Jason Lefkowitz3d ago

Why would the EU get behind W Social, a European social media platform that barely exists, rather than Mastodon, a European social media platform that has been successfully operating for a decade?

Oh, right

https://blog.elenarossini.com/w-social-uncovered-the-reality-behind-the-hype/

Show threadJason Lefkowitz3d ago
This is not just a European problem. Here in US civic tech, whenever I saw "actually good software made from the grassroots" go up against "crappy software with a bunch of well-connected people attached to it," the crappy software won every time
Show threadIrenes (many)2d ago

@jalefkowit no, yeah, sigh. it's a bit of a recurring problem

part of it is because they're playing two different games. power and popularity is a very different goal from helping people do things

thinking that way has helped us accept it, over the years..... but maybe the stakes are high enough that we should not accept it. hm.

Show threadV2d ago
@ireneista @jalefkowit Honestly, a critical mass of people accepting this sort of thing is why it can happen in cases where the stakes are so high in the first place?
Accepting shitty behaviour gives (social) permission to keep doing the shitty thing.
Show threadIrenes (many)2d ago
@miss_rodent @jalefkowit yeah, sigh, that sounds right. "the standard you walk past is the standard you accept"
Show threadCassandra is not doing great right now
@ireneista @miss_rodent @jalefkowit Yes, and also choosing one's battles. There's a tension there but there's wisdom in each?
Jun 18 at 6:37amWeb
Show threadIrenes (many)2d ago
@xgranade @miss_rodent @jalefkowit these are important questions, but they're backwards-looking. to focus on the future: what should our strategy be?
Show threadV2d ago
@ireneista @xgranade @jalefkowit I mean, my original point was to be more aggressive in 'choosing your battles'; sure no one can fight and resist everything, but, even on the small scale, sustained resistance and making it clear that you do not accept and refuse to passively normalize corrupt behaviour can go a long way, even on the scale of small organizations and workplaces, & can spread if you are vocal about it to others in the org.
Show threadV2d ago
@ireneista @xgranade @jalefkowit This can have consequences, obviously, but letting it go unchallenged has pretty severely bad consequences too, so, it ends up being a trade-off of do you want to be inconvenienced now, or sent to a camp later?
Show threadV2d ago
@ireneista @xgranade @jalefkowit To clarify, this is one of those 'more people need to do it for it to be effective' cases, but, being the one person in the workplace/org/group that will choose that particular battle - and being vocal about it - can get others to respond to it as well. I've had this happen several times. At an old retail job I even had *customers* filing complaints on-side, about things they caught me arguing with a manager about!