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@_elena Very well written. Thank you! It is surprising in today's age that news does not include this type of investigative research or thought but instead stops at the 5 sec sound bit that servers a few attention seeking moments vs improving the larger social fabric of life.

@_elena

Thank you, this kind of work is so important and sadly underappreciated.

The difficulty for a lot of people (like me!) is not really understanding the tech we're using. So we end up trusting whatever we're told.

Hopefully, articles like this will gradually educate people so they understand how to make their choices align with their principles.

@_elena There was TV news in Germany recently talking about alternatives and WSocial was one of them. The representative talked about how they made the network‘s algorithm more user-friendly and I thought „Who tf needs a freaking algorithm other than people-I-follow-latest-first or simply-everything???“
An algorithm is their way of guiding news and communication. Who still wants that?????

@_elena isn't that like, the point of decentralization and open source? The only real criticism of blue sky is that it's owned by American VCs

@_elena Why do they do stupid things like that when they could just spin up a Mastodon instance

@_elena also, BeReal is French

@_elena we have one of these too! https://gandersocial.ca

@_elena 🔥🔥🔥

@_elena Its goal is to promote you carrying an agent around to spy on you.

@_elena

"Its founders have ties with European politicians"

Apparently also including the German data protection representative Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider 😏

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundesbeauftragter_f%C3%BCr_den_Datenschutz_und_die_Informationsfreiheit

@_elena Same shit as US big tech, wearing an EU mask…

@_elena and #Wedium (again W) is just as shady. https://www.rnd.de/wirtschaft/wedium-und-w-social-jetzt-kommen-die-europaeischen-social-media-alternativen-RY5VRNGZXFDXFBCUNSZMZRM6SY.html

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@_elena thanks for unmasking the effort. looking forward to the complete unmasking of who is behind it.

@_elena

I've also seen references to a BlackSky SM platform which seems to be another Bluesky clone? 🙂🤷‍♂️

@_elena Monet being like: Am I a joke to you?

@_elena thank you, for doing the work journalism / media should have been doing!

@_elena At least for me it's clear... W social is a financial project to grap some founding money. It's not a project with European sovereignty in mind or with sovereignty for Europeans.

Therefore, it should be avoided.

@_elena

Après cinéaste et photographe, tu pourrais maintenant ajouter journaliste d'enquête.

Merci pour cet article très fouillé et très recherché.

@_elena Never heard of W Social, but thank you for your critical analysis! What do you think about Eurosky?

This is a very good exposé, @_elena. And W Social like this looks like an (un-)intentional attempt to weaken the upcoming European digital sovereignty.

@_elena great spelunking!

@_elena the worst thing about WSocial is that it's criminaly boring.

@_elena Thanks for the deep dive.
It does leave me asking: what can we learn from this to help us promote the Fediverse?
Perhaps a spoof website called "Euro Social" that just links to Fediverse 😉 🙂

@_elena great article! What I expect is that many ppl will just go for it! "It's European and screw it that they need my ID." The only issue is that I can theoretically create Bluesky account and still communicate with W social accounts. So what's the point of checking ppl if you can still enter through window if door requires an ID. Also I think Mastodon/Fediverse needs some lobby in EC and European parliament, that's something we can learn from W Chat case.

@_elena

I have a very partial view on #atmosphere based on bridged accounts.
Of all the people I know reporting to being interested in this w thing, no one did effectively mentioned or tried #eurosky , that is already available and people can migrate to at no social cost.

@_elena are you sure it is / was a hype ? To be honest, beside you, I never heard about W Social, at least from the people I follow, the news sites in my RSS reader, ...