Scott Jenson3d ago

Is #mastodon becoming an echo chamber? This post from @carnage4life has me questioning our community. The Mastodon team is finally getting some traction, the product improvements are increasing, The #UX is improving, yet people posting on multiple platforms are making comments like this. It's confusing.

I *know* people here don't want this to be a classic social media-clone but we'd *like* journalists to be here right? They aren't coming with examples like this!

Show threadScott Jenson3d ago

As this conversation is spiraling a bit I want to make a few things clear:
1. I'd like Mastodon to be MORE inclusive and bring in more voices
2. Some people don't seem to want that
3. This is core problem to solve: How do we let more in, but not "pollute" your feed?
4. The solution is NOT "gatekeeping", revelling in the fact that AI journalists aren't welcome
5. This is the same reason we lost "Black Twitter" when it came over in 2022

Yes, a lot of you don't want AI posts in your feed (or pick any other topic) but the solution isn't to keep "AI People" from joining Mastodon, any more than it is keeping marginalized communities off of Mastodon.

Show threadEugen Rochko3d ago
@scottjenson I’m not interested in following any “AI people”. That doesn’t make it an echo chamber. We don’t need equal amounts of people who love puppies and want to kill puppies, not everything needs to be equally represented.
Show threadScott Jenson3d ago

@Gargron That is a personal choice and one which I totally respect. But I do think Mastodon should be big enough, and open enough, to allow an "AI community" to form, even thrive.

Too many people in my replies don't seem to agree with that.

Show threadDemian3d ago
@scottjenson @Gargron “AI people” are not a protected class. It seems much more important that we focus on being a welcoming and inclusive platform for protected classes, particularly actual marginalized communities.
Show threadTodd Sundsted2d ago
@dgodon @scottjenson @Gargron consider though that there are people in marginalized communities who are also "AI people". are they not welcome? is anti-AI (or anti-whatever) more important than welcoming marginalized people? literally, where is the line?
Show threadDemian2d ago
@toddsundsted @scottjenson @Gargron "AI people" is a very vague group. Quite a bit of AI discussion is hype and mis/dis-info and I don't think needs to be coddled here (just as we shouldn't tolerate puppy killers or fascists, even if they're from marginalized groups). Tho there are many shades of gray and I think it's also fair to say some AI discussion is non-hype/mis/dis-info. But my main point is that welcoming marginalized groups should be the focus, not opinions about AI
Show threadTodd Sundsted2d ago

@dgodon

>  But my main point is that welcoming marginalized groups should be the focus, not opinions about AI

i am very very much in alignment with this.

Show threadScott Jenson2d ago

@toddsundsted @dgodon Too many people thought I was *defending* the entire AI industry and worse, comparing it directly to Black Twitter. Hey it's social media, posts are short, it's easy to connect the dots the wrong way.

My poor writing skills aside, my point was what I think you both are saying: it's a slippery slope. It's no secret that black twitter was not made welcome here (it's a very complex topic but there is some truth to it).

My point wasn't that techbros needed support or coddling but the idea that we "allow" people to be here based on some type of ideological purity test is guaranteed to bite us in the ass. Too many people here get holier than thou and feel morally obligated to harass people. It's short sighted.

Show threadDanielle Foré2d ago
@scottjenson I do not want mastodon to become more amicable to right wing ideas. The more hostile this place is to Nazis and AI and the manosphere etc the safer it is for people like me. See the parable of the Nazi bar etc. This is an inherent concept to queer spaces. You cannot make a space safe that welcomes both sheep and wolves. Keeping the wolves out is a feature not a flaw
Show threadCassandra is only carbon now1d ago
@danirabbit @scottjenson This. I do not think it's even slightly an exaggeration to say that AI is, in its present and marketed form, fascist. It is good when fascists aren't allowed in the room, actually.
Show threadJo - pièce de résistance1d ago
@xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson
Exactly. AI harms marginalized and protected classes the most, including the environment and life itself. It’s not unreasonable to decide to not invite death to dine with us. It is poisoning the food.
It is literally a life or death decision people are making for the world to suffer or survive under. People need to take responsibility and have consequences for their carelessness to community. AI is anti-social in its current form. It must be stopped.
Show threadscrottie (he/him/them)1d ago
@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson
Scott, it seems like you are making yourself crystal clear.
Having values is not an "ideological purity test". Attacking having values as "ideological purity test" is itself a value -- a fascist one.
Do we need to make Fedi a safe place for vitamin hucksters? For horrible cults?
Do you understand the idea that some things are *toxic* to communities?
https://webcomicname.com/post/185588404109 , over and over again.
No one owES fascists a platform.
Again...
NO ONE OWES FASCISTS A PLATFORM.
This is the only place that Gates and Musks lackies aren't running. We like this way.
I know there's a lot of discussion of badjacketing and that discussion is valid, but people are often right when calling this out, and groups often get it right, and at this point, it's pretty blatant, even if you personally cannot see it.
If you feel more comfortable on Bluesky otoh, please feel free to step off.
Show threadDon't Sweat The Technique ✊1d ago
@scrottie
Also, no one is denying anyone the right to set up their own cryptofascist or ai-shilling server. Just no-one can be forced to federate with it. There is free speech, but listening is also optional 🤷
@JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson
Show threadshellsharks 🌙
@Valent @scrottie @JoBlakely @xgranade @danirabbit @scottjenson I mean. Isn't truth social just mastodon with federation turned off? Anyone can do this. They (truth social) at least had enough sense (surprising!) to preemptively defederate themselves from everyone else.
Apr 7 at 8:58pmWeb