Notices by Robert W. Gehl (rwg@aoir.social)

Sometimes people ask me why I moved to Canada.

To them I say:

DEIA diversity equity inclusion accessibility gender intersectionality indigenous LGBTQ* social justice privilege BIPOC

I can say more, but I imagine you get the point.

Hey, y'all, I've been on the fedi a minute. I've been on Mastodon since 2017, and an admin since '22.

The people at IFTAS are doing great work. Needed work. They provide space for admins to share knowledge, and they build evidence-based blocklists new instances can use to stay safe.

They need help. Now. Consider giving to IFTAS:

https://about.iftas.org/donate/

I've done it.

#fediverse #mutualAid #IFTAS #trustAndSafety

Hey, fedi, if I wanted to start a small fediverse server (probably server-of-one) using a Canadian company, do you have any recommendations?

I have experience running stuff on DigitalOcean and Linode, but they're both US companies and I want to #buycanadian

#askFedi

I'm going to talk to CBC about code words people use in corporate social media to get around algorithms -- things like #cutewinterboots on TikTok.

While using it on TikTok can make sense, I was curious to see where else it's used.

I don't really see that term used here on the fediverse, which makes sense. The fediverse doesn't really need (or want) obfuscation -- in fact, it's better to talk about the topic directly.

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@seanlawson and I wrote a book called "social engineering."

The Trump White House loves that term. What do they mean by it? What is the history of this curious term? And might Trump and his pals, themselves, be engaging in social engineering?

May I humbly suggest you check out our book? It's now available as an e-book on Bookshop.org!

https://bookshop.org/p/books/social-engineering-how-crowdmasters-phreaks-hackers-and-trolls-created-a-new-form-of-manipulativ-e-communication-sean-t-lawson/17170706?ean=9780262368933&next=t&next=t&digital=t

Since there's a new wave of new folks on fedi, maybe it's time for a re-#Introduction.

I'm Rob, a professor of media in Canada, and I've been studying alternative social media -- like the fediverse -- for over a decade now. I'm wrapping up a book about the fediverse for Oxford University press.

I've also written books about the dark web and disinformation/hacking.

I live in Canada by the Great Lakes and I go to Michigan to be by... the Great Lakes. I like the lakes!

Great interview with @vantablack about Fedipact, the agreement to not federate with Threads. Vanta talks about the big reasons people signed back in '23 -- EEE, poor moderation. Even more relevant today!

https://radiostudent.si/druzba/tehno-klistir/fedi-pakt#

#fedipact #Threads

Me in 2010: you should leave corporate social media.

Others: LOL, that's silly. They spread Democracy(TM)!

Me in 2015: you should leave corporate social media.

Others: sure, they spy on me, but I have nothing to hide.

Me in 2025: you should leave corporate social media.

Others: that wasn't a Nazi salute, I swear. And what about Engagement(TM)?

Trans rights are human rights.

Today you'll hear many people quote the "I have a dream" speech (including people on the right) but fewer people quote this:

"'And one day we must ask the question, 'Why are there forty million poor people in America?' And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth."

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#MLKjr #MLKday

Or this:

"Now this means that we are treading in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong with capitalism.”

#MLKjr

@cwebber I was literally thinking the same thing today re: Bluesky. Especially in light of US states getting into regulating algorithms (mostly to protect freeze peach)

Latest FOSS Academic:

https://fossacademic.tech/2025/01/18/makingAlts.html

In which I talk about how state regulations are affecting the development of ActivityPub and the fediverse, and how trying to make a TOS for Loops by using an online service resulted in a surveillance capitalist-friendly document.

#Loops #ActivityPub #Regulations #FOSSAcademic

With a lot of folks trying out Pixelfed, if you're predominantly on Mastodon (like me) but you want to discover Pixelfed accounts, don't forget that you can follow hashtags. Follow #photography, for example, and you will see lots of Pixelfed accounts in your feed -- and then you can follow accounts you find interesting from there.

#FediTips #Pixelfed #Mastodon

@cwebber classic

wtf is Teams? Seriously, what is it? Is it supposed to be a file sharing system? Because it sucks at that and everything ends up in OneDrive.

Is it a messaging system? Um... we have email already.

Is it a video chat thing? It's bad at that, too.

The legend of John Pixelfed is becoming reality

#pixelfed

@aram @admin1 @nik @ubiquity75 @tstruett @paufder

Sigh. Cue up those who would make the disingenuous "if you didn't want this, don't post to the Internet!" argument.

We need state-based regulation of this theft of our sociality ASAP. Whether it's true opt-in, or more robust IP protections for regular people.

Latest FOSS Academic!

https://fossacademic.tech/2025/01/10/moreThreadsBskyAP.html

In which I talk about my new monitoring of Threads's fediverse blocklist, the @cwebber and Bryan Newbold debate, and the trust and safety work of @thisismissem

#FOSSAcademic #ASMupdate #Threads #Bluesky #ActivityPub

@mdc

Good point. I didn't think of that...

I'm so far removed from corporate social media I haven't had the pleasure of dealing with AI support