@anildash@me.dm
@anildash@me.dm avatar

anildash

@anildash@me.dm

I'm a big fan of being a big fan of things. you can email me at a@anildash.com or SMS/signal at +1 646 541 5843. kind but not nice. #tfr

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anildash, to random
@anildash@me.dm avatar

Since some people have asked me, here's a quick thread on initial experience comparison between Bluesky and the fediverse. It's important to note that this comparison is somewhat absurd by default because Bluesky is still tiny & unproven, but there's interest so I'm happy to share what I've observed. Also, I don't get into protocol differences because honestly who cares. So:

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

The fediverse (including Mastodon) is better at: having been proven to scale, having multiple places running different services, offering more choice of apps, giving a choice of legal jurisdictions and business/non-profit models, and is still growing far faster, especially globally.

Bluesky is better at: Onboarding & signup experience, having fewer choices to make, quality of the default app, familiarity for people used to Twitter's design, discovery of other users within the existing service.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

Here are things we don't know: What Bluesky's trust, safety & abuse policies will look like at scale, compared to fediverse services. Mastodon and other fediverse services have been uneven at times, but have matured over years; Bluesky is still tiny and hasn't been tested at all. We don't know if Bluesky can scale, either technically or socially.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

There are also platform features that people might legitimately have different goals for. Bluesky makes content & people searchable by default, which Mastodon only does for hashtagged content. This aids discovery, but can also enable kinds of abuse. Fediverse partisans argue this constraint helps build healthy community, but many newer users find it a frustrating omission. Both platforms let you use your own domain, but it's much harder to do so on the fediverse right now.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

People's perception of the overall fediverse is (probably unfairly) shaped by Mastodon, though many other services make different choices around key features that others might find meaningful. Understanding federation is a huge barrier for people who just want to (re)connect with friends or institutions. People's perception of Bluesky is shaped by Jack Dorsey's role in its initial conception; we don't yet know whether that's fair, though he doesn't seem very involved at all.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@ramsey no standalone servers yet, though they seem close. Won't be anything to run until blocking/abuse stuff is mature I think.

anildash, to random
@anildash@me.dm avatar

It’s not dangerous, it’s a good thing to simplify onboarding for more users. Other major instances should do the same, and of course keep the option for these client apps to support other instances as well. It is appropriate and good for the internet to prioritize onboarding less experienced users over teaching federation theory up front. https://mstdn.social/@feditips/110233282251253677

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

I don't mean to be a Gloomy Gus, and I am very much hoping BS proves to be total BS, but @anildash is not the only one with this reaction. I've now seen others like it from people equally informed. Despite Jack's mistakes, I never write off anyone with that much money and access to talent and resources. If he attracts substantial media, he can leapfrog right over the Mastodon position and the whole Fediverse will take a hit. I've never see harm come from not underestimating an adversary.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@shoq Disagree with the “take a hit” framing. These are systems which could easily be interoperable; both can win and the open web would win as a result.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@NIH_LLAMAS @shoq That’s a fair POV, but I think there are lots of folks who are less animated about that and won’t be swayed by that argument. Unfortunately.

anildash, to random
@anildash@me.dm avatar

Been playing around with Bluesky a bit & it’s pretty interesting. They have an easier consumer experience (signup/discovery/UI works like Twitter) and it all feels very snappy. I like how they use domain names (or subdomains) instead of what look like funky email addresses. By far the biggest problem Jay & co face is that Jack Dorsey has effectively poisoned the well on everything from people assuming it’s a crypto platform (it’s not) to assuming (understandably) that be bad at trust & safety.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

I don’t think we need another protocol or whatever really, but I do think there should be an open-web platform that prioritizes building a consumer-grade experience that is suitable for orgs & institutions. I think a lot of cultural barriers make that harder to do in the fediverse (especially in the mastodon sphere), but I’m agnostic as to whether it happens on ActivityPub or the (as-yet-unproven) AT Protocol. Glad to see cool, open stuff being made.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@andresmh Not yet. Was more interested in whether compatibility could be added to an existing site.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@mjgardner I mean, it’s as open as ActivityPub and mastodon are, just with different shortcomings.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@maegul Domains are a wonderful thing.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@oblomov Doesn’t seem intrinsic to that. More if it being a design goal.

anildash,
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@leoncowle Absolutely possible, and if AT/BS gets any traction at all, I hope it happens.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

To be clear, I love the fediverse and Mastodon, and that’s why I’ve been here from the start. I think it’s been a great evolution from the RSS era to Atom to ActivityPub to Mastodon API (which is a defacto standard on top of all of that) but I also appreciate learning from other systems & seeing what’s good about them. I’m not going anywhere, but I am pushing for this entire ecosystem to interoperate and grow to accommodate as many different use cases as possible.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@misc Yep! I expect that’ll happen.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@jcrabapple @misc Same. We could also end up in a dual-protocol situation as with SMTP/IMAP/POP3

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@thomasfuchs Disagree with a lot of these assertions, but I understand why you feel that way.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@evan I get what you're going for here, but whether it's called a "protocol" or not, there's going to be a set of standards for interop above that layer.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@thomasfuchs I have quote posts in the client I use, so you're being reductive. You're also comparing to another system for which parity is a non-goal for Mastodon. Perhaps it should be, but it's silly to contrast with something that's not supposed to be an equivalent experience.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@evan @mjgardner Maybe? I want it to matter, but I have plenty of counterexamples in the real world.

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@codinghorror @jwz Yeah I don’t fault either of you for that opinion. For me, anything that gets on the radar of normal folks is something I have to understand well enough to have an informed opinion; unfortunately if I opt out of commercial platforms run by shitheads, that’s nearly all of them.

timbray, to random
@timbray@cosocial.ca avatar

Introductory-level discussion of Bluesky and nostr.

https://decrypt.co/137589/decentralized-twitter-alternatives-bluesky-and-nostr-are-growing-with-some-growing-pains

anildash,
@anildash@me.dm avatar

@timbray @timswan third board member is Jeremie Miller of Jabber fame.

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