SorenOct 12
Longwing

Mastodon feels like the future the 1980s promised us. "Oh look, a post from my friend at hacker.space, and what a funny comment from some guy on gaysex.cloud, perhaps I should follow them, they seem witty."

It feels like you could turn a corner and wind up in a tearoom filled with furries discussing existentialism. Across the street are anarchists arguing loudly with socialists about how best to stick it to the capitalists.

Just down the way is a photographer who only takes pictures of bees.

Oct 10 at 10:31pmWeb
Show threadIoanOct 11
@Longwing But there's also #groupthink and polarisation and folk who see debating as somehow being an attack on them. But it is nice enough. :)
Show threadLongwingOct 11

@IoanSaid Eh, I won't say those aren't problems, but we have ample evidence that the marketplace of ideas is a failed experiment.

Some of us don't want a grand final boss battle about whatever political talking point we're supposed to be defending this week.

Some of us want pictures of bees.

Show threadPatrick Lam Oct 12
@Longwing @IoanSaid here is a picture of a bee #bees #insects
Show threadExindivNov 3
@Longwing @IoanSaid
You have meantion pictures of bees twice.
Someone had to do something.
Show threadDavid B. HimselfOct 11
@IoanSaid @Longwing And yet, you can easily get rid of these people without engaging them because no algorithm is force-feeding them to you.
Show threadLexGear  Oct 11
@DavidBHimself @IoanSaid @Longwing correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the main feed slightly algorithmic?
Show threadDavid B. HimselfOct 12
@LexGear @IoanSaid @Longwing If you consider reverse chronological an algorithm (which it technically is) yes. Otherwise, no.
Show threadLexGear  Oct 12
@DavidBHimself @IoanSaid @Longwing I could have sworn they changed it awhile back. But as far as I can see.. yes its all chronological again :S
Show threadDavid B. HimselfOct 12
@LexGear @IoanSaid @Longwing It always has been. Maybe your instance tinkered with something?
Show threadLexGear  Oct 12
@DavidBHimself @IoanSaid @Longwing 🤷‍♂️
Show threadLevkaOct 13

@IoanSaid @Longwing

#groupthink

Anti-groupthink is the groupthink of the anti-groupthink group.

Show threadGiles GoatOct 11
@Longwing This description is almost poetic 😊
Show threadLongwingOct 11
@gilesgoat I was aiming for humorously glib, but if I took a wrong turn and hit poetry then it’s still a pretty nice place to spend the afternoon.
Show threadNixieOct 11
@Longwing Universal Turing Bell Labs of sorts.
Show threadGlennMagusHarveyOct 11
@Longwing I love this post.
Show threadLongwingOct 11
@glennmagusharvey Well I love your feed so there.
Show threadGlennMagusHarveyOct 12
@Longwing aww, thanks!
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@Longwing this and the town square “criticism“ that actually highlights how well Mastodon fires the definition of a town square are precisely the vibes I like about the fediverse (or at least the bits I see; I am aware there are back alleys of various unsavory bigotries, whole Nazi bars behind the holographic filter of moderation that hides them from me, and private harassment campaigns— to say nothing of the Anglo-centrism that I personally find so familiar it is nearly imperceptible).
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@Longwing all of which is to say, I like it here. It’s not perfect; it can’t be perfect because nothing can. It can be made better, but we (for some value of “we”) need to recognize that this is community building and policing and that’s not a purely technical problem with purely technical solutions (a thing we all wish to see and solve one day), but a personal, interrelational problem that requires continuing effort and engagement: a social problem.
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@Longwing I need to find that town square article or screenshot for a “these are the vibes you’re looking for” post…
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@Longwing
Found it!
https://www.wired.com/story/god-did-us-a-favor-by-destroying-twitter/
Show threadPeeeeeaaaaaarlOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing WISH I COULD FUCKING READ IT
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@buncube @Longwing
Archive link:
https://archive.is/YSCR9
Show threadPeeeeeaaaaaarlOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing i louv you
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@buncube @Longwing archive.is and archive.org are truly the ones to love for avoiding paywalls
Show threadPeeeeeaaaaaarlOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing what a fucking QUOTE
Show threadbogosityOct 28
@buncube @c0dec0dec0de @Longwing
"Who will create the chore chart" feels like a surprisingly deep insight to me, despite its glib framing.
Show threadPeeeeeaaaaaarlOct 28
@bogosity @c0dec0dec0de @Longwing of polyamory or of the fediverse LMAO
Show threadLongwingOct 28

@buncube @c0dec0dec0de @bogosity

It's a legitimate issue in all human endeavour. "We want to do a THING. It gives COOL STUFF but takes lots of WORK."

Everyone wants the cool stuff. They want to participate in the cool stuff and talk about the cool stuff, but the cool stuff doesn't exist without the work.

Who's doing the work? Is it divided fairly? If not, then how is someone compensated for their uneven share?

Relationships, companies, sci-fi cons, RPGs. The dynamic remains.

