There was once a dream of a decentralised web.
As recently as a decade ago we had a still very active blogosphere, connected via blogrolls and RSS. Specialised web forums were still mainstream and messenger apps could largely interoperate.
Centralised social media slowly ate that dream. It had plenty of positives, but it pulled more and more people away from the open web and into corporate walled gardens.
Some people kept the dream of decentralisation alive. And now you are here.
Here’s an idea: let’s call people “people” on the fediverse instead of “users” whenever we can.
Compare:
“There are 42 users on this instance.”
vs
“There are 42 people on this instance.”
Which acknowledges our humanity more?
Language matters. We don’t need to perpetuate mainstream technology’s othering/colonial framing of “us” – designers/developers/other “clever folks” – and “them” – the users (usually one step removed from “dumb user” and usually the ones who get used).
✨ The first release candidate of Mastodon 4.0 is now officially available for testing! Find out what's new on the changelog:
Tom Walker
Riker Googling
Virginia Heffernan
Aral Balkan
Mastodon