@rwg@aoir.social
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

rwg

@rwg@aoir.social

Ontario Research Chair of Digital Governance for Social Justice, York University.

Currently writing a book, "Move Slowly and Build Bridges: Mastodon, the Fediverse, and the Struggle for Ethical Social Media" for Oxford University Press.

Been on the fediverse since 2017. I'm now helping set up AoIR.social

he/him

Trans rights are human rights. I boost #BlackMastodon and #MutualAid posts. I also call for alt text for accessibility.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

rwg, to meta
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Here's a totally wonky, ultranerdy piece of evidence for folks who want to argue that doesn't operate in good faith. It's based on a chapter of my book about the Dark Web (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262038263/weaving-the-dark-web/).

A thread... 🧵

aram, to academia
@aram@aoir.social avatar

I hate that I have to send emails like this. But that's what it's come to, isn't it.

#academia #academicchatter @academicchatter

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

@aram @academicchatter

People often ask me why I moved to Canada....

(actually, no, they don't. they know why)

rwg, to meta
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

"Meta Threads has begun federating" is an anagram for "user meat feeding the beast"

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

@LukefromDC The lovely thing is, you totally can!

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

@LukefromDC You want to block it yourself, or do you want your admin to block it?

To block it yourself, you'd have to search for an account on threads, and then click on block domain:

https://aoir.social/@vurpo@mastodon.coffee/111581188620213312

But before you do, check with kolektiva's admin. Maybe your instance has already blocked them.

rwg, to fediverse
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Hey, : someone just told me the fedi isn't enough.

How can I prove them wrong?

rwg, to ai
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

I better get this book done before some writes it

shoq, to random
@shoq@mastodon.social avatar

It’s very weird watching people become “Stans” of one social media platform or another. They don’t seem concerned with social media actually solving communications problems for society, or a particular discipline, but rather, with how much they empower their personal social, emotional or brand needs. It all gives me a queasy feeling. There is so little depth to anything anymore. Am I alone in my discomfort?

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

@shoq you are not alone

rwg, to random
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

I've said this before, but I will say it again: those of you doing research on the fediverse using techniques or , keep in mind that this place is not 1 thing, but 10s of thousands of communities, each with their own terms/codes of conduct. So just grabbing all the posts you can likely violates many communities' norms or terms.

1/2

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Moreover, if you release crawlers into the fedi, that translates to real costs for fedi admins who pay for the bandwidth your crawlers consume.

@rra and I are writing an article about these very issues.

2/2

rwg, to random
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

I guess we can turn off our ad-blockers when we visit "X" now, right?

rwg, to academicchatter
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Hey, @academicchatter, many folks are trying to figure out an alternative to Google Scholar.

Does anyone regularly use worldcat.org for that purpose? I'm trying it a bit and... it's working

rwg, to random
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Fellow Christmas music haters, a yearly reminder that this exists and can salve the wounds

http://joshmillard.com/endlessjingling/

rwg, to academicchatter
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

We've extended our deadline for this Data Sovereignty Canada Research Chair academic search to January 1:

https://www.academicwork.ca/jobs/canada-research-chair-tier-2-in-indigenous-data-sovereignty-assistant-associate-york-university

The successful candidate would be supported by a major grant program called "Connected Minds."

I'm on the search committee -- happy to answer questions.

[boosts appreciated]

@academicchatter

rwg, to random
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

From White and Williams 2014, "Anarchist economic practices in a ‘capitalist’ society: some implications for organisation and the future of work":

> "rather than capitalism being all encompassing within modern life in western society, the prevalence of non-capitalist exchanges means that actually existing anarchism already exists for many."

taking a look around the fediverse, I find a lot of non-capitalist exchanges....

heydon, to random
@heydon@front-end.social avatar

Another win for AI.

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

@heydon Oh, the nights of my youth when I would linger over brandy and stare into the eyes of Pakistan International Airlines.

rwg, to mastodon
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

I had a wide-ranging conversation on The Tully Show with host Michael Tully. We talked about (including ) and my latest book on manipulative communication (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262543453/).

https://tullyshow.libsyn.com/robert-gehl-social-engineering

(I used a new microphone for this -- I hope it sounds ok!)

rwg, to mastodon
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Hey, fellow #Mastodon (and #fediverse) #admins:

I am working on my book about the fedi and would like to get a sense of what it costs to run your server per month.

Anyone willing to share numbers? (Feel free to do it via DM if you don't want it public). Please let me know your instance and how much it costs.

Boosts welcome!

rwg, to Ethics
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Latest post: I experimented with applied in my media ethics class, asking them to come up with a for our experimental instance. The results were really good!

https://fossacademic.tech/2023/11/22/EthicsAndCOCs.html

[replies to this post will appear as comments on my blog, unless you set privacy to friends only or DM]

rwg, to Ethics
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Tomorrow I'm going to lead my Media undergrad course through making our own instance, complete with .

How cool is it that we can just... run our own social media? It's not easy, it's fraught, it's challenging... but it's ours.

It still blows my mind that we can do this.

rwg, to random
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

I do love the fediverse, but my god I just spent the whole day trying to install a test server of Mastodon. I'm not the most technical person, but I am also not new to installing web applications. But I had to do it about 5 times because I'd make mistakes that seemed impossible to correct once I made them. Ugh.

Well, at least it's working now!

rwg, to bluesky
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Just had a great conversation with @davekarpf about , , , and... that other one, you know the one. (The hellsite. Birdchan, etc).

Dave's take remains that Bluesky is more fun, Mastodon is more serious, and Threads is influencer hell. Regardless of cultural differences, the landscape has dramatically changed for writers, political organizers, and for those who would peddle disinformation.

rwg, to mst3k
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Hey, there's not a lot of joy now. So why not throw a few coins to one source of joy: Mystery Science Theater 3000, or for short?

They're crowdfunding money to make a 14th season:

https://showmaker.mst3k.com/makeseason14?ref=ab_5PQDYlofPbr5PQDYlofPbr

They make the show on their own -- no networks for them. Fans new and old, chip in!

rolle, to bluesky
@rolle@mementomori.social avatar

Hot take: Mastodon has far better content when compared to Bluesky. And I say this based on thousands of people I follow.

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

@rolle do you follow many on Bluesky?

rwg, to bluesky
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

As I mentioned before, I'm digging into , trying to figure it all out.

Today, I'm studying its approach to .

If anyone has insights about this -- especially if you know how many actual content moderators they have -- feel free to reach out.

rwg,
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

I guess a basic question is: how many people are employed by ? The reporting I've seen indicates it's about 20, but it's a few months old.

How many of them are ? Or are they farming out moderation to other firms, like does?

Or are they just hoping users flag all the things?

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • JUstTest
  • ngwrru68w68
  • everett
  • InstantRegret
  • magazineikmin
  • thenastyranch
  • rosin
  • GTA5RPClips
  • Durango
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • khanakhh
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • provamag3
  • tacticalgear
  • osvaldo12
  • tester
  • cubers
  • cisconetworking
  • mdbf
  • ethstaker
  • modclub
  • Leos
  • anitta
  • normalnudes
  • megavids
  • lostlight
  • All magazines
    •