Anyone over the age of 30 who has spend any time in tech-adjacent spaces still cheering for #BigTech "joining" the #Fediverse is fucking deluding themselves. We've been through so many cycles of this shit over the past twenty years, how some people can still trust #facebook to do anything remotely ethical is beyond me.
They're not here to join, they're here to destroy. This is just the most cost-effective, PR-friendly way of doing it.
I understand it's hard to emotionally deal with a barrage of criticism for administrative decisions, but this is just a display of childishness I did not expect from him. Especially when he announced that he changed his mind after initially signing #FediPact he had to expect reactions from many disheartened users.
@cloudguy
“How will these smaller groups of happier people be monetized?”
Billionaire solution:
Step 1 - Build your own surveillance cap social media platform.
Step 2 - Federate with the not-for-profit, non-information gathering social platforms built with donations by volunteers.
Step 3 - Start harvesting information.
Step 4 -
I'm getting really tired of trying to run away from big tech, only to be ensnared again by the greed and/or naivety of sites who ultimately cave to the whims of big tech....
No problem! You can find admins and users talking a lot about this by searching for the #p92 and #fedipact hashtags, lots of instances are preemptively defederating from Meta domains, although the software hasn’t implemented federation yet
Just in case some fools are still wondering how the #Fediverse might change #Meta, here's what their Android app betrays: "APK appears to contain […] data models indicating advertisements in the feed […] The sheer amount of telemetry #Threads appears to collect is massive, far more than any other fediverse platform or application client. Why does Threads need #Health & #Fitness data, or #Financial info? Why do they need your #purchases and #search#history?"
Main point: The Meta/FB [Thread app/site] "P92 app will be carefully crafted as a one way bridge that is permeable for content in direction of Meta, but not so much for P92 users in direction of the Fediverse."
I’m fairly new and don’t 100% understand it yet, but instances are run on servers that require money. Are we heading towards seeing ads or subscriptions to raise funds instead of relying on donations to cover overhead?...
That depends on how the admins decide to run their instances. After several crises and dramas, etc., I can say that those who decide to monetize eventually will; but so far people have been supporting their admins through crowdfunding.
The really big instances are deciding to be open to Facebook in exchange for big money. A lot of folks in other instances don’t like it, and some instances have already decided to defederate from them in advance (search for the hashtag #FediPact). Yes, there’s lot of drama involved.
Yes, I'll be happy for a well-founded excuse to block meta-servers. However objectively i don't see what more of the already public information in the fediverse they'd gather just from federating – which they could already do and get without their official project (which i think isnt actually that official yet).
Also it reads that they'll federate in whitelist mode and have nda's with affected admins.
Lets just see what is going to happen and decide when it's time. This time with the #tchncs
@milan While I can see this would be wise when dealing with a barely known entity, I don't understand what's there to be waited for when dealing with #Meta.
Their track record, for more than a decade, is open to see for everybody. And it is abominable.
Whatever happens, thank you for being a friendly and approachable admin during my time here. Currently being on vacation, upon my return my accounts will be on an instance that is part of the #Fedipact. I hope it'll be social.tchncs.de
I still haven't made up my mind about blocking Meta's #Threads, codenamed #Project92 or #P92, supposedly supporting #ActivityPub, should it actually launch. As far as I can see, it's basically "keeping the evil surveillance corp. out" vs "avoiding nerdy self-marginalization".
Both are fair points. I guess, it depends. But on what? For me, the key point is if Threads (or whatever its name) supports easy migration (as Mastodon does). If that's the case, I would prefer not to block it, as it could be an offramp from the walled garden. If this feature is omitted, then I would be much more open to blocking.
But in the end, this should not be a decision by the admins, but a collective one by the users of the instance. #fedipact#Project92
Just kidding, it's actually a picture of the 1985 Reagan / Gorbachev "trust but verify" meeting.
Speaking of meeting with #Meta, though, a couple of suggestions for whoever's talking with them ...
It would be great if Meta got a consistent message about how toxic their approach of having discussions only under #NDA has been. If you all draw a hard line and refuse to have discussions with them until they're ready to disclose their plans more broadly,, they can find a way to do that if they want to.
They might say no of course, even after they've gotten the feedback from their potential partners that their approach is toxic to the #fediverse. If so, that's good calibration.
And I'm sure you know this already but it's worth repeating: just like any other big company, Meta will put their own interests above yours. The people you're working with may well be awesome -- it's their job to get you to like them, and they're probably quite good at it. But they're not the ones who are in charge. If and when it becomes expedient for Meta to discard you or screw you over, that's what they'll do.
And a suggestion to #MastoAdmin, whether or not you're meeting with Meta:
No matter what your position is on the #FediPact - now's a very good time to have discussions with your community about the issue. Tensions are high and there are a lot of rumors floating around. Now's a good time for instance admins to discuss with their communities summarizes and links out to several good examples of community discussions -- including the outstanding #TertuliaExtraordinaria thread -- you could use as a template or starting point.
although this is unlikely to substantially and directly impact us and is a more immediate concern for Mastodon and similar fediverse software, we've signed the Anti-Meta Fedi Pact as a matter of principle. that pact pledges the following:...
John Gruber describes the Anti-Meta Pact as "petty and deliberately insular" and suggests that the whole point of ActivityPub is to turn social networking into something more akin to email, which he describes as "truly open."1
Tristan Louis says "The anti-Meta #Fedipact can only achieve one thing: make sure that #ActivityPub loses to the Bluesky protocol."2
Dan Gillmor suggests that "preemptively blocking them -- and the people already using them -- from your instance guarantees less relevance for the fediverse."
All this conversation about #Meta on #Fedi feels like the worst parts of geek culture. So technical, without understanding context or what strikes can actually do. My thoughts:
Meta will make a great app for Fedi because it has more money to throw at the task. People will start using that because it's better. It will have QTs and an algorithm. People they want to follow will be there.
A #strike / #FediPact doesn't let them do this. It prevents #Meta from entering the existing conversation with interesting content and dynamic developments. It makes it harder and more expensive for them to develop their own ActivityPub software, makes #EEE slightly more expensive.
Whoever thinks that we have somehow "won" by having them adopt #ActivityPub is deeply ignoring reality and history. We have opposing interests. They are capitalists, we are a commons. They want to eat us.
So the purpose of the #fedipact virtual picket is to stake a claim and build a common consciousness. It could grow - we could build a cross-#fediverse infrastructure to negotiate and make collective decisions. We could develop a standard for all those who want to join - a viral thing. @dk
wrote of this a long while ago.
The point of the #fediblockMeta is not to stop them, it ultimately cannot do that. The point of it is to realize what we can do together.
Let's say the worst case scenario happens with kbin and Meta. What are some alternate sites/instances that would be more resilient to enshitification? (kbin.social)
I'm getting really tired of trying to run away from big tech, only to be ensnared again by the greed and/or naivety of sites who ultimately cave to the whims of big tech....
Is this true? (i.imgur.com)
Found it on Twitter.
So how long until the Fediverse is monetized?
I’m fairly new and don’t 100% understand it yet, but instances are run on servers that require money. Are we heading towards seeing ads or subscriptions to raise funds instead of relying on donations to cover overhead?...
non-stickied PSA: Beehaw has signed the Anti-Meta Fedi Pact
although this is unlikely to substantially and directly impact us and is a more immediate concern for Mastodon and similar fediverse software, we've signed the Anti-Meta Fedi Pact as a matter of principle. that pact pledges the following:...