Discussion
A developer in Korea just built a Fediverse server that runs directly on CloudFlare.
/r/fediverse users responded:
"this is cancer"
"you are a horrible person"
???
Can you please help me with a genuine question: what would make the #Fediverse a more welcoming place?
Yes, humans are just grumpy sometimes. But a real solution can't just be more HOA members reading the rules at the door.
What do YOU think would make a difference here?
Hi @benpate,
somehow I don't buy embracing a #monopoly goes well with 'diverse' an in #fediverse. But that's just my take.
On the surface, this makes a lot of sense.
But consider: “distributed” doesn’t mean “distributed, but only on small ISPs”
I say Fedi everywhere - even on the “bad” platforms. If it gives people the chance to learn about the Fediverse, it’s a win.
-
More importantly: you’re welcome to disagree, ignore my posts, or even block me if you don’t agree with my choices.
But the haters do damage to the Fediverse when they escalate from blocks to attacks and insults.
Hi @benpate
I totally agree to keep manners to keep controversial arguments enjoyable.
No room for hate.
You may hear me mad about something as soon as I understand what’s the issue 😅
The compulsion of some #mastodon #fediverse people to make negative comments and scolds about anything they can is awful and it runs new people away
I think there needs to be explicit encouragement in mastodon and the overall fediverse to be kind, helpful, welcoming, friendly, nonjudgmental, and to accept that other people can make their own choices on the fediverse and a negative comment isn't necessary or nice
Being kind and friendly and getting to know different people feels good friends
Shouldn't social networks be fun and... social ?
@frxe @benpate IMO the uber-scolds in the Mastodon Imperial Core have been losing clout as the network continues to grow around them.
however, it's still very important that people who love fedi (as opposed to The Mastodon Network™) continue working toward a few goals:
1. decrease median server size so as to de-emphasize fediblock drama
2. continue attracting cool misfits who aren't obsessed with purity spirals and moral righteousness
3. decrease the % of ActivityPub users on Mastodon.
deutrino I strongly believe we need more interest-based websites on the network. so many of the issues, from where I sit, come from the idea that the network is the attraction, but then you have no real reason for people to choose one site vs another, and no real sense of community, and no sense of responsibility to anything.
Everyone here already ends up a little mercenary, and you can’t tell anyone new why they should sign up, nor where. And I blame Mastodon’s designers for this, with their insistence on de-centering the Local feed and not making theming easy. they not only centre the network, but they frame the local website as a generic dumb terminal for accessing “Mastodon”.
deutrino I strongly believe we need more interest-based websites on the network. so many of the issues, from where I sit, come from the idea that the network is the attraction, but then you have no real reason for people to choose one site vs another, and no real sense of community, and no sense of responsibility to anything.
Everyone here already ends up a little mercenary, and you can’t tell anyone new why they should sign up, nor where. And I blame Mastodon’s designers for this, with their insistence on de-centering the Local feed and not making theming easy. they not only centre the network, but they frame the local website as a generic dumb terminal for accessing “Mastodon”.
@frxe @benpate beyond that... I instance-block the most toxic servers on my various accounts and my timelines are much better for it. especially once I became willing to throw a few babies out with the bathwater, as there are one or two sizable one where blocking results in collateral damage.
that doesn't help noobs, though, so maybe a shared blocklist for servers which don't necessarily break rules but have toxic admin and/or users is in order. good luck getting mass adoption though.
@benpate i can think of worse companies to host with tbh. Funnily enough these same people probably don't get that a significant portion of the fediverse is actually behind cloudflare's CDNs.
I think these "do as I say" holier than thou types are the bane of the decentralised web. Like, if I wanted to drive people away from open social projects, that's exactly how I'd do it: hire a small group of people to consistently be assholes to other's. It's like 101 from the CIA field guide to sabotage 🚩
Yeah, I'm noticing that more and more. Nothing is able to pass the purity tests. Nobody is good enough. So, doing ANYTHING means we're going to berate you for it.
I try to avoid going straight to the conspiracy theories, but it makes a lot of sense. No better way to discredit something than "false flag"
Then those brave, anonymous redditors are welcome to build their own versions of autonomy.
But it's arrogant to assume that THEIR way is the ONLY way.
What's worse for the Fediverse? A niche project that uses tech that a few people don't like? Or a reputation as an unwelcoming place where people will insult your work for not agreeing with their *specific* ideologies?
Culture change is hard. Sooooo many people got here "first" and think their claim is the only correct one. Has always been thus ...
One thing I can think of is remind people that r/fediverse is not exactly the place where "the fediverse" is developed, managed, or happening.
Then follow this dev and see what is up! I care much more that the software and the instance are acting like decent neighbours than I do about the infra its hosted on.
Culture change is hard. Sooooo many people got here "first" and think their claim is the only correct one. Has always been thus ...
One thing I can think of is remind people that r/fediverse is not exactly the place where "the fediverse" is developed, managed, or happening.
Then follow this dev and see what is up! I care much more that the software and the instance are acting like decent neighbours than I do about the infra its hosted on.
Agreed :)
I’m a software developer, not a social scientist. And though my bias is to turn everything into a technical problem, I doubt there’s a way to “change culture” AND give people freedom at the same time.
I’m on the hunt for tools that make it easy to behave like a functioning adult who’s gone to therapy, and make it hard to behave like a goblin with a megaphone.
Agreed :)
I’m a software developer, not a social scientist. And though my bias is to turn everything into a technical problem, I doubt there’s a way to “change culture” AND give people freedom at the same time.
I’m on the hunt for tools that make it easy to behave like a functioning adult who’s gone to therapy, and make it hard to behave like a goblin with a megaphone.
@johannab @benpate @thisismissem I've been fighting this in my own small way for a while now. Whether it's culture policing or yelling at anyone that dares use the word LLM (even in a neutral way), there are people here that are making it their mission to eject the heathens.
My hope is that it really is just a small number and if enough people support posters when they see this behavior, they'll realize they'd just be better off just unfollowing.
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