Good day all! Fireside Fedi Episode 56 starts now!
With me today are @quillmatiq and @snarfed.org with @anewsocial ! They are currently building out #BridgyFed ! A way to #bridge #websites , #fediverse or #bsky accounts!
Watch the show live:
#Owncast #Livestream - https://stream.firesidefedi.live
After the show:
#Peertube #VOD - https://video.firesidefedi.live
#Castopod #Fedicast - https://audio.firesidefedi.live
#Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@btfree_org
All #Links - https://firesidefedi.live
#stream #interview #firesideFedi #FsF #people #peopleOverPlatforms #protocolsOverPlatforms #fedi #fediverse #open #internet #openInternet #podcast #show #episode #peertube #vod #castopod #writefreely #lemmy #boostplease #fedizen #btfree #bigTechFree #nonprofit #signup #tubeFree
Good day all! Fireside Fedi Episode 56 starts now!
With me today are @quillmatiq and @snarfed.org with @anewsocial ! They are currently building out #BridgyFed ! A way to #bridge #websites , #fediverse or #bsky accounts!
Watch the show live:
#Owncast #Livestream - https://stream.firesidefedi.live
After the show:
#Peertube #VOD - https://video.firesidefedi.live
#Castopod #Fedicast - https://audio.firesidefedi.live
#Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@btfree_org
All #Links - https://firesidefedi.live
#stream #interview #firesideFedi #FsF #people #peopleOverPlatforms #protocolsOverPlatforms #fedi #fediverse #open #internet #openInternet #podcast #show #episode #peertube #vod #castopod #writefreely #lemmy #boostplease #fedizen #btfree #bigTechFree #nonprofit #signup #tubeFree
Bsky is 'What if Twitter, but only the cancelling and bullying parts?'
@quinn maybe we can get a movement going to block the bsky bridge #onhere.
I already do the emotional labor of explaining that bsky is a containment tank for those assholes every time I see a thread where somebody mentions being sad that they got all the "growth" which fedi "missed out on" during the big migration.
Eternal November in 2022 was bad enough. if 20 million un-detoxed users had landed here rather than on #bsky, this place would be an unrecoverable smoldering ruin.
Just spoke with some #rockylinux folks about having a presence on the #fediverse. They seem very interested.
Spoke with ARM booth folks as well and it sounds like it was a difficult time getting their media relations folks yo accept #bsky but that's one step closer and better than the past!
my Fediverse post migration tool slurp can now import from Bluesky!
i'm looking for beta testers who would like to give it a try, ideally on a throwaway Fedi server like a GTS testrig.
caveats:
- currently doesn't check Bluesky's advisory "Discourage apps from showing my account to logged-out users" profile flag: imported Bluesky posts will have public visibility on Fedi
- doesn't attempt to translate Bluesky thread gates to GTS interaction policies, because i need to catch up on both first
- video alt text is preserved but captions are not, because Bluesky's per-language VTT sidecar caption files would need to be converted and inlined for Fedi servers expecting one file per video
- doesn't handle quote posts, because GTS doesn't have quote posts
A feature I don’t recall seeing outside the #Fediverse: #Elk, among other #Mastodon UIs, has #Wellbeing features aimed at lowering stress levels.
my Fediverse post migration tool slurp can now import from Bluesky!
i'm looking for beta testers who would like to give it a try, ideally on a throwaway Fedi server like a GTS testrig.
caveats:
- currently doesn't check Bluesky's advisory "Discourage apps from showing my account to logged-out users" profile flag: imported Bluesky posts will have public visibility on Fedi
- doesn't attempt to translate Bluesky thread gates to GTS interaction policies, because i need to catch up on both first
- video alt text is preserved but captions are not, because Bluesky's per-language VTT sidecar caption files would need to be converted and inlined for Fedi servers expecting one file per video
- doesn't handle quote posts, because GTS doesn't have quote posts
@Vidyala as someone who was booted from #bluesky for "over" celebrating the "passing" of a racist, fascist, misogynist bigot,
in my month on #Mastodon i'm very happy i'm now here. I get more engagement here when i ask questions than i ever got on #bsky even tho i went from 1.4k followers to none
& i'm learning about the #fediverse which i was completely unaware of
this feels like a good space to be. tho i said that of bsky for the first 5 months, & i've only been here 1. 😁💙
The problem isn't ActivityPub (the underlying tech that drives Fedi/Mastodon) vs ATProto (the underlying tech that drives Bluesky), the problem is convincing people why they should care about decentralization in the first place, and why some of its trade-offs are actually worth it.
ATProto will never be decentralized. It's not designed to be.
It's built to make sure everyone's data is completely public so then it can be aggregated by centralized networks built from your data. While it can take in data from decentralized sources, the network itself (the interactions, the likes, the replies, the reposts) are all centralized to one network. It's why Bluesky feels so centralized despite claims to the contrary, because it is centralized. It's also why Bluesky will never have privacy controls, because it relies on everyone's data being completely public.
ActivityPub is properly decentralized, which is great if you want proper freedom from big tech firms, but a problem when the experience feels a bit disjointed. Fedi is awkward to join and to navigate, it's difficult to explain how it works, and, frankly, some of the servers in the network are run by shitty people who shouldn't be in charge of a server, but you don't know that until you join.
That sucks.
The problem is that those headaches are worth it. We are immune from arbitrary ToS decisions, we can't be bought or sold to private equity, Trump can't come in and strong-arm us into giving a voice to Nazis, etc. Our communities are moderated by members of our community, we'll never have an employee who doesn't understand our subculture randomly decide to delete your posts, and we certainly won't have AI misidentify your post and randomly ban your account. We have really strong privacy controls because the network is built on them and not built on needing to suck up everyone's personal data.
