Notices by Tiago Peixoto (tiago@social.skewed.de), page 2

@UlrikeHahn @vbuendiar @ide In case you haven't noticed, I'm arguing why I disagree with their decision.

To the extent they want to claim their restrictive decisions are in the public good, the burden of proof lies on them, of course.

You can't have your cake and eat it.

@UlrikeHahn @vbuendiar @ide This such a misleading analogy!

Mastodon is intended as a public platform, for the public good, not a personal, private enclave.

You use the same argument as Elon Musk: it's my property and I do what I want.

@vbuendiar @ide In order for something to be forbidden there needs to be overwhelming evidence that the harm outweighs the benefits.

Importantly, the burden of proof lies on those that want to impose the ban!

If in doubt, there should be no restrictions. At least if you don't want to live in an authoritarian society.

We don't ban kitchen knives even though the causal connection to murder is pretty clear — incomparably so to quotes and timeline algorithms ­— and the harm caused is much higher.

Doing “harm” in social media — i.e. insulting someone — is a choice. Forcing people who do not make that choice not to use some posting feature is pretty much the definition of paternalism, i.e. removing people's agency and capacity do decide from themselves.

@vbuendiar @ide

Of course it's paternalistic!

“You are not allowed to quote a tweet because it in principle can be used to abuse someone, even though this is not at all what you planned to do.”

The idea that something like quoting (i.e. *linking*) can be considered a “safety” issue is frankly insane.

This kind of babysitting mentality is unsustainable, and is large part of what is holding this platform back.

@vbuendiar @ide

I don't take these studies seriously at all. It's almost impossible to remove all the relevant confounders.

Also, I doubt that any “state-of-the-art toxicity detection tool“ does anything meaningful.

In the meantime, while we debate this. people will just use a platform that allows them to do what they please.

@vbuendiar @ide Mastodon provides an inferior interface by design. The ideology behind it dictates that quotes are inherently toxic, algorithmic timelines promote misinformation, etc. So they choose to disable all of these things, instead of letting users choose what they want. This paternalistic attitude eventually drives people away.

The way that this set up at Bluesky is obviously more intuitive, user friendly, and conducive to self-organization.

It's built in the interface and everyone can curate their own list and share it.

It's far better than what we have in the fediverse.

These directories do not compare to starter packs.

Stop blaming the users.

Mastodon developers should reflect why this is happening over at Bluesky and not over here... Despite the initial advantage that Mastodon had.

They won't reflect or care enough to look past their ideological zeal. But they really should.

Reminder that we've got a 3-year post-doc position open at the @invcomplexity, IT:U Linz, Austria, on complex systems and network science!

The deadline is Nov 30.

Please get in contact if you have any questions about the position.

More information at: skewed.de/lab/call.html

#complexsystems #networkscience @academicchatter @complexsystems @networkscience

Specially good issue! Recommended!

Reminder that we've got a 3-year post-doc position open at the @invcomplexity lab at IT:U, Linz, Austria!

The deadline is Nov 30.

Please get in contact if you have any questions about the position.

🚨Job alert!🚨

Come join us at the Inverse Complexity Lab! @invcomplexity

We’re hiring a post-doctoral researcher to join our group at IT:U, Linz, Austria.

https://skewed.de/lab/call.html

Deadline is 30 Nov 2024.

We are looking for an early-stage or more advanced postdoctoral scholar who is interested in building on our ongoing projects, or developing their own research agenda related to inverse problems in network science, complex systems modeling, and/or connections to machine learning.

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We’re seeking applicants with a background in Physics, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or related fields, and with an interest in interdisciplinary research.

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For more information, see the call at https://skewed.de/lab/call.html

Spread the word!

#networkscience @academicchatter

“Those who choose the lesser evil forget quickly that they chose evil.” ― Hannah Arendt

It seems like Mastodon is losing its mindshare to #Bluesky among many academics.

I can't help but think this has to do with the self-imposed limitations of Mastodon — lack of quotes, ordered timeline, etc. Makes it less interesting to use, for no real advantage.

Sad, because the underlying decentralization is much more robust.

@academicchatter

This is truly astonishing. A literal "literal nazi" gets standing ovation in Canadian parliament.

We didn't have such madness even in the absolute height of the cold war.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66908958