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So this proves that much stricter regulation and censorship can be maintained effectively in a decentralized setting.

AnthonyMouse 6y ago
It proves that you can have community standards when you actually have a community. A big advantage of decentralization is that it doesn't try to impose a single worldview on everybody. If libertarians want to have an instance where they talk about how taxation is theft and communists want to have an instance where they talk about how capitalism sucks and moderates want to have an instance where all ideas are welcome but personal attacks are not, they can all do those things at the same time.
- yborg 6y ago
  Exactly this. But there are a set of people who enjoy or feel the need to engage in combat with other schools of thought, either as validation or because of genuine desire to proselytize; and there is a subset of those people that believe that everyone should be forced into a single arena where the strongest ideas will prevail and thereby clearly delineate 'right' and 'wrong'. One of the major advantages of the Fediverse right now is that trying to do this is harder, plus there already are such arenas in the form of Twitter and Facebook. To me the complaint about 'bubbles' is usually from these believers in the school of trial by combat that are frustrated by their inability to impose this philosophy on the Fediverse. Which means it is working as designed...
  - Karrot_Kream 6y ago
    > One of the major advantages of the Fediverse right now is that trying to do this is harder Even in the Fediverse, I think these folks would just make their own instance. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if an instance was made to represent the "marketplace of discussion". I just wouldn't want to join it myself.
kixiQu 6y ago
Also much looser rules as well; sex workers, for instance, have a lot more freedoms to post their content in a lot of the Fediverse. Different instances have different rules.
- warkdarrior 6y ago
  Sure, this supports better bubbles. Sex workers and evangelicals will be nicely separated from each other, so will be Nazis and Jews.
sammorrowdrums 6y ago
Like in real life, where you select friends and acquaintances, and do things that are interesting to you, and don't tolerate trolls in your physical life. I mean, that can actually foster higher quality debate and discussion. Like in a political discussion page, you would expect that users debate in good faith, and kick those who don't. Facebook and Twitter seem to just devolve. Hacker news is also largely the same with downvoting and significant moderation... And as a result it has higher quality discussion. Being open minded and thoughtful does not mean listening to just anyone... For me it's analogous to walking away from someone objectionable. If it was censorship they wouldn't be allowed to say it. But they still can, at least somewhere in the fediverse. Just not necessarily to me.
- kstrauser 6y ago
  Exactly. I'm an instance admin and set moderation rules that appropriate for me and my users. If I do a bad job of it, those users are free to go to another instance with policies that they like better. As a result, I don't have to make some one-size-fits-all monster that pleases no one.

It proves that you can have community standards when you actually have a community. A big advantage of decentralization is that it doesn't try to impose a single worldview on everybody. If libertarians want to have an instance where they talk about how taxation is theft and communists want to have an instance where they talk about how capitalism sucks and moderates want to have an instance where all ideas are welcome but personal attacks are not, they can all do those things at the same time.

yborg 6y ago
Exactly this. But there are a set of people who enjoy or feel the need to engage in combat with other schools of thought, either as validation or because of genuine desire to proselytize; and there is a subset of those people that believe that everyone should be forced into a single arena where the strongest ideas will prevail and thereby clearly delineate 'right' and 'wrong'. One of the major advantages of the Fediverse right now is that trying to do this is harder, plus there already are such arenas in the form of Twitter and Facebook. To me the complaint about 'bubbles' is usually from these believers in the school of trial by combat that are frustrated by their inability to impose this philosophy on the Fediverse. Which means it is working as designed...
- Karrot_Kream 6y ago
  > One of the major advantages of the Fediverse right now is that trying to do this is harder Even in the Fediverse, I think these folks would just make their own instance. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if an instance was made to represent the "marketplace of discussion". I just wouldn't want to join it myself.

kixiQu 6y ago

Also much looser rules as well; sex workers, for instance, have a lot more freedoms to post their content in a lot of the Fediverse. Different instances have different rules.

warkdarrior 6y ago
Sure, this supports better bubbles. Sex workers and evangelicals will be nicely separated from each other, so will be Nazis and Jews.

sammorrowdrums 6y ago

Like in real life, where you select friends and acquaintances, and do things that are interesting to you, and don't tolerate trolls in your physical life. I mean, that can actually foster higher quality debate and discussion. Like in a political discussion page, you would expect that users debate in good faith, and kick those who don't. Facebook and Twitter seem to just devolve. Hacker news is also largely the same with downvoting and significant moderation... And as a result it has higher quality discussion. Being open minded and thoughtful does not mean listening to just anyone... For me it's analogous to walking away from someone objectionable. If it was censorship they wouldn't be allowed to say it. But they still can, at least somewhere in the fediverse. Just not necessarily to me.

kstrauser 6y ago
Exactly. I'm an instance admin and set moderation rules that appropriate for me and my users. If I do a bad job of it, those users are free to go to another instance with policies that they like better. As a result, I don't have to make some one-size-fits-all monster that pleases no one.