Been busy today and it looks like they're already gone, but I'm a lefty who strongly supports @newsmax. We should support everyone being on the #socialweb and not block their instance as long as they are not harassing others or hosting many who do that. Especially journalists. It is not their job to conform to popular opinion or what everyone already agrees is true. Only those who push that line help us make progress. I want this place as open and popular as the #openweb. #fediblockmeta#newsmax
First off, @evan sees this from the perspective of someone who's co-authored #ActivityPub. It's his job to spur and enable adoption -- and that's something he's done exceptionally well for 20 years. Of course he wants to help Meta abide by open standards. Which, even if you dislike Meta, you would hope they would do.
My perspective is as one who is building products that compete with Meta. Ideally, I would like people who use Meta to migrate away from there and instead use #Calckey, #GreatApe, and the numerous options available on #SpaceHost.
But even from the perspective of a competitor, I want interoperability with #Barcelona. And even more, I want interoperability based on open standards.
Yes, yes, yes -- "embrace, extend, extinguish". At this point, that phrase is a broken record.
But every time that phrase comes up, I keep asking folks: when has the "extinguish" part of "embrace, extend, extinguish" ever worked?
People say #RSS, but RSS is still here and I use it every day. Hell, Calckey even has an RSS widget and it works like a charm. RSS is not extinguished.
People also say #XMPP, but I can run an XMPP server right now -- no problems. People say XMPP "died" because it's no longer as popular now, but is it because Meta and Google dropped support, or is it because Slack, Discord, Signal, WhatsApp, and even Matrix have come along to eclipse it in popularity? Regardless, even if XMPP is no longer so popular, it's not extinguished.
The most ludicrous example of "extinguish" people bring up is Gmail's dominance of email. But email is the most popular communications technology we have today, even though it's 50 years old. What's more, look at the raw stats. Gmail is only 18% of the email server market -- that's no monopoly. Go have a look at the stats for yourselves:
The pessimistic notion that we will "lose" by allowing Meta to interoperate with ActivityPub -- again, an open standard -- just doesn't convince me. In fact, if Meta is adopting standard ActivityPub, I think "losing" is impossible.
With Meta adopting ActivityPub, we're not losing. We're winning. We're not conceding to Meta by adopting their proprietary APIs for interoperability. They're conceding to us by adopting ActivityPub.
Again, I'm not saying you should all federate with #Barcelona. I'm saying that Meta adopting an open standard that allows for interoperability is a win because, remember, they're adopting our standard. We're not adopting theirs.
Some also ask, "But what if Meta does a bait-and-switch and drops ActivityPub support?"
Well, there's kind of precedence for that.
Not enough people realize this, but Google once adopted the predecessor of ActivityPub. Specifically, they used OStatus for Google Buzz. Certainly, like many Google products, Google Buzz shuttered.
But the development for an open social media protocol lived on, and we all use what was developed right now.
No doubt, if Barcelona becomes Meta's Google Buzz, ActivityPub will live on. It will still be developed. We'll keep using it.
In the meantime, I'll consider ways to help Meta users migrate to platforms that I believe are better.
> Of course he wants to help Meta abide by open standards. Which, even if you dislike Meta, you would hope they would do.
I mentioned it before, this is the disconnect between the #1stGen (2008–2015) and #2ndGen (2016–Present) #Fediverse users.
Us, 1st Gen, our concern is to bring the down the walls and enable a decentralised and federated #SocialWeb. The idea itself is older than the fediverse, there were many names involved and who pioneered the pushed for it and are now forgotten.
Even me, to this day, I do welcome them federating even if they already did something EEE-like before (for example, FB Messenger federating and then defederating from #xmpp).
While I do want people to migrate over to a fediverse service made for it by developers who believes in it, the main goal is still to bring down the walls, and get them to federate … permanently.
It's why I also I welcome #Flickr and #Tumblr into the fold (and waiting for them to do so).
And for someone like me who was banned from #Instagram for no reason at all other than because I am #Autistic (I rarely use my Instagram, and when I do, it was to upload a work of mine, so clearly there were no violations), having them federate would enable me to communicate with Instagram users once again.
What we really need in the #SocialWeb, as the next iterative progression of #ActivityPub and its implementations like #Mastodon etc. IMHO. https://solidproject.org to store all posts and pictures etc per user, not per instance or account. This would radically reduce the scope of an implementation and allow for frictionless migration between instances. This does NOT necessarily need any change to the standard. It's an implementation detail, AFAICS. #SocialCG
The tricky thing about the #socialweb is that we have instances but not federated groups yet AFAIK. Being decentralized is essential and that requires picking a server, but that choice shouldn't define my primary identity or tribe. It's my account. It's who I pay to be here and provide my first line of moderation. But I run in different circles. How should this all be managed?
