<
https://www.techdirt.com/2023/04/13/try-fedi-friday-just-one-day-a-week-experiment-with-alternative-social-media/>
"It’s not at all surprising why tons of people, including journalists, are
sticking around Twitter even if they shouldn’t. Part of it is inertia. People
were settled into what worked before, and change is difficult. Partly because
of that, people are loathe to switch. Even those who have switched over to
alternatives like Mastodon in the Fediverse find it difficult to do so. There’s
a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem in which, when people first sign up, it
feels “empty” because there’s no algorithm pumping their feed full of content
(though I’ve found Mastodon to be quite engaging, to an almost overwhelming
degree that I can’t keep up). You have to do a little bit of work, and that can
feel like a lot.
But still.
There are so, so, so many reasons to not think this is a good state of affairs.
The events of the last few years should demonstrate why relying on any
centralized social media is inherently risky. This goes beyond just Twitter,
but Elon has been turning that site into a ridiculous plaything in which he
makes decisions based on which of his dumbest (but most loyal) fans he thinks
will get the biggest kick out of them, rather than any sense of what’s best for
the site’s users.
Last week, the pseudonymous Chance from the
Chancery Daily publication
suggested that we start embracing a concept of “Fedi Friday,” in which even
people who feel that they’re going to stick around on Twitter for a while at
least just spend one day a week exploring alternative social media, just so
they have a general knowledge of it, and experience with it, in case they’re
targeted in the next “look at me, I’m in charge now” purge from an insecure,
whiny billionaire.
Seeing how Elon has handled the whole NPR situation should be instructive. His
pettiness in the whole thing, including yesterday tweeting “defund NPR” should
highlight why relying on Twitter is dangerous.
And, even if you think you support and agree with Musk, he’s shown little to no
problem with stabbing his supporters in the back the second they push back even
the slightest bit. He’ll even publish their private communications just to win
a slap fight. So even if you think that Musk is magically “saving” Twitter, it
still makes sense to find a space that isn’t controlled by him.
You don’t have to commit to leaving Twitter. You just need to spend a little
time each week testing out the alternatives, of which there are many. The
ActivtyPub-based “fediverse” is much vaster than people realize, going beyond
just Mastodon (though they all interact in some ways). Larger companies such as
Medium, Mozilla, and Flipboard are all embracing ActivityPub in one way or
another, and others are poking around the edges as well."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