Show threadGuillotine Jones, FlâneurOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @buncube @Longwing
Thank YOU c0dec0dec0de for the archived link to Paul Ford's engaging and droll article about the marketplace -- or Tower of Babel -- of ideas and the Fediverse's place therein!
Show threadianthe's inferno 🏴🇧🇿⚽️Oct 11
@buncube https://removepaywalls.com for future use btw
Remove Paywalls — Read full articles behind a paywall, for free

Bypass the paywall and read full articles for free. Works on NYTimes, Bloomberg, the Atlantic, the Economist

Show threadLongwingOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de No, that IS a town square. That's what a town square should be. Let's all meet up and make sandwiches and fix commuter bikes and be annoyingly hard to monetize because we're too low drama.
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@Longwing yeah, they’re hitting all the “selling points” for fedi as far as I’m concerned and then just turning aside and coming to a very different conclusion. I’ve noted this before.
Show threadVorsosOct 12
@Longwing @c0dec0dec0de fedi is the kind of town square that banned motor vehicles so we can move freely
Show threadLongwingOct 12
@Vorsos @c0dec0dec0de Yes! Sacrificing efficiency for the sake of people.
Show threadTeflonTrout  he/himOct 12
@Longwing @c0dec0dec0de also there are people who can source new screens and replace you cracked one (Hi it me)
Show threadGuillotine Jones, FlâneurOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing
Also, too, small groups of happy people are notoriously bad at creating economic bubbles inflated by hedge funds, edge lords, and greedy billionaires.
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@Longwing consolidated fedi vibes post:
https://hachyderm.io/@c0dec0dec0de/115356577743817388
0xC0DEC0DE07EA (@[email protected])

Attached: 3 images These are the vibes I’m looking for(!): https://www.wired.com/story/god-did-us-a-favor-by-destroying-twitter/ https://wandering.shop/@Longwing/115352240515901756 https://bitbang.social/@NanoRaptor/115280474092247001

Hachyderm.io
Show threadWendroid 🇺🇦Oct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing Yup, and buy all our trendy clothes on consignment, cook our own food and hike for fun.
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@wendinoakland @Longwing billionaires: “wdym you enjoy the day—for free—at a state-maintained park area? There’s blueberries at the peak? What’s the margin—they’re wild blueberries and you can just eat a few if you want? But who loses? Who suffers!?”
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@wendinoakland @Longwing me. Because I barely remember such simple things exist; that for a little drive time I could go hike up the gentle slope of a mountain with family or friends (I vaguely recall those). What the fuck have I been doing?
Show thread0xC0DEC0DE07EAOct 11
@wendinoakland @Longwing actually, my lovely spouse has at least tentatively planned for us to take a hike tomorrow.
Show threadFaraiweOct 11
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing ah, yes, the summary of the #fediverse
Show threadBlort™ 🐀Ⓥ🥋☣️Oct 13
@c0dec0dec0de
Good job! 😁
@Longwing
Show threadLongwingOct 11

@c0dec0dec0de That's the thing really. A town square is not (and cannot) be a lawless space. The barrier for entry is necessarily lower (anyone can walk up and stand on a soapbox), but the idea that some maniac can stand in the town square shouting bigoted nonsense is ridiculous.

He'd be quite literally run out of town.

Show threadITsec AgenturOct 12
@c0dec0dec0de @Longwing If hopp over to the German speaking part of Mastodon this feeling could evaporate. 😉
Show threadSteve HoldenOct 11
@Longwing all human life is here? The News of the World (a now withdrawn newspaper owned by Dirty Digger Rupert Murdoch) used to claim that, though in truth it focused on the seamier side.
Show threadMiakoda Oct 11
@Longwing This is why I like it here.
It's a far healthier addiction than Twitter could have ever been.
Show threadLongwingOct 11
@hellomiakoda preach!
Show threadLexGear  Oct 11
@hellomiakoda @Longwing what are your thoughts on blue sky?
Show threadMiakoda Oct 11

@LexGear @Longwing

Fuck Blue Sky and their waffles!

Show threadLexGear  Oct 11
@hellomiakoda @Longwing 😂 Okay but tell me why. I agree with you! But I want to know other peoples thoughts.
Show threadMiakoda Oct 12
@LexGear @Longwing "Waffles" refers to a recent incident in which the CEO of Blue Sky made it very clear she either doesn't like trans people, or at the very least does not give a fuck about the harassment, hate, and threats they are subjected to.
Show threadLexGear  Oct 12
@hellomiakoda @Longwing ohhh. Why "waffles" though?
Show threadMiakoda Oct 12

@LexGear @Longwing

Someone else could explain it better, but the gist was someone compared the argumebts about hate speech is as frivilous as arguing abot pancakes vs waffles. When someone asked about the harassment of trabs people, the CEO replied "Waffles!"

Show threadLexGear  Oct 12
@hellomiakoda @Longwing oooooooohhhhh
Show threadNickOct 12
@LexGear @hellomiakoda @Longwing This piece discusses it:
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/05/waffles-eat-bluesky/
Waffles eat Bluesky | TechCrunch

A waffle-centric controversy underlines ongoing tensions between Bluesky and some of its most vocal users.

TechCrunch
Show threaddr 🛠️🛰️📡🎧Oct 11
@Longwing All the #opensource #openculture #floss communities feel like the Promised Future to me. the commercial proprietary ones feel like dystopias
Show threadLongwingOct 11
@davidr That's so weird. It's almost like trying to monetize people's time and attention is a fundamentally dystopian concept.