Having spent a week on Bluesky, I am of the opinion that it's looking like it could work out well. The media and A-lister are always going to want a big open space, accessible to all. Let them monetize it creatively if they can (so long as it's not a crypto scheme). It will always be a place to "get attention," more than share ideas content. We can do that here, without all the noise from there. Win-win.
I want everyone on the same network. If not and some great voices are only there and lots of people are still exposed to ads and algorithms and data mining, then the fight to move them to a truly open #socialweb continues.
The revolutionary potential is that the best art, information and ideas can go viral but only if the public decides so. Merit culture. A society improving as quickly as possible. That's what we're doing here. Adding a democratic attention layer to the #openweb.
It's cool to see the #socialweb over run by #eurovision and #esc, even though it's not something I'm into. More of this please. Imagine it running on @peertube. Unlike any other network, we know there's nobody fucking with this virality. That should scare the shit out of everyone whose influence comes from owning big media or buying advertising. Escape velocity.
I think the future for most people on the #socialweb is going to be an all-purpose account that lets them do everything. Have a feed, host files, display pics, engage in groups, post comments. What most people do with separate services, but in a "pod" that can move to any hosting service or domain you want. There could be a great market for providing these services and apps that interface with your data in unique ways. Professionals will have their own dedicated systems on the network.
remember the NET tld, when the internet was new? cause sometimes .COM and .ORG didn't seem right. now we have the SOCIAL tld for the #socialweb, but I'll probably use #fediverse as well. #openweb
In a way, IRC was federated, in the sense that different servers are interconnected.
We used to experience a lot of server splits then. Whenever it happened, the only users left in your room are those still “federated” with the server you've logged-on. Then a major drama, and some server admins split up and formed their own IRC network.
Then, there is email and Jabber/XMPP (late 90s), which are federated.
#Web2 was defined (from what I've read years ago) as when corporate structure took over, redefind the web into silos.
While #Web1 was understood as the first phase of the #SocialWeb.
And #Web3 as decentralised, distributed, federated, open, network; or the next phase in SocialWeb.
We are very happy to announce the availability of the new stable release of Friendica “Giant Rhubarb" 2023.04. The highlights of this release are
The Mastodon compatible API of Friendica was improved,
Drag and Drop functionality was added to the Frio theme for image attachments, and
Christian Pöschl from usd AG reported a XSS fulnurability in a javascript dependency in the gallery of the Frio theme that was fixed.
What is Friendica?
Friendica is a decentralized communications platform, you can use to host your own social media server that integrates with independent social networking platforms (like the Fediverse or Diaspora*) but also some commercial ones like Tumblr.
A #feditip to those trying other #fediverse software: Treat your new account as you would signing-up in a new #SNS.
A more detailed #feditips: 1. Let each of your account grow separately.
It is fine to follow certain groups and users. These are your ‘core’ interaction. But for the rest, keep them separate and let it grow organically.
2. Define a certain theme or topic or purpose for your new account.
Since we are in an interconnected network, you will end up having a major overlap between your first account and your succeeding accounts. Which might confuse you later (as well as your followers).
For example, I still post my new articles through my @youronlyone account, for two major reasons: Follower Badge, and #Indieweb support via #Bridgy.
3. Use this opportunity to learn how discovery, growth, and reach, works in the #MycelialNetwork (or #SocialWeb)
By letting your new account grow organically, and keeping the overlap with your first account at a minimum, you will be able to observe how discovery, growth, and reach, works in the network.
The Misskey and Calckey accounts are organically growing. I also discover new people, new content, that I haven't seen in my #Mastodon account (@youronlyone). And I asked myself, why? As I find answers to that question, I slowly adjust my interactions, and this in turn helped me discover more and reach wider.
The Mycelial Network (as I now prefer to call the Fediverse), is huge. When it started in 2008, it was small, and we all know each other. Today, I've probably only discovered and reached 0.5% of the network. It grew that fast.
this is all great but the big demand right now (by the people most likely to get the word out of it's done right...journalists) is for a real alternative to Twitter. beyond decentralization, we can give people that if Mastodon made some changes. and that kind of win, would provide a huge boost for the #socialweb. I kinda feel like if Mastodon won't make these changes, some person or team needs to fork it (or whatever might serve this purpose better) and push hard.