Notices by Richard MacManus (ricmac@mastodon.social), page 2

Don’t ever let anyone tell you what blogging is or isn’t, or what you can or can’t do with WordPress, or what “indie web” means, or even what the fediverse is. YOU can do whatever you like with open source software, and YOU can use whatever labels you want on the open web, and define them how it suits you.

With more of us now having multiple fediverse accounts, I'm curious how people are handling differentiating them. e.g. attached are my current set of a/cs: Mastodon, Threads, WP blog, a books one, 2 Flipboard profiles (newly fediversed). My current thinking:

1. I will give each type of a/c a different profile pic (the current colourful one I'll keep for Mastodon).
2. I'll make "ricmac at Flipboard" my name there, and etc for the others (except Mastodon).

How are others dealing with this?

Mark Zuckerberg basically just confirmed that your feeds will soon be full of AI-generated content. Another reason the fediverse needs to exist: so that you can follow humans. https://www.theverge.com/24253481/meta-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-ar-glasses-orion-ray-bans-ai-decoder-interview

@ben It's remarkable what a force Google Discover has become, while Google search slowly shrinks for many publishers. One theory I like is that Google is throwing publishers a bone with Discover traffic, while they take away search traffic via AI Overviews. But as the Niemen article notes, Discover is much more of a black box algorithm — there are few ways to optimize for it. And yes, social drives no traffic these days; all the main centralized platforms de-emphasize links now.

Seems not everyone is enamored of the new Social Web Foundation. I don’t agree with this critique, because if we want the fediverse to grow then it needs efforts like FediForum and SWF. I definitely don’t trust Meta, so I get that aspect of it. Anyway, good to read others views and try to understand where they are coming from, especially from someone very early on in fediverse tech (as I believe Erin was). https://akko.erincandescent.net/objects/4e4c1368-59b8-4223-8b4b-3278314b737c

My apologies, I have become *that guy* and jumped the gun on the press release. It was supposed to be 9am PT not ET :( #JournoShame Fortunately, the SWF team is rapidly rolling it out now.

The Social Web Foundation is launching today. It's a non-profit for the W3C standard, ActivityPub. But it *doesn't* include Bluesky, and W3C's founder Sir Tim Berners-Lee does not appear to even use the fediverse. So clearly there is work to do to. But the SWF looks promising nonetheless. Well done @evan and friends. https://thenewstack.io/social-web-foundation-launched-how-in-is-w3c-on-fediverse/ #Fediverse

Bit surprised @photomatt is going after a direct competitor this way (ie wordpress.com via Automattic). He’s written this on the wordpress.org blog. Thoughts @asmartbear ? https://wordpress.org/news/2024/09/wp-engine/

Rainy Sunday reading. Been a while since I read ‘Sapiens’, but I remember it being a stimulating book.

Threads' @pcottle confirmed at #FediForum that it is still working towards allowing #Threads users to follow e.g. Mastodon users. This is a must-have for me (and I'm sure many of you), as I really want to use Mastodon as my primary social media app.

Is this new in Mastodon? Posts with links to articles show a much bigger preview image, really drawing attention to the link. AND I LOVE IT!! All the other social media platforms (X, Threads, FB, LinkedIn, Bluesky) either try to minimize links, or hide them altogether (looking at you, Muskverse). The open web NEEDS to support links, because it means supporting HUMAN creators. So if this a change in Mastodon, then huzzah!

Interesting, basically a fediverse reader…giving it a go! I have used Feedly ever since Google Reader was killed off. But up for trying something new. https://gloria.social/@rizzi/113086238101793638

New from @martinsfp on @TheNewStack (commissioned by moi): A Developer’s Guide to ActivityPub and the Fediverse, featuring the one and only @evan. https://thenewstack.io/a-developers-guide-to-activitypub-and-the-fediverse/ #Fediverse #WebDev

Little known internet history fact: “Run these tests and clean up the mess” was the first draft of Mark Zuckerberg’s motto, “move fast and break things”. https://www.threads.net/@alexheath/post/C-q5kzbyj6o

In-depth story about my favourite dystopian app, Sam Altman's Worldcoin and its iris-scanning Orb. The company is desperately trying to spin it as an open source benefit to humanity, but oh boy... you just can't trust ANY company, let alone a crypto one. The last line is a doozy, a quote from one of the Worldcoin execs: "It’s about execution now and explaining to people that, actually, we’re not going to steal your soul."

Indeed.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-08-12/how-worldcoin-is-building-digital-ids-to-combat-the-ai-apocalypse (search for it on archive.fo)

“When we increased paid maternity leave to 18 from 12 weeks in 2007, the rate at which new moms left Google fell by 50%,” she wrote, adding that the company also increased paternity leave from seven to 12 weeks. “Mothers were able to take the time they needed to bond with their babies and return to their jobs feeling confident and ready. And it’s much better for Google’s bottom line…” https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/08/10/susan-wojcicki-youtube-dies/

But in the very next paragraph:

“Alternatives are non-existent: there is no BBC social media platform, for instance. In the wake of counter-protests on Wednesday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper thanked law enforcement on – where else? – X. The post was subsequently shared through the Prime Minister’s account on the same platform.”

Hang on…there *are* alternatives. Ever heard of a decentralised social media app called Mastodon?

So I got an email pitch from Chatham House, a UK-based "independent policy institute." They point me to an article entitled, "The UK riots force Western democracies to confront their reliance on technology giants". Nodding, I open the article and some of it is spot on, e.g.:

"Western democracies are finally confronting a hard truth: the infrastructure on which their countries’ politics and information-sharing takes place is increasingly misaligned with their values." https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/08/uk-riots-force-western-democracies-confront-their-reliance-technology-giants

@tom I just checked @BBCRD and they haven't posted recently. Same for BBC News a/c. So, not sure what happened there... anyone else know?

On the other hand, I also scowl when I see that e.g. an open source web framework founder is still posting daily on X and ignoring Mastodon. I don't want to be judgemental, but...