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Where does one go when Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube seem to take these steps in tandem? The joke of "go make your own social network" has been tried with plac

Where does one go when Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube seem to take these steps in tandem? The joke of "go make your own social network" has been tried with places like Parler and Gab, but they get banned from app stores, ironically blocked from technically, but not ideologically, decentralized services like Mastodon, or even dropped from web hosts. The open Internet is dead.

krimeo 6y ago
TDW is the most successful alternative social network at the moment and it got hugely popular very quick despite being blocked.
zaptrem 6y ago
Those projects failed because the general public agrees with FB/TW/YT’s actions so far. When they bad QAnon, the only people annoyed enough to leave are QAnon adherents, so you get a new social network full of trash. As a result, nobody else follows them.
- username90 6y ago
  People don't visit FB/TW/YT for their editorial control. People tolerate FB/TW/YT's actions because it is easier, they don't necessarily agree with them.
- newcomputer 6y ago
  Those projects failed because Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have enormous network effects that make it nearly impossible to usurp them.
encom 6y ago
CUT TO: Stallman standing on a rooftop, brooding. His hands at his hips. His cape flutters in the chilly evening wind. "In your darkest hour, when the demons come, call on me brother, and we will fight them together!"
ProcNetDev 6y ago
You can still publish! AWS and cloudflare will happily take your money if you're not a neonazi. If you are a neonazi, A) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTs_Q4hEqmA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTs_Q4hEqmA B) you can find some mom-and-pop co-lo that will take your money. AFAIK, 8chan is still serving page views.
- luckylion 6y ago
  > You can still publish! Sure, but that's like "if the utility companies are cutting of your water and electricity, just make your own! nobody is stopping you from hooking an exercise bike to a dynamo and buy bottled water at the store". Technically true, practically not really a thing.
  - ProcNetDev 6y ago
    Sorry I just fail to understand the conservatives' values here. They will go to the supreme court to fight for their right not to sell cupcakes to gay people but then turn around and demand to control what twitter does with their servers.
    - luckylion 6y ago
      I think the whole idea about not selling cupcakes to gay people is stupid (but I understand the theory, it's like asking an ideological vegan to provide the side dishes to a BBQ), but it's not the same issue. In monopoly situations (or duopoly, if you wish), there are generally different rules that apply, because you can't just go somewhere else to do business: there is nothing else. Hence utility companies can't simply go "I don't like your nose, no water for you".
      - ProcNetDev 6y ago
        I guess I just don't see twitter as a monopoly. I lived a long time before they existed and I hope/suspect I will live a long time after they are a major player in the news cycle. (Lets just say I'm not long twitter.) I think creating new platforms has actually gotten easier since twitter's inception. Back in the day it was almost magical to have a website that performed at scale. Now you just hand a credit card to your favored cloud provider. In your metaphor I see the internet as the utility not the platform provider. If akamai or level 3 decide that they wouldn't carry your traffic, then you might have a case that you're being censored. If Apple can keep Epic out of the app store then @Jack can ban whomever he damn well feels like.
ceejayoz 6y ago
> Where does one go when Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube seem to take these steps in tandem? I know folks like to get all conspiratorial over social networks "acting in tandem", but it really shouldn't be all that surprising. Individuals have vastly different tolerances for all sorts of things, but if you lump them into groups of tens of thousands, the average tolerance for things will be quite similar. When the latest alt-right provocateur hits the threshold of bad PR for Facebook, he's likely right at the threshold for the other major social networks. No need for a shadowy cabal.
- malwrar 6y ago
  The question is who defines that threshold. In this case, its a few people at a few tech companies, and I don’t feel like it’s controversial to say that they all internally inherit the progressive/leftist/whatever Bay Area culture they’re largely based in.
  - ceejayoz 6y ago
    That is controversial, though. Or just flat out wrong in spots. Thiel: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/peter-thiel-donald-trump-white-nationalist-support https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/peter-thiel-d... Kaplan: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/facebook-joel-kaplan-kavanaugh-hearing-mistake.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/facebook-joel-kaplan-kavanau...
unethical_ban 6y ago
Uh, yeah. Make your own website. Why does it have to be social?
throwawaygh 6y ago
Wordpress.
Latty 6y ago
This is like asking why you aren't allowed to go into any supermarket and scream in people's faces. Yeah, if what you are doing is obnoxious and a lot of people hate it, you are going to get rejected from the vast majority of spaces.
TwoBit 6y ago
There's already a place which disseminates right biased information and censors opinions from the left: Fox News.

