ellen juniper ✅I want to thank @hermeslispegistus for bringing up the very valid issue that Mastodon's burgeoning popularity may damage the federated system. The responsible way forward is to promote federation in every way that we can.
Other options worth considering are the ones that @Gargron mentioned in his welcome post on Medium, http://icosahedron.website and http://social.tchncs.de
I know there's a temptation to believe in the idea that there can be one simple, easy-to-explain alternative to Twitter that works for *everyone*, but the truth is there literally can't be.
Federation is, in a way, a socialist approach to dismantling the control that Facebook and Twitter have over the way people communicate online. It can be hard to explain, but I truly believe we'll develop the language quickly enough. We figured out how to explain what the fuck a social network even *is* in the first place, after all, we can do this too.
I feel pretty strongly about Mastodon and the things it does right, but I'm going to be the first person to say that it's not going to work for everybody. The beauty of federation is that it doesn't have to.
.@bleak brings up a really good point, which is that not everyone has the resources or ability to roll their own instance. That's why I think tools like http://social.guhnoo.org are worth spreading, as they make navigating pre-existing instances significantly easier.
Another thing worth mentioning in all this is that my fundamental support of this system is very much rooted in my belief that the world needs publicly owned social networks as much as it once needed publicly owned mail and still needs publicly owned ISPs.
The reason why I think federation is fundamentally socialist is that it has the potential to radically shift the way communication is controlled, giving people the potential ability to manage online communications at an individual and community level.
While I don't necessarily have the ability to do do this, there is now a theoretical possibility that I can create a system of communication that only intends to conclude those within my personal community (say, my house, or my city, or my state) while still having a connection to a larger system. That's pretty hecking cool.
With that I'm going to bring an end this already-too-long thread but thanks for listening. Please continue to promote the system, whether that means getting people on Mastodon or encouraging folks to find their own little node that works for them. This system is good for all of us.
I went ahead and transcribed that thread in a way that's much easier to read http://www.ellen.zone/post/159086280344/on-federated-social-networks-and-socialism
edef@kadybat re the latter: I and some friends run an overlay ISP in .nl (basically, a VPN but you get a public IP of your own)
you rely on your regular ISP for transport to us (like your phone provider with dialup), but we provide confidentiality/freedom from censorship/etc
the software we run this on isn't really solid enough to give to others yet, but I'm working on changing that
you rely on your regular ISP for transport to us (like your phone provider with dialup), but we provide confidentiality/freedom from censorship/etc
the software we run this on isn't really solid enough to give to others yet, but I'm working on changing that
@kadybat and having your own public IP lets you host stuff yourself easily, and the router we provide is a little ARM box that can run an email server, git server, etc
most of our users run their own email servers as a result
most of our users run their own email servers as a result
@kadybat all of this got started because we found the French groups already doing something similar, and we had already bought a pair of identical servers (one each), and we ended up finding a cooperative for colocation that provides us with our own IP space etc
@kadybat we already run email, Gogs, and a Matrix homeserver for our users
although they can obviously host their own, so they can either choose to use us as merely an ISP, or use the additional services we provide
it's a model I really enjoy
although they can obviously host their own, so they can either choose to use us as merely an ISP, or use the additional services we provide
it's a model I really enjoy
Pete Keen
peter hessler - inactive@kadybat I think the ISP problem can be solved by separating the companies that do the physical infra, and the actual internet service on top of that.
As long as "anyone" can offer services on top of the physical cabling: Problem Solved(tm)
the slime directive@kadybat it's important to note, however, that "make your own instance" is still a solution that is only accessible to certain folks, and the fediverse doesn't really respect this material reality but rather assumes every used has the resources and ability to roll their own.
. 
@kadybat One way to do this is to create an approximate graphic representation of a federation. E.g.
The US is a federation of states..
The US is a federation of states..
☤Hermes۞_۟۞凸λgistus☿@kadybat As a resentful Eastern European libertarian/an-transhumanist, you said the magic word that makes me spit blood :) But I agree in principle. Federation has been historically an anarchist approach to a lot of problems. People will get it eventually and figure out how to communicate again or disassociate peacefully, or stay stuck in the muck of perpetual cultural trench warfare.