what you want to see and only see it linearly. You never wonder “why am I seeing this and how do I make it go away?”. Content can only enter your home feed via your followed tags or handles and the feed is linear like the early days of social media.

Aug 31, 2023 at 5:23pmWeb
Show threadBoozillaAug 31, 2023
Preach. I hate the “bubble” that curated / sponsored feeds try to wrap everyone inside of.
Show threadJoYoAug 31, 2023

A fine brief on mastodon but it hardly “rewound” anything.

The fedi had been around long before mastodon and even facebook.

Show threadLifecoach5000Aug 31, 2023
Look it’s new to a lot of us ok??? 🫣
Show threadJoYoAug 31, 2023
im sorry you forgot about the rest of the internet.
Show threadAlteredStateBlobAug 31, 2023

And you feel this attitude is correct in engaging with people new to the fediverse?

Hope you're okay.

Show threadJoYoAug 31, 2023

im genuinely not ok.

the fediverse is worse now than it was a year ago.

Show threadWolfgangvonNerdkillerAug 31, 2023

JoYo, I hear your plight.

This is, indeed, a terrible tragedy of death.

Show threadAlteredStateBlobAug 31, 2023

I'm one of the new folk around here as well and I can fully understand that kind of feeling once it feels like the flood gates have opened and your small community ain't so small no more and people bring different vibes than what you're used to / what you enjoy.

Genuinely, I'm sorry, it sucks.

Show threadLifecoach5000Aug 31, 2023
Apology accepted.
Show threadecho64Aug 31, 2023
So… taking social media to something that existed before Facebook isn’t rewinding?
Show threadJoYoAug 31, 2023
correct
Show threadObjectionistAug 31, 2023

seems kinda backwards, dontcha think?

(yes haha funny)

Show threadStephen304Aug 31, 2023

I think they mean that fedi didn’t take social media back because it never left. It’s the users who went back.

Like if we all joined Myspace again we wouldn’t say that Myspace rewound social media. People forget that the fediverse has been around a very long time, it’s not new.

Show threadtrashcanAug 31, 2023
Older than Facebook and Twitter?
Show threadStephen304Sep 1, 2023
I’m not sure if I would go as far as gp to claim older, but statusnet and ostatus which were early parts of the fediverse date from within a couple years of facebook’s general availability. I would say the fediverse about as old as Facebook (2008 vs 2006, close enough?)
Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023
Put it simply I just hate ads. Anything that puts in ads is terrible. Including Sync for Lemmy who seems to have completely missed the point of getting the hell away from Reddit.
Show threadSemi-Hemi-DemigodAug 31, 2023
The second ads are required the customer stops being the users and starts being the advertisers. This starts the enshittification snowball shitball, Randers.
Show threadwahmingAug 31, 2023
It’s a good thing you have the option to pay to remove ads and stay the customer, then
Show threadMrLuemasGSep 1, 2023
Legit. I paid $3 for Sync back in 2014 and used it daily for nine years.
Show threadHexagonAug 31, 2023
Wrong. The next terrible thing is mass-AI-generated propaganda and disinformation. Like in the “dead internet” theory
Show threadOpenStarsAug 31, 2023
Next? I think you misspelled "current":-D
Show threadHexagonSep 1, 2023
My bad. But I think we haven’t seen the full extent of it yet
Show threadOpenStarsSep 1, 2023

Tbf, it seems like the current "mass-AI-generated propaganda and disinformation" has actual humans behind it i.e. state-sponsored disinformation as part of modern warfare, as opposed to just sheer random BS pooped out of an algorithm designed to maximize short-term profits for the person trying to use enough buzzwords to get their algorithm bought out by someone dumb enough to fall for their pitch and short-sighted enough to not realize the wider implications... or worse yet, if they realize, who simply does not care.

It reminds me of the story behind the USA tax preparation software companies who intentionally went on a campaign to confuse military veterans and students (seriously!? what kind of evil mfers...!?), and while they got caught and even punished & fined, it was something like a decade later and ofc the original CEO and also the next one etc. had long since received their fat bonus checks, leaving the company holding the bag (liability). Thus it was "a smart move", so long as you entirely disregard ethics. What was presented as a "free gift", to generate good PR for the company, was in reality predating upon people that they deemed would be highly trusting or at least minimally likely to sue them... and they were correct. Now, watching interviews of these tech-bros, I get the same vibe as in like who cares so long as I get mine.

Show threademptyotherAug 31, 2023

I disagree. I hate ads with a passion too. But as long as we can pay a sum to remove it, it is fair to have a free option with ads. A kinda unlimited “demo”.

