I never knew you were twitter famous, or that you'd peed on Bret Stephens' foot & pissed him off! But good show, old bean! I became aware of your existence thanks to your long post, supported by both data and anecdote, on the topic of Substack Nazis Considered Harmful.
New topic: it's been a crazy 6 weeks chez moi, but things have calmed down a bit and I expect to post that conversation you & I had before the election to my forthcoming podcast before the first of December.
The recent influx of crypto investment in BlueSky has be concerned for its future. Meantime, though I get a lot less engagement, I'm remaining on Mastodon. I hope we can have nice things online, and that X continues its descent into irrelevance.
"Before ActivityPub, there was OStatus and was limited to StatusNet. StatusNet, like Bluesky, was both a company and software. Like Bluesky, they open-sourced the software to create a bigger ecosystem."
God damn, a NYT journalist who doesn’t like you complaining to your provost? What a punk move… good luck, man and I mean that. I am getting tired of Musk’s nonsense but if I delete my account I am not signing up for anything else. The last thing I need is more social media 😂
People should to a bit of digging about the inner workings of the Atproto architecture before relaying mastodon lords, bashing on Bluesky because of Sauron-level investors... The technology is now ready to spin off your own Bluesky competitor if you don't trust them. You can fork everything and make it yours. It's there, it is free, and it did not cost you one cent.
…and? The protocol being free doesn’t matter if only one entity is running it.
As for “you can create your own Bluesky competitor “, you can do that more easily without their protocol than with it—there’s already resources available on the processes and best practices for creating a Mastodon server.
I can't see what would stop Bluesky from degenerating into an enshittified mess like all the other social media platforms. I'm not seeing anything stopping them from doing things like turning off the link to Mastodon or scaling back the effectiveness of the block function.
Cory Doctorow says it smarter and better than I can.
It is amazing to me that otherwise smart people don't see the problem with a new social network that is built on essentially the same foundation as all the previous social networks. Bluesky is centralised and VC-funded.
I like Cory lots, but he is incorrect here. It's quite possible to migrate one's social media graph, posts, etc. out of the default data server and into a self-hosted one using atproto.
The federation stuff is coming along compared to a year ago. Can it work if there's a default instance, in a growth-first kind of way? Would enough of the social graph survive enshittification, if/when it happens? In this specific case I think it remains to be seen.
Mastodon put all the hard parts right in front: federation/moderation only at the instance level, a user changing instances basically requires loading CSV files into the destination instance. Putting these kinds of limits on scalability does in fact deal with these scalability problems in an up-front way and I have to respect it, even if it tends to turn off shitposters, ahem, Terminally Online Power Users.
Oh God, how many times... Bluesky is not centralized anymore. Bluesky is a Feed Reader-like application of feeds (called "repos") that are owned by the users. By default Bluesky also hosts it, but you can totally make your own PDS so that your data sits where you want it to sit.
And then if that is not enough decentralization for you, the day the "Feed Reader" goes evil, the PDS feeds would still be there for other apps. Just build one if you don't like Bluesky! Perhaps start by spinning your own PDS ?
Nice observations, thank you. I was never on Twitter for the Slurp Juice though. As someone who's experienced QT-ed pile-ons the 'detatch quote' function is very welcome,.
I still don't think BlueSky has solved the moderation-at-scale problem. At least with Masnick on the board I imagine they will be less likely to pretend to have solved it, though.
Yay! I still will ve one of the last ones on Twitter. But looking forward to getting some authentic engagement again. And also cool to be able to find the online teacher community.
...i wonder if the final death of social media will be when people realize there is no functional way to be helpful to 100's let alone 1000's let alone 1,000,000's of humans at once...squishing ourselves into boxes makes meaningfulness less meaningful...our neighbors needs us more than a tweet or a bluesky...the internet is overrated...
"You probably will never check in to Bluesky to find out who were all mad at today."
