My dream is a world of bottom-up social networks, governed and shaped by the people who use them. The fediverse now isn't that, but it hints at the possibility. I think we should defend what we have, but I'll be disappointed if we never grow beyond it.
I feel like the dominant sides in this #threads debate are either more content than I am with the status quo, or more sanguine than I am about the threats posed by Meta.
@misc I feel like, yeah, on the one hand the fediverse does need to grow beyond what it is now for me to stay interested in it, but also that Meta in particular being the first "outside actor" to really be interested in it is bad. I actually agree both with the most optimistic booster statements and the most pessimistic "Meta is evil" statements at the same time, because I feel like it contains a lot of both. Time will tell which ends up being dominant
@misc I also feel like a lot depends on whether it just ends up being Meta or if another big actor ends up getting involved as well, it's a lot easier to maintain your independence in the shadow of two giants than in the shadow of one giant
@julieofthespirits Yeah. I'm extremely wary of Threads just taking over X's hegemonic status. It's kind of hard for me to imagine, given my experience on Threads? But it could definitely happen and it would be very bad.
@misc I think this is what makes it saddest that Tumblr abandoned its federation plans. It's obviously a shadow of its former self, but even still, having one big player, one medium player, and then a bunch of small players at the margin is a much more sustainable environment than one big player and a bunch of small players
@julieofthespirits Best case scenario: Meta jumps in the pool, Tumblr follows, Bluesky sees the writing on the wall and implements ActivityPub. X finally crumbles, banks seize it from Elon, put it under sane leadership that either embraces the fedi or at least tries to start winning back users and advertisers. No one has a monopoly. A flurry of energy and investment ensues, optimal conditions for the emergence of something truly new, exciting, and impactful.
@misc@laurenshof oh, I hadn't seen that one, last I had heard they had backed out and were possibly winding tumblr down altogether, thanks for the link
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