7 ms·

That would be a loss for twitter IMO. I know it's being remade into ground zero for culture war discourse, but there's nowhere else online like Twitter when it

by dtjb 4y ago

That would be a loss for twitter IMO. I know it's being remade into ground zero for culture war discourse, but there's nowhere else online like Twitter when it comes to breaking news and developing situations. Journalists and reporters sharing information as it's verified real time. When something was going down, you went to twitter.

KerrAvon 4y ago
and now Mastodon is the same thing, but decentralized and not owned by a single point of human failure.
midoridensha 4y ago
Well this should be a good lesson in why not to trust something that supposedly is in the public interest to a private company that can easily be bought up by some billionaire with emotional problems.
maxbond 4y ago
Twitter was lost the day Musk carried that sink into the building. I agree that it was an important cultural institution, but I don't think there's anything that can be done to save it. The faster we let it fall, the faster we can develop alternatives. Twitter is dead. Long live the Fediverse.
- drstewart 4y ago
  No one cares about the fediverse.
  - rvz 4y ago
    Only the tiny minority of techies screaming about the 'fediverse' care. There is little interest with the majority of non-techies 200M+ that care to use it daily, let alone sign up; hence why they still use Twitter. Federated social networks such as Mastodon are a solution in search of a problem, and it always has been like that for years.
    - maxbond 4y ago
      I hear a lot of people talking about the Fediverse of many different technical backgrounds. It's true it would take a huge event to get non-technical people interested in the Fediverse - but that's exactly what I'm seeing. They're not a solution in search of a problem. They're a solution a small, dedicated group of people have cared deeply about, but most people have ignored. But people have been unsatisfied with the centralized aspects of social media for a long time. They're not stupid; they see the way the algorithms are designed for engagement, and the toxicity that causes. They see how fragile it is that someone like Musk can just swoop in and sabotage the platform. Network effects have made it difficult to adopt a decentralized solution. Well - lots of communities are looking for a home they won't have to leave for the same reason they did before. That's creating network effects in the opposite direction. If you'd said this to me a few weeks ago I'd have been inclined to believe it. But things are in flux. Maybe the Fediverse won't take off, but it has a very really shot right now.
      - TomSwirly 4y ago
        I simply don't get the problem with the "Fediverse". Mastodon works very much like Twitter and you can follow people on your server or another one with ease. You don't need to know anything about anything to do this.
      - drstewart 4y ago
        Go ask your mom what algorithm she prefers for her content feed and report back.
        defrost 4y ago
        Meh, she seems happy following other emeritus professors on mathstodon.xyz and crafty types in weaving and bridge groups. How about your mom?
        throwntoday 4y ago
  - peppermint_tea 4y ago
    I do.
- angelbob 4y ago
  And even if you think "not the fediverse," Twitter is still dead. Let's get to "long live" something.
- throwntoday 4y ago
  I'm gonna be honest, you're coming off a bit delusional. No meaningful amount of people care about the issues you do to abandon twitter for an already dead network like mastodon. The idea of federation doesn't appeal to normies, it only confuses them.
  - maxbond 4y ago
    This is a reflection on your perception, what you imagine to be possible, and how much respect you afford "normies", more than it is a reflection on me.
    - throwntoday 4y ago
      Well I was calling you delusional if you think your average person cares about Elon's shenanigans enough to jump ship to a platform no one uses. So it was solely a comment on you.
      - maxbond 4y ago
        I see that I wasn't as clear as I could have been, so I've edited it to be "a reflection" rather than "a comment." If you'd like me to be entirely explicit; in trying to insult me, you're telegraphing your own lack of awareness.
        throwntoday 4y ago
        If you're perceiving it as in insult rather than taking a second to consider the possibility you may be drastically overstating the importance of certain things to the average person then, it's just you lacking self-awareness here friend.

by dtjb 4y ago

KerrAvon 4y ago

and now Mastodon is the same thing, but decentralized and not owned by a single point of human failure.

midoridensha 4y ago

Well this should be a good lesson in why not to trust something that supposedly is in the public interest to a private company that can easily be bought up by some billionaire with emotional problems.

maxbond 4y ago

Twitter was lost the day Musk carried that sink into the building. I agree that it was an important cultural institution, but I don't think there's anything that can be done to save it. The faster we let it fall, the faster we can develop alternatives. Twitter is dead. Long live the Fediverse.

drstewart 4y ago
No one cares about the fediverse.
- rvz 4y ago
  Only the tiny minority of techies screaming about the 'fediverse' care. There is little interest with the majority of non-techies 200M+ that care to use it daily, let alone sign up; hence why they still use Twitter. Federated social networks such as Mastodon are a solution in search of a problem, and it always has been like that for years.
  - maxbond 4y ago
    I hear a lot of people talking about the Fediverse of many different technical backgrounds. It's true it would take a huge event to get non-technical people interested in the Fediverse - but that's exactly what I'm seeing. They're not a solution in search of a problem. They're a solution a small, dedicated group of people have cared deeply about, but most people have ignored. But people have been unsatisfied with the centralized aspects of social media for a long time. They're not stupid; they see the way the algorithms are designed for engagement, and the toxicity that causes. They see how fragile it is that someone like Musk can just swoop in and sabotage the platform. Network effects have made it difficult to adopt a decentralized solution. Well - lots of communities are looking for a home they won't have to leave for the same reason they did before. That's creating network effects in the opposite direction. If you'd said this to me a few weeks ago I'd have been inclined to believe it. But things are in flux. Maybe the Fediverse won't take off, but it has a very really shot right now.
    - TomSwirly 4y ago
      I simply don't get the problem with the "Fediverse". Mastodon works very much like Twitter and you can follow people on your server or another one with ease. You don't need to know anything about anything to do this.
    - drstewart 4y ago
      Go ask your mom what algorithm she prefers for her content feed and report back.
      - defrost 4y ago
        Meh, she seems happy following other emeritus professors on mathstodon.xyz and crafty types in weaving and bridge groups. How about your mom?
        throwntoday 4y ago
- peppermint_tea 4y ago
  I do.
angelbob 4y ago
And even if you think "not the fediverse," Twitter is still dead. Let's get to "long live" something.
throwntoday 4y ago
I'm gonna be honest, you're coming off a bit delusional. No meaningful amount of people care about the issues you do to abandon twitter for an already dead network like mastodon. The idea of federation doesn't appeal to normies, it only confuses them.
- maxbond 4y ago
  This is a reflection on your perception, what you imagine to be possible, and how much respect you afford "normies", more than it is a reflection on me.
  - throwntoday 4y ago
    Well I was calling you delusional if you think your average person cares about Elon's shenanigans enough to jump ship to a platform no one uses. So it was solely a comment on you.
    - maxbond 4y ago
      I see that I wasn't as clear as I could have been, so I've edited it to be "a reflection" rather than "a comment." If you'd like me to be entirely explicit; in trying to insult me, you're telegraphing your own lack of awareness.
      - throwntoday 4y ago
        If you're perceiving it as in insult rather than taking a second to consider the possibility you may be drastically overstating the importance of certain things to the average person then, it's just you lacking self-awareness here friend.