> are social incentives going to be enough long-term though? I'd say all the long-running forum based communities proves that yes it is. Not counting Usenet, I

> are social incentives going to be enough long-term though? I'd say all the long-running forum based communities proves that yes it is. Not counting Usenet, IRC and other "old internet communities" which have withstood the test of time. > Can you trust an admin to host and police your social network? That's where the federated part comes in, you choose a server and admin that you trust. Preventing people from moving server would be holding them hostage, breaking the fundamental trust of the platform and become public enemy numero uno overnight. I really doubt anyone would do it, but yes the chance isn't zero. Plenty of people host servers with their real identity and reputation on the line though. If you are still paranoid you can join a commercial server where by contractual obligation they have to provide service to you and allow you to move away. > What is there to hold hosts accountable for security? The threat of reputational damage doesn't seem like it is going to mean much to pseudonymous volunteers, so what can be done to ensure hosts are properly protecting the system from promise? Again, you choose your server based on your risk tolerance. You can go with the main mastodon.social server, or join a server owned by a real person you feel is reputable/trustworthy, or join a paid server. And I would disagree about pseudonymous volunteers not caring about reputation damage, the vast majority of people would feel a sense of ownership over their online identity, especially if it has a lot of clout. > Reddit moderators are, by and large, reasonable but there's a non-trivial minority who will do things like stage a coup against the other moderators, start arbitrarily banning or harassing people, or just straight up ghost the site and never follow up on the rules. same as above, what mechanisms exist to prevent or reverse or take over the actions of an rogue/absentee mod? Reddit mods are not server owners, at the end of the day they know they're just hosting someone else's party so there isn't a true sense of ownership. But if a moderator decided to go rogue? It's just like a forum isn't it? Either the owner gets rid of them or you're out of luck. You can limit damage by backing up your followers and follows on a regular basis so you can rebuild your network if you are forced to create a new account on a different server. With federated system come the freedom to chose your server and the consequences thereof, you're gonna have to take some personal responsibility by choosing a server that has a healthy community and a responsible moderation team. At the end of the day I don't think a perfect system exists, they are just different sets of compromises.