krimeo 6y ago

TDW is the most successful alternative social network at the moment and it got hugely popular very quick despite being blocked.

zaptrem 6y ago

Those projects failed because the general public agrees with FB/TW/YT’s actions so far. When they bad QAnon, the only people annoyed enough to leave are QAnon adherents, so you get a new social network full of trash. As a result, nobody else follows them.

username90 6y ago
People don't visit FB/TW/YT for their editorial control. People tolerate FB/TW/YT's actions because it is easier, they don't necessarily agree with them.
newcomputer 6y ago
Those projects failed because Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube have enormous network effects that make it nearly impossible to usurp them.

encom 6y ago

CUT TO: Stallman standing on a rooftop, brooding. His hands at his hips. His cape flutters in the chilly evening wind. "In your darkest hour, when the demons come, call on me brother, and we will fight them together!"

ProcNetDev 6y ago

You can still publish! AWS and cloudflare will happily take your money if you're not a neonazi. If you are a neonazi, A) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTs_Q4hEqmA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTs_Q4hEqmA B) you can find some mom-and-pop co-lo that will take your money. AFAIK, 8chan is still serving page views.

luckylion 6y ago
> You can still publish! Sure, but that's like "if the utility companies are cutting of your water and electricity, just make your own! nobody is stopping you from hooking an exercise bike to a dynamo and buy bottled water at the store". Technically true, practically not really a thing.
- ProcNetDev 6y ago
  Sorry I just fail to understand the conservatives' values here. They will go to the supreme court to fight for their right not to sell cupcakes to gay people but then turn around and demand to control what twitter does with their servers.
  - luckylion 6y ago
    I think the whole idea about not selling cupcakes to gay people is stupid (but I understand the theory, it's like asking an ideological vegan to provide the side dishes to a BBQ), but it's not the same issue. In monopoly situations (or duopoly, if you wish), there are generally different rules that apply, because you can't just go somewhere else to do business: there is nothing else. Hence utility companies can't simply go "I don't like your nose, no water for you".
    - ProcNetDev 6y ago
      I guess I just don't see twitter as a monopoly. I lived a long time before they existed and I hope/suspect I will live a long time after they are a major player in the news cycle. (Lets just say I'm not long twitter.) I think creating new platforms has actually gotten easier since twitter's inception. Back in the day it was almost magical to have a website that performed at scale. Now you just hand a credit card to your favored cloud provider. In your metaphor I see the internet as the utility not the platform provider. If akamai or level 3 decide that they wouldn't carry your traffic, then you might have a case that you're being censored. If Apple can keep Epic out of the app store then @Jack can ban whomever he damn well feels like.

ceejayoz 6y ago

> Where does one go when Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube seem to take these steps in tandem? I know folks like to get all conspiratorial over social networks "acting in tandem", but it really shouldn't be all that surprising. Individuals have vastly different tolerances for all sorts of things, but if you lump them into groups of tens of thousands, the average tolerance for things will be quite similar. When the latest alt-right provocateur hits the threshold of bad PR for Facebook, he's likely right at the threshold for the other major social networks. No need for a shadowy cabal.

malwrar 6y ago
The question is who defines that threshold. In this case, its a few people at a few tech companies, and I don’t feel like it’s controversial to say that they all internally inherit the progressive/leftist/whatever Bay Area culture they’re largely based in.
- ceejayoz 6y ago
  That is controversial, though. Or just flat out wrong in spots. Thiel: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/peter-thiel-donald-trump-white-nationalist-support https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/peter-thiel-d... Kaplan: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/facebook-joel-kaplan-kavanaugh-hearing-mistake.html https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/05/facebook-joel-kaplan-kavanau...

unethical_ban 6y ago

Uh, yeah. Make your own website. Why does it have to be social?

throwawaygh 6y ago

Wordpress.

Latty 6y ago

This is like asking why you aren't allowed to go into any supermarket and scream in people's faces. Yeah, if what you are doing is obnoxious and a lot of people hate it, you are going to get rejected from the vast majority of spaces.

TwoBit 6y ago

There's already a place which disseminates right biased information and censors opinions from the left: Fox News.