We are fools for thinking anyone would give away their own time and effort for free forever. We have completely lost the perspective of how much things should cost because of how much we’ve taken for granted that was paid for with our personal data. And the biggest fools is those who think most software developers and server admins can live reliably on donations alone.

Though Youtube is taking the ads a bit far, maybe. One shouldn’t scare away users before they have even become customers.

Show threadryncewyndAug 31, 2023

Absolutely agree with your comment.

I don’t really know the solution either… I can’t afford to pay for all the things I enjoy online.

I was considering supporting 1 Twitch streamer I enjoy until I saw subscription cost. And if I paid that for every streamer or YouTuber I enjoy, I’d be broke in a single day lol.

I get so much incredibly good info and discussions online about my hobbies, all for no charge.

I used to subscribe on Patreon to my most useful resources/people, but in the end I just could afford it and had to cancel all my Patreon

I hate ads but I don’t understand how the internet would function without ads. No one could afford it

Show threademptyotherAug 31, 2023
Yeah, I’m not rich enough to pay for every site and service either. A site like rockpapershotgun I left when it paywalled most of its contents, it wasn’t important enough to me to pay for. I’ve never paid for reddit, but i probably should have by how much i used it. Not that I will do that after what they’ve pulled lately. I donate to a fediverse server to put my money where my mouth is and at least pay for what I want to keep alive.
Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023

It would take some adjustment, but ads and data harvesting are the core problem to the enshiftification of the entire internet. You can’t have it both ways. We have this endless game of cat and mouse where we keep moving to the next platform after the last one becomes unusable due to ads and data harvesting.

You have to draw the line somewhere to end this pointless cycle and it is either pay for software and services or have people do only what they want to when they want to (FOSS). It really doesn’t cost that much if it isn’t attempting to compete with other software that grew with ad and data harvesting money.

Show threadryncewyndSep 1, 2023

I think you’re wildly underestimating the cost of people’s time, resources, infrastructure etc

“You can’t have it both ways” is exactly right. If the internet was user funded, as in, the user subscribes to every website or internet service they wish to use, then the internet would probably stop existing. (maybe I’m being too dramatic but also maybe not)

What’s the true cost of YouTube without ads or data harvesting? Probably only the rich could afford a subscription, which in turn would destroy the platform user base.

Show threadHEISENBERGSep 1, 2023
It’s not because Lemmy is FOSS it doesn’t cost any money. Infrastructure costs and the time invested by those that help the fediverse grow is a cost too. Be it the time invested by the people running instances or those writing custom ui’s, tools and yes even Lemmy apps. And if some people prefer to be compensated what’s wrong with that? You think the Lemmy devs are doing it for free?
Show threadIzzySep 1, 2023
I don’t see the relevance to my opinion that ads are bad, but it is an opinion that Lemmy developers also share. Also for the 1000th time there is nothing wrong with selling software. I just disagree with ads and data harvesting.
Show threadHEISENBERGSep 1, 2023
Then simply don’t use sync and use a free option. Lemmy developers are being paid…
Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023
I disagree. Paying to remove ads is one of the core problems with ads. If the only way to develop your software is either to frustrate them enough to pay to remove ads or have ads then your software shouldn’t exist. You don’t get to do something bad just because there is an option to pay them to stop doing that bad thing. That doesn’t make it right. The whole concept is basically like a really mild protection racket.
Show threadNeve8028Sep 1, 2023
This is such an unbelievably naive take. People’s time is worth something. Relying just on donations from a small percentage of users here and there is not going to cut it for someone who is developing the software full time.
Show threadHEISENBERGSep 1, 2023
No, can’t you see? There is no way to enjoy Lemmy without Sync.
Show threadNeve8028Sep 1, 2023
There are plenty alternatives which is great. I think it’s just an absurd take to bash a solo dev who is working on an app as their full time job for trying to make money.
Show threadThe Dark Lord ☑️Aug 31, 2023

Agreed, but even if free ad tiers exist, web trackers have to also exist to track everything you do, just in case you use the ad tier again.

Privacy shouldn’t be something unaffordable.

Show threadQuokkaSep 1, 2023

Um Linux and FOSS, kinda show you wrong in that many people are happy to see others use their work for feee.

We are fools for thinking capitalist solutions are the solutions we need.

Show threadoffspecSep 1, 2023
Major Linux contributors are payed by their employers to work on the kernel.
Show threadHEISENBERGSep 1, 2023

So you really believe that FOSS is only developed by people doing this for free. Not saying there are no hobby projects developed by people in their free time but thinking that is how it works is pretty dumb. Postgresql, Mozilla, various Linux distributions providing “business solutions” - hell, even the Lemmy developers are funded.