This isn't exactly true. I mean, it's certainly not *why* I check into Bluesky, but I can't avoid finding out who, or at least what, y'all are mad about. I got about a million echo chamber puns today, for instance.
I’m still stuck on “he emailed my provost.” How utterly Bret Stephens of him. I love it when people reconfirm that they are who you think they are.
I joined BlueSky a while back. Couldn’t really get the hang of it and I’ve been playing around with some twitter, some Threads and mostly Substack until a friend convinced me to try again. I love the Starter Packs — like creating little playlists of smart ideas. I wish there were a way to save the ones I like (or maybe there is and just haven’t figured it out yet. I made one for my students that will do them a world of good if I can persuade them to try BlueSky and check it out. It’s not a matter of leaving Twitter for them. They are losing hours and hours of their lives to TikTok.
The Starter Pack is of academics from a variety of disciplines. who post accessible contributions on American Politics. BlueSky is not just letting us have nice things. It’s reminding me of just what a great resource and asset the internet can be with a little regulation.
Anyway, thanks. The man really emailed your provost because you called him a name?
I never knew you were twitter famous, or that you'd peed on Bret Stephens' foot & pissed him off! But good show, old bean! I became aware of your existence thanks to your long post, supported by both data and anecdote, on the topic of Substack Nazis Considered Harmful.
New topic: it's been a crazy 6 weeks chez moi, but things have calmed down a bit and I expect to post that conversation you & I had before the election to my forthcoming podcast before the first of December.
The recent influx of crypto investment in BlueSky has be concerned for its future. Meantime, though I get a lot less engagement, I'm remaining on Mastodon. I hope we can have nice things online, and that X continues its descent into irrelevance.
I haven't noticed any crypto investment..
As for mastodon, there is a bridge between the two that makes it possible to communicate with each other! See https://lifehacker.com/tech/use-bridgy-feed-to-link-mastodon-and-bluesky
BlockChain Capital Series-A
https://bsky.social/about/blog/10-24-2024-series-a
This should address your concern: https://pixeline.substack.com/p/bluesky-decentralization-done-right
As a Mastodon user, this might be of interest to you: https://whtwnd.com/did:plc:adgodmx5hrrdiz4bvgcbfas3/3lb56bwlqq525
"Before ActivityPub, there was OStatus and was limited to StatusNet. StatusNet, like Bluesky, was both a company and software. Like Bluesky, they open-sourced the software to create a bigger ecosystem."
God damn, a NYT journalist who doesn’t like you complaining to your provost? What a punk move… good luck, man and I mean that. I am getting tired of Musk’s nonsense but if I delete my account I am not signing up for anything else. The last thing I need is more social media 😂
People should consider who is backing Bluesky before investing a lot of time (and hope). Some relevant info here:
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/joecardillo_bluesky-bigtech-socialmedia-activity-7263206291139932161-BTim
People should to a bit of digging about the inner workings of the Atproto architecture before relaying mastodon lords, bashing on Bluesky because of Sauron-level investors... The technology is now ready to spin off your own Bluesky competitor if you don't trust them. You can fork everything and make it yours. It's there, it is free, and it did not cost you one cent.
…and? The protocol being free doesn’t matter if only one entity is running it.
As for “you can create your own Bluesky competitor “, you can do that more easily without their protocol than with it—there’s already resources available on the processes and best practices for creating a Mastodon server.
I can't see what would stop Bluesky from degenerating into an enshittified mess like all the other social media platforms. I'm not seeing anything stopping them from doing things like turning off the link to Mastodon or scaling back the effectiveness of the block function.
Cory Doctorow says it smarter and better than I can.
https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast
It is amazing to me that otherwise smart people don't see the problem with a new social network that is built on essentially the same foundation as all the previous social networks. Bluesky is centralised and VC-funded.
