Post APGDL8dmbsc3l0q7JA by joeterranova@leftist.network
(DIR) More posts by joeterranova@leftist.network
(DIR) Post #APGDL64c9fIDnMN0DI by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:35:42Z
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As the #twittermigration continues in full swing, there's a recurring theme in discussions: there is some tech friction in picking an instance, signing up, and ... mostly that. There's guides but people don't want to read them. It's therefore likely not everyone will move over, even as FB and Twitter sink. And I just want to note I fundamentally Do Not Care if tech illiterate people ever move to Mastodon or the Fediverse, including your grandmother. 1/13
(DIR) Post #APGDL77qF9T73et5sm by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:35:52Z
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I'm not saying if your family or less technical friends show an interest you shouldn't help them. You helped them with their printers and new phone, if they're interested you can help them onto Fediverse. I'm saying they probably don't care, and it's probably fine to let them not care, because the Fediverse needs time to grow and it's mostly better spent growing without them. 2/13
(DIR) Post #APGDL7sdRAtnOmmSoq by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:36:08Z
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Back before my time tech people spent their time on Usenet, and there was friction and barriers to joining, which meant you joined if you REALLY wanted to be there. Every September college kids would join since their school was connected, not know or care about any of the etiquette, and generally made a mess of it. Most would wander away, some would learn and stay. Then one year AOL decided to connect to Usenet and display it to subscribers, and Usenet had The September That Never Ended. 3/13
(DIR) Post #APGDL8dmbsc3l0q7JA by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:36:19Z
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Even after social media moved beyond topical forums that we used and none of our friends did, social media was a niche thing. Friendster, Myspace, even Facebook at the start. They mostly worked like the Internet always had -- just chill places to hang out and talk to people. Then your parents and grandparents and your high school bully joined, and Capitalists and Conservatives used social media how they use everything else: to manipulate people lacking in tech literacy. 4/13
(DIR) Post #APGDL9UbRUrcOpYIdc by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:36:32Z
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It's great that Mastodon and the Fediverse aren't like that and won't sell your information, won't optimize for argument, won't try to addict your parents to Farmville. How many people joined Mastodon in the past week? How many of them realize that all of this is run by volunteers? Of the people who joined Mastodon servers, how many of them started donating? And those were the folks tech literate enough to join on their own. Are your parents or high school bully going to donate? Volunteer? 5/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLAMUD9xv5wlKcq by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:36:47Z
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People talk about the incredible etiquette on Mastodon, how endless arguments are replaced with emotional support from strangers. Is your friend's dad who watches Fox News all day and complains about kids and their participation trophies going to do that? Is he going to care about the culture or etiquette at all? No? Then I fundamentally Do Not Care if the tech barrier to entry is low enough for him to get on here. 6/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLBDJ2mDTjlTVxI by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:36:59Z
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I spent my entire life watching bullies look down on nerdy and techy people. For the longest time being tech illiterate was a point of pride. Nerdy hobbies were for nerds and shunned. Now they stream professional actors playing D&D, and if they join a D&D group they will be angry it is not like that. They hate comic books but will watch every Marvel movie, but how dare there be any plot point that takes purposeful comprehension to understand. 7/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLC6FkUAWUBBObI by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:37:07Z
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If you're wondering why all of your hobbies and fandoms have gotten so toxic over the past decade, there's two reasons. 1) Capitalists preying on tech illiterate people optimized social media for arguments so your parents would click more ads, 2) those hobbies and fandoms got more accessible, and your high school bully joined them, and there was no structure to respond to your high school bully ignoring all rules of etiquette to bully you there too. 8/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLD1gIy6dMI3G76 by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:37:19Z
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OK I lied, there are 3 reasons, with the 3rd being Fascists preying on tech illiterate people in order to radicalize them by abusing social media algorithms to slowly drip them further and further extremist content. But the causes are all the same. These hobbies and communities formed assuming good will, and when they suddenly exploded in popularity they could not handle the change in community and how much of the new community did not care about its culture. 9/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLDntPifdloblGC by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:37:34Z
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Don't get me wrong, it's mostly a Good Thing that tech and nerdy hobbies have gotten more mainstream. And there have always been jerks and sexists and gatekeeping bullies in nerdom, and it's been very gratifying watching their high school crushes join their nerdy hobbies and still not want anything to do with them. But often tech illiteracy is a conscious choice, and I'm done reorganizing my life and hobbies to cater to it. 10/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLEfQChUMRpeVhA by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:37:46Z
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I saw a reddit thread on /r/mastodon the other day where the poster was ANGRY that joining Mastodon involved explanations and choices. Why should I have to choose an instance? Why do I have to care what an instance is, what Federation is? Why is there are guide? Totally understandable person on reddit, and my solution for you is don't join. Don't demand it be simplified, act offended that you were offered choices. Stay on twitter and facebook and let them sell your information. 11/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLGMLuZQJhGkJFY by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:37:56Z
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Go ahead and wait for the next social network that lures you in and traps you in their walled garden. Wait for a Capitalist to figure out how to make money running a Fediverse instance by giving you a smooth, choice-less and explanation-less experience while selling your data. Or you can spend 5 minutes reading instead of expecting the rest of the world to reconfigure to your wants and needs. 12/13
(DIR) Post #APGDLHJuL93ufybs4u by joeterranova@leftist.network
2022-11-02T23:38:09Z
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I don't think this #TwitterMigration signals the full supremacy of the Fediverse, and that's probably a good thing. It needs time to grow, for the tech to improve, for the culture and etiquette to gel enough that it's enforced by the community. If there truly was a full mass migration this moment, the Fediverse and the instances would not be able to handle it. They've hardly handled this small one. But someday, Mastodon might get its Eternal September, and we might regret it. 13/13