I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz Tbh, the most challenging benefit to highlight, is how much abusive content your admins are probably protecting you from...
The one experience of harassment I have had since I started using Mastodon was also pretty cool, as after I reported the account, their instance administrators almost immediately handled it, by deleting their account... 
Maybe they'd just been going under the radar, but I guess they didn't like their extensive history of that sort of behaviour... -
@taylorlorenz If you research washing machines online, Mastodon won’t start trying to sell you one.
@ScottGrimmett @taylorlorenz I have one to sell.
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@wiredfire falling down @cmconseils 's meme tunnel was not what I expected to do this evening but I got some great laughs and it reminded me of another thing few people have mentioned to @taylorlorenz - the extensive and enthusiastic use of #alttext to not only make this place more inclusive for those who need it but to make content easier to understand (and in the case of jokes flying over peoples' heads... Also because they need it).
@wiredfire @taylorlorenz @krupo meme tunnel
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@krupo @futurebird for sure it is, and the USA is also kinda deflating these days.. i think all roads should lead to 'fediverse' as the place we are and the place to be.
@futurebird @livcomp my long term project is to move some volunteering work to this platform and this mega thread has been a useful well of ideas on how to justify the move to the rest of my team.
The almost resolved question that has been my main personal stumbling block has been deciding on which instance to select.
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Mastodon is the anti-influence platform
On the social web we are
- free from the influence of megalomaniacs or any one person
- free from the influence of VCs and profit motivations
- free from the influence of algorithmic manipulationPlus as a bonus, you can follow a friend's "Instagram" from your "Twitter" account
@haubles @taylorlorenz that first one really isn’t true though. The fediverse has harmful parasocial and group dynamics just like every other social space. And the concentration of power in instance admins sure adds to that.
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@NMBA can you do that now? I have moved servers twice, each time, my followers disappeared. Although, I haven't had to do that terribly recently. YMMV. 🫲
🫱 @taylorlorenz@weezmgk Did you go into the settings of your existing account, and point it to your new account?
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@weezmgk Did you go into the settings of your existing account, and point it to your new account?
@WolvericCatkin probably not since I don't know how to do that
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@taylorlorenz Nothing new really--just that we make the algorithm with boosting often and following widely. The effort I spend in getting into streams of content is worth the satisfaction of enriching multiple aspects of my life. Knowing that a billionaire cannot ensh*ttify this is also a big plus because the present-day game plan seems to be billionaire + media outlet = ashes.
@DataAngler @taylorlorenz well they’re applying what the Nazis learned 100 years ago. You have to control the means of communication which enables you to control the message.
We have a coterie of billionaires who control the printed press and most of the media, but mastodon is outwith their purvey so we can do what we like! -
@WolvericCatkin probably not since I don't know how to do that
@weezmgk Yeah, it's been a core part of the platform as long as I've been a user (since 2022...?), but it's a process you need to actively initiate. I don't remember where it is exactly, but if you open the web app, there should be a section in your account settings, to initiate a migration and deactivate your existing account...
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@weezmgk Yeah, it's been a core part of the platform as long as I've been a user (since 2022...?), but it's a process you need to actively initiate. I don't remember where it is exactly, but if you open the web app, there should be a section in your account settings, to initiate a migration and deactivate your existing account...
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the magic of this place is that it gives the people all the power over what info, ideas and art gets attention. not governments or billionaire owners of media or corporate platforms. (not sure they'd want to hear that)
the problems with social media come down to the algos, not social media itself. that's what we're proving. the algos push a tabloid culture cause they know we'll pay attention to junk, even if we'd never share it. so they push the junk and our culture dets debased.
@wjmaggos @taylorlorenz absolutely true! And very well observed. It’s not just a case of not getting adverts but every individual on the platform is filtering by boosting or not boosting suspect posts.
So it’s a kind of non-stop moderation by real human beings just like us. -
This could work.
But I feel like in a lot of ways people only view the internet as some mishmash of TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Netflix, and their banking app.
If you take away the algorithm shoving content down their throat they are TOTALLY LOST because they've literally never had to seek out things on their own that interest them on the internet before.
Those people are sadly never going to find a home on Mastodon as it currently operates. They physically don't have the pathways in their brain or a good enough understanding of what the internet is and how it works to "get" what Mastodon is offering.
@User47 @taylorlorenz @bflipp I'm looking for a 3 foot tall 29 foot wide hunk of a man with 4 arms and more legs.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz
The fediverse and its largest apps mastodon, lemmy, peertube and pixelfed have corpoverse cousins that they replace. In this case thats twitter, reddit, youtube and instagram.On the fediverse all these platforms work together and you can comment with one on the other. You also have actual free speech, meaning you have no central moderation pushing an agenda. You can move freely between servers and even start your own with the rules you deem best.
Thats my pitch to onboard folks.
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@benroyce And thank goodness they are here. It’s so hard to find cat pix on the Internet
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@taylorlorenz tell them it’s just like bluesky, but all of their marketing lies are actually true here
@taylorlorenz @User47 I'm not sure I want the typical Blue sky user here on masto, do you? Bluesky is full of pompous blowhards using it as push media. They don't want engagement, they just want to broadcast self promotion.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz When you're tired of X, come over here.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz Amusement parks are great, but you're just a visitor passing through. A public park is where you can meet your neighbours and the community decides if they want to add a café.
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I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
@taylorlorenz I've actually though of how to describe Mastodon in a short way to non techi-people, while keeping in mind what prevented me to join any federated network before.
The whole point of Mastodon is to put back controls of their social networks to the users. That means it's not design around advertisements and unknown way to select content for you. Instead people run servers around given thematics. There is no need to have algorithms which choose for you content you might be interrested for, instead you find a server which have a community around the same interrests or localisation, and your local timeline will be filled of content from people of the same server, which have the same interrests.
But as it's federated, nothing prevent you to read content from other users. Because an account creation is easy, you can also have alt-accounts to discover other communities, and follow people from there on you main account. Most of the Mastodon apps can manage multiple accounts. -
@taylorlorenz You own your timeline. Like the early days when social media worked.
@mike @taylorlorenz
No adverts, no algorithms and you choose exactly what you see and read and who you talk to. -
I’ve been asked on TV hits and interviews lately to explain why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon.
How would you explain the benefits of a platform like Mastodon and the fediverse to someone in just a few sentences? How would you make the argument that platforms like Mastodon allow for more free expression than big tech controlled apps?
Would love to hear people’s thoughts! Trying to make my arguments most effective
There are a lot of technical advantages (and some disadvantages), but for a single point about free expression:
There is no singular entity that decides what is acceptable to say, what gets promoted, what gets demoted ("shadow banning"), or causes your account to be deleted.
(Sure, there's a lot of abhorrent stuff you can post that will likely get your account or instance widely shunned, blocked and/or defederated. But it's not the decision of any *one* individual or company.)