Bluesky _will_ enshittify, and with the free money faucet off in the Valley, probably a lot sooner than Twitter did: https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/
https://vickiboykis.com/essays/2017-05-10-good-things-dont-scale/
We will be having this discussion again in a few years. Why are we bothering?
I like Cory lots, but he is incorrect here. It's quite possible to migrate one's social media graph, posts, etc. out of the default data server and into a self-hosted one using atproto.
The federation stuff is coming along compared to a year ago. Can it work if there's a default instance, in a growth-first kind of way? Would enough of the social graph survive enshittification, if/when it happens? In this specific case I think it remains to be seen.
Mastodon put all the hard parts right in front: federation/moderation only at the instance level, a user changing instances basically requires loading CSV files into the destination instance. Putting these kinds of limits on scalability does in fact deal with these scalability problems in an up-front way and I have to respect it, even if it tends to turn off shitposters, ahem, Terminally Online Power Users.
Oh God, how many times... Bluesky is not centralized anymore. Bluesky is a Feed Reader-like application of feeds (called "repos") that are owned by the users. By default Bluesky also hosts it, but you can totally make your own PDS so that your data sits where you want it to sit.
And then if that is not enough decentralization for you, the day the "Feed Reader" goes evil, the PDS feeds would still be there for other apps. Just build one if you don't like Bluesky! Perhaps start by spinning your own PDS ?
This entire comment is literally “but you MIGHT not have to deal with VCs ruining everything “.
But on Mastodon I know for certain I won’t have to deal with VCs ruining everything.
So why would I ever use Bluesky?
Nice observations, thank you. I was never on Twitter for the Slurp Juice though. As someone who's experienced QT-ed pile-ons the 'detatch quote' function is very welcome,.
Bro you realize that Bluesky is owned and run by Crypto Freaks, right?
https://www.jwz.org/blog/2024/11/i-prefer-to-meet-people-where-they-are-says-reasonable-sounding-white-dude-holding-court-at-a-table-in-the-back-of-a-nazi-bar/
I still don't think BlueSky has solved the moderation-at-scale problem. At least with Masnick on the board I imagine they will be less likely to pretend to have solved it, though.
OMFG!!
“Metaphorical bedbug”!🤣
Contacting provost was a dick move & one of the behaviors that earn them their incel nomenclature.
Strongest repulsive force! 💯!
JFC your parents had to enjoy You!
Your assistance is much appreciated!
Yay! I still will ve one of the last ones on Twitter. But looking forward to getting some authentic engagement again. And also cool to be able to find the online teacher community.
Very well said, sir!
...i wonder if the final death of social media will be when people realize there is no functional way to be helpful to 100's let alone 1000's let alone 1,000,000's of humans at once...squishing ourselves into boxes makes meaningfulness less meaningful...our neighbors needs us more than a tweet or a bluesky...the internet is overrated...
"You probably will never check in to Bluesky to find out who were all mad at today."
This isn't exactly true. I mean, it's certainly not *why* I check into Bluesky, but I can't avoid finding out who, or at least what, y'all are mad about. I got about a million echo chamber puns today, for instance.
I’m still stuck on “he emailed my provost.” How utterly Bret Stephens of him. I love it when people reconfirm that they are who you think they are.
I joined BlueSky a while back. Couldn’t really get the hang of it and I’ve been playing around with some twitter, some Threads and mostly Substack until a friend convinced me to try again. I love the Starter Packs — like creating little playlists of smart ideas. I wish there were a way to save the ones I like (or maybe there is and just haven’t figured it out yet. I made one for my students that will do them a world of good if I can persuade them to try BlueSky and check it out. It’s not a matter of leaving Twitter for them. They are losing hours and hours of their lives to TikTok.
The Starter Pack is of academics from a variety of disciplines. who post accessible contributions on American Politics. BlueSky is not just letting us have nice things. It’s reminding me of just what a great resource and asset the internet can be with a little regulation.
Anyway, thanks. The man really emailed your provost because you called him a name?