Aspects of decentralizaton sucks, sure, and you're right to feel that they suck. There are plenty of smart people working on solving some of those problems, but in the meantime, isn't it worth having a bit of a learning curve in order to have proper freedom for your place on the internet?
#Bluesky #Bsky #Fedi #Fediverse #Mastodon #ATProto #ActivityPub #FOSS #Decentralization
The problem isn't ActivityPub (the underlying tech that drives Fedi/Mastodon) vs ATProto (the underlying tech that drives Bluesky), the problem is convincing people why they should care about decentralization in the first place, and why some of its trade-offs are actually worth it.
ATProto will never be decentralized. It's not designed to be.
It's built to make sure everyone's data is completely public so then it can be aggregated by centralized networks built from your data. While it can take in data from decentralized sources, the network itself (the interactions, the likes, the replies, the reposts) are all centralized to one network. It's why Bluesky feels so centralized despite claims to the contrary, because it is centralized. It's also why Bluesky will never have privacy controls, because it relies on everyone's data being completely public.
ActivityPub is properly decentralized, which is great if you want proper freedom from big tech firms, but a problem when the experience feels a bit disjointed. Fedi is awkward to join and to navigate, it's difficult to explain how it works, and, frankly, some of the servers in the network are run by shitty people who shouldn't be in charge of a server, but you don't know that until you join.
That sucks.
The problem is that those headaches are worth it. We are immune from arbitrary ToS decisions, we can't be bought or sold to private equity, Trump can't come in and strong-arm us into giving a voice to Nazis, etc. Our communities are moderated by members of our community, we'll never have an employee who doesn't understand our subculture randomly decide to delete your posts, and we certainly won't have AI misidentify your post and randomly ban your account. We have really strong privacy controls because the network is built on them and not built on needing to suck up everyone's personal data.
Aspects of decentralizaton sucks, sure, and you're right to feel that they suck. There are plenty of smart people working on solving some of those problems, but in the meantime, isn't it worth having a bit of a learning curve in order to have proper freedom for your place on the internet?
#Bluesky #Bsky #Fedi #Fediverse #Mastodon #ATProto #ActivityPub #FOSS #Decentralization
https://hamishcampbell.com/the-importance-of-words-and-ideology/
All language is metaphor, and the metaphors we choose shape how people think about problems and solutions. The “digital drugs” metaphor works because it makes the addictive design clear, but it can also push people into a moral panic frame (“users are addicts”), which risks oversimplifying.
A few metaphors you might find less #blocking of the #hashtag story:
* Food & Nutrition
#Dotcons = junk food (engineered to keep you consuming, empty calories).
#Bsky = diet soda (feels lighter, but still unhealthy).
#Fediverse = a community kitchen (messy, you have to cook and wash up, but nourishing and shared).
* Urban Space
#Dotcons = shopping malls (bright, controlled, profit-driven).
#Bsky = curated boutique arcade (less harsh, but still enclosed).
#Fediverse = the street commons (chaotic, noisy, sometimes rough, but free and collectively shaped).
* Agriculture/Gardening
#Dotcons = monoculture agribusiness (neat rows, efficient, but sterile and toxic).
#Bsky = organic supermarket (nicer branding, but still transactional).
#Fediverse/#OMN = messy permaculture garden (takes effort, community labour, but self-sustaining and alive).
These metaphors keep the critique, from individual pathology to collective space.
A detox-focused UX for the #openweb isn’t about another shiny platform. It’s about breaking addiction. The #dotcons are digital drugs: infinite scroll, dopamine loops, algorithmic junk food.
#Bsky is digital methadone — a softer addiction, but still dependency.
The #Fediverse is cold turkey — messy, uncomfortable, but the only real way out.
The shift is from passive consumption, to active participation. From being fed content, to tending relationships, building meaning, and shaping our own media environment. Detox is not easy — but it’s the only path to collective social and environmental health.
https://hamishcampbell.com/the-importance-of-words-and-ideology/
All language is metaphor, and the metaphors we choose shape how people think about problems and solutions. The “digital drugs” metaphor works because it makes the addictive design clear, but it can also push people into a moral panic frame (“users are addicts”), which risks oversimplifying.
A few metaphors you might find less #blocking of the #hashtag story:
* Food & Nutrition
#Dotcons = junk food (engineered to keep you consuming, empty calories).
#Bsky = diet soda (feels lighter, but still unhealthy).
#Fediverse = a community kitchen (messy, you have to cook and wash up, but nourishing and shared).
* Urban Space
#Dotcons = shopping malls (bright, controlled, profit-driven).
#Bsky = curated boutique arcade (less harsh, but still enclosed).
#Fediverse = the street commons (chaotic, noisy, sometimes rough, but free and collectively shaped).
* Agriculture/Gardening
#Dotcons = monoculture agribusiness (neat rows, efficient, but sterile and toxic).
#Bsky = organic supermarket (nicer branding, but still transactional).
#Fediverse/#OMN = messy permaculture garden (takes effort, community labour, but self-sustaining and alive).
These metaphors keep the critique, from individual pathology to collective space.
A detox-focused UX for the #openweb isn’t about another shiny platform. It’s about breaking addiction. The #dotcons are digital drugs: infinite scroll, dopamine loops, algorithmic junk food.
#Bsky is digital methadone — a softer addiction, but still dependency.
The #Fediverse is cold turkey — messy, uncomfortable, but the only real way out.
The shift is from passive consumption, to active participation. From being fed content, to tending relationships, building meaning, and shaping our own media environment. Detox is not easy — but it’s the only path to collective social and environmental health.