Notices by fromjason.xyz ❤️ 💻 (fromjason@mastodon.social), page 3

And don't let anyone go unchallenged who attempts to frame this as a small instance problem.

A mass exodus from small to big servers would weaken decentralization. Who does that benefit?
https://fieldnotes.resistant.tech/what-is-decentralization/

From: @are0h
https://h-i.social/@are0h/111953598989236478

Zuck: we call our interoperable ecosystem the #Metaverse now

#Fediverse: oh hey twinsies

Zuck: we launched a text based app connected to #ActivityPub

#Mastodon: yay we do that

Zuck: we believe in openness now

Openness.org: neato! This is completely out of character but we're convinced

Zuck: we copy platforms so that eventually, they die under the pressure of our competition because this has been our entire business model for a decade

Guy who invented the at sign: fascinating

Re: Amazon Uses a Twitter Army of Employees to Fight Criticism of Warehouses - The New York Times

I keep coming back to this story. #Meta has clearly implemented its own version of “AmazonFC,” but to what end? Is there a University Study behind some paywall that suggests this public relations strategy is viable?

And the scale this is happening on #Threads implies a lot of time and money was invested in this PR push. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/style/amazon-fc-ambassadors.html

@georgetakei I accidentally broke my coffee cup a couple weeks back. Haven't had a chance to get a new one so I use some thermos thing. Don't even know who I am anymore.

Parker Molloy on #Threads screen recorded a Twitter search that appears to show dozens of bots responding to tweets with a boilerplate #OpenAI message.

One user commented:

"The bot activity is coming from inside the house (…) it appears these are stale accounts that were taken back over by XTwitter, turned into Blue Checkmarks and use AI to keep DAU/MAU and other activity metrics higher than they actually are."

None of these ... https://micro.fromjason.xyz/2024/01/09/parker-molloy-on.html

@youronlyone If im not mistaken I believe the #socialweb discussion began about a decade before, in 1996. It was coined by Howard Rheingold, who explored the idea of virtual communities and community centers.

https://web.archive.org/web/20070305210323/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985581,00.html

Meta employee sharing how #Threads algo works reminds me of an old dril tweet

@mike Great points Mike. Thank you.

Can we expect a public outline of expectations for Meta and its executives in the same vein?

Something published that identifies what tactics are or are not acceptable, with clear mechanisms to hold Meta accountable if it does not meet those standards?

I've really fallen for the quaint, "small towns” of the #openweb. I don't want to speak for everyone, but for me, it comprises the best parts of the internet.

This past year, I found myself reacquainting with the decidedly unincorporated areas of the internet. These spaces have a particular charm that I cannot easily explain. I can only describe it as the feeling you get when you discover a cool little town square on a weekend getaway.

@tchambers @Npars01 @daveleeFT That's actually an interesting analogy.

Though, I wonder how well received Nixon's meet would've been if Mao sent his lieutenants onto American soil without an established trade agreement. Some might mistake that for an invasion.

@evan @kissane @stoneymonster My concerns aren't necessarily related to my motivations for coming here.

I came here because I was concerned with myself, and that process has been non-linear as I still have meaningful personal relationships on other apps.

My expressed concerns with interpolation relate to indications that Meta's intentions are harmful. I express those concerns because I fear ActivityPub or Mastodon cannot withstand it.

@evan @kissane @stoneymonster Meta is more inclined to give away our user data for "free". It's what they did for Cambridge Analytica, who in turn developed physiological profiles of users applying the OCEAN model.

Later, the Russians bought it, Brexit, etc. We know how the story goes.

The notion that Meta is in no better position to use Mastodon users data today than it was a few weeks ago, doesn't align with the company's history.

@kissane @evan @stoneymonster I think that's absolutely the way to approach it, which brings us back to your original point.

Meta isn't some Chad scraper looking for Adsense cash. It's an ad firm, a particularly ruthless and apathetic one at that.

I know Meta already has my data. I'm slowly moving here from there because I no longer want to make content for a company that physiologically manipulates its users. Find some other content to stick between ads.

@Steveg58 Steve, my friend, I wrote the longest thread of my life, plus an additional two thousand words on my blog about my concerns.

And to be clear, I don't think the author of the post intentionally fed anyone bad info. But how much does that matter right now?

Anyone feel good about how much they know about that mysterious meeting? Anyone feeling *more* trust about any of this? Of course not. The vibes are in shambles.

The purpose of that meet was to:

A. Sow distrust with those already suspicious
B. Give those looking for a reason to trust, a plausible story to share across the fediverse. Causing more friction.

Since zero records exist, including and especially anyone's offical capacity to speak on behalf of the Fediverse, who's to say he's wrong?

And if you think, any of you nerds are going to testify as experts to clear the names of good people, I'd watch the old Cambridge scandal hearings.

Congress never knows what questions to ask and who to ask it from. It'll be Mr CEO and his network of friendly news blogs setting the narrative.

And shit, bless their heart as the only one to publish notes on that meeting.

Because when it's time for Ecorp's CEO to testify to congress on suspicion of snuffing out an open sourced protocol, he won't abide by some bullshit house rule.

Congress'll want to know who knew what when and Mr CEO will gladly give up names and quotes that'll imply he was simply acting on bad information. 🧵

Beyond that meeting summary post, there are a couple other justifications about this situation that don't vibe with reality.

A prevalent one is— "Mastodon is too small to be worth it" or "why would ECorp bother with a rounding error?"

For one, Mastodon user count isn't a rounding error. It's a behemoth of a network controlled by people unswayed by money (usually, I suppose.)

For two, killing platforms before they get too big is Ecorp's whole thing. It's what they do.

Remember Houseparty? Me neither.

Ecorp kept them busy for two months with meetings under false assumptions. Then, it cut communication and launched its copycat app Bonfire.

In a panic, Houseparty burned through a $50 million round of VC cash. It was later forced to sell to Epic Games for $30million.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-copycats-how-facebook-squashes-competition-from-startups-1502293444

In fact, ECorp kept an early detection system built on a VPN acquisition that specifically targeted small start ups.

Remember that VPN for kids ECorp launched to the App Store? Then later got caught slurping data? The app one pundit called "vampiric"? Yeah, same thing. It was hunting for small apps with momentum.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-copycats-how-facebook-squashes-competition-from-startups-1502293444