You are a fool if you think all Foss developers are anticapitalist idealists.

Show threadmesaAug 31, 2023
Jerobi is great.
Show threadkratoz29Aug 31, 2023
Pretty much all the Lemmy clients for Android are great, and I think the iOS clients are very competent too.
Show threadwahmingAug 31, 2023
When’s the last time you developed and released a full fledged software project for free?
Show threadVeloxizationAug 31, 2023

You are currently using full fledged software projects that are free to use for anyone in the form of Lemmy and the ActivityPub protocol.

(Disclaimer: I am not opposed to developers funding their projects with ads or paid subscriptions or whatever. Just pointing out that it is possible to work with passion alone )

Show threadwahmingAug 31, 2023

I am not opposed to developers funding their projects with ads

Doesn’t sound like it from your initial statement

Show threadPurplePropaguleSep 1, 2023
Lemmy has gotten quite a bit of money in grants. It’s safe to say that without the grants allowing the lemmy devs to work on it full time, it wouldn’t be as functional as it is now. Getting grants really isn’t easy and that shouldn’t be the barrier to whether or not you can be compensated for your work.
Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023
If you are suggesting ads are the only way to fund software then you are mistaken. For example you can sell it for money to consumers.
Show threadwahmingAug 31, 2023
Which… Sync does. So why are you bashing on it?
Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023
It still has ads. It can’t take the moral high ground of selling software if it also has a free with ads version to try and convince people to subscribe. Get rid of the ad version and only sell the software and then it will actually have some integrity.
Show threadwahmingAug 31, 2023

Wait… So you’re arguing… Less options is BETTER? That somehow if they took away the choice of seeing ads and made payment mandatory, instead of giving users the choice, that would be more moral?

WTF?

Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023

Obviously less options isn’t better in all circumstances. When of the options happens to be predatory then yes obviously it is better to not allow such a thing.

Imagine you have two options. You can either pay a one time fee of $50 or you can borrow the $50 and pay back $2 a month with 75% interest. Is allowing people the option to accidentally pay 5 times the amount something is valued better? Not that this situation is completely analogous to what is going on with Sync, but the point is to demonstrate that there exists a circumstance that less options is better for the consumer. Or at least a circumstance where having the only option has more integrity.

The best option I see for Sync that doesn’t implement ads at all and thus being bad is to have a less featured version for free and then sell premium features. Or of course just sell the whole thing with no free version. There is also a the concept of a limited demo so you can try before you make your decision to purchase. There are so many things you can do that don’t involve ads.

Show threadwahmingAug 31, 2023
Yeah, no. I think that’s a ridiculous opinion to have. FOSS is all about personal choice, yet here you are arguing that choices should be limited because you personally don’t like one of the options. We’re just going to have to disagree on this.
Show threadIzzyAug 31, 2023
A ridiculous opinion to have is that ads are bad, except for this one particular situation. If you want to convince me that this is ok then you need to at least hold the opinion that ads aren’t bad and then go from there.
Show threadkratoz29Aug 31, 2023

Including Sync for Lemmy who seems to have completely missed the point of getting the hell away from Reddit.

If there is one reason to support ads, only one reason, is for using Sync for Lemmy.

Show threadvonbaronhansAug 31, 2023
I just paid the one time fee for no ads. Works for me.
Show threadkratoz29Aug 31, 2023
This is only FOSS bros making a bigger deal than it should, I like FOSS I use FOSS but they need to chill a bit.
Show threadHEISENBERGSep 1, 2023
Seriously
Show threadDouble_ASep 1, 2023
Bad content feels much much worse to me. E.g it is so infuriating to see those fake prank videos with tons of likes and positive comments. It kills my hope in humanity every time… At least an ad could be for some interesting legit product. 🫠
Show threadjballsSep 1, 2023
Are there ads on Sync? I’ve been using it exclusively for the last week or so and haven’t seen a single one.
Show threadMrLuemasGSep 1, 2023
I’ve been using Sync for Lemmy since it was first released and I still haven’t seen an ad. I’m pretty sure it’s a bug.
Show threadThisLucidLensSep 1, 2023

I hate ads too, but devs have to eat so why should we not pay them when we use an app or service they spend countless time making and maintaining?

Sync is a one-time payment of £17.99 / $20 to remove ads and for the amount I’ll be using this app, I think that’s absolutely fair. I’ll spend more on one takeaway pizza on a Friday night.