Posts by shengokai@zirk.us
(DIR) Post #APtwkiyL88ZOgOuj5M by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:03:37Z
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The primary thing that I've learned about mastodon is that more than twitter, much of our cultural inheritances structure how we use the site and how the norms of using the site are enforced and maintain. This, predictably, has a great deal to do with who is using the site and in what way.As I have said before, Mastodon is a very white platform. It is also, in many respects, a very male platform and a platform that abides by the epistemic norms of the tech industry.
(DIR) Post #APtwkjYqwNmEVdzszw by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:05:16Z
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Let me be clear what I mean: tech privileges a particular way of knowing, of engaging with problems that is in tension with other modes of inquiry. As I am primarily a philosopher, I am interested in implications, directions, potentialities, while a great many of the replies have demanded "solutions" "resolutions" and so on. This is similar to the demands made of me when working in spaces like AI and algorithmic bias.
(DIR) Post #APtwkjyNPUC3mnwGmW by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:07:21Z
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These are both spaces that share the demography of Mastodon and the social norms, broadly construed, of mastodon itself. In essence, some of what I have learned during my time here is about the social dynamics of mastodon and how those dynamics can impede the kind of community formation that many (not all) marginalized groups desire and are looking for. To put it simply, I have learned more about the social aspects of mastodon since being here than any of the technical aspects.
(DIR) Post #APtwkkUzSEHVPxCJcG by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:09:57Z
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Now, what I have learned of the technical aspects gives me both hope and broad concern for the platform. I see that the technical aspects of the fediverse, while enabling freedom from some kinds of abuse, also open up vectors to other kinds of abuse. These vectors are overlooked in the recommendations made by mastodonians to marginalized communities. I have enumerated them in my responses to "build your own instances."
(DIR) Post #APtwkooHQS5WmwFmEq by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:11:30Z
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But there is a hopeful spot there: the possibility to build our own instances and then federate with other instances means that communities can create unique enclaves. This is the strength that mastodonians often tout. However, this strength is organized by a shocking ignorance of or indifference to the ways that this actually enhances the vulnerability of these communities. Further, it contributes to a disinvestment of responsibility for making existing communities safer.
(DIR) Post #APtwkqVZ70J43TVrLU by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:12:58Z
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I've also learned that the choice in instance matters a great deal in being on mastodon: pick the wrong instance and you are open to all kinds of racist violence with no recourse, especially if the moderation team simply does not care or the server does not have rules preventing the kind of abuse. The above, in combination with the whiteness of the platform means that marginalized users need to be more careful about the selection of instances.
(DIR) Post #APtwktetOmY9pGtqng by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:14:21Z
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Indeed, there's a massive amount of privilege to be had when one can "just sign up" for an instance or when one can throw a dart at a map of the fediverse and then pick an instance. This is not a privilege afforded to all mastodonians, and one of the things I've learned is that many long time mastodonians simply do not understand this. And this lack of understanding contributes to much of the wrong-headedness on this platform.
(DIR) Post #APtwkvRqkFIzNOoSkS by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:16:16Z
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That said, Mastodon does a great many things correctly: hashtag following, while a recent innovation, could enable community formation in some unique ways by aligning users with groups through the hashtag function across instances. If long time mastodonians eased up on their policing of the norms around hashtags and CWs, I would be curious to see what marginalized groups made of these affordances in time. Again, the existing community is kind of a problem here.
(DIR) Post #APtwkx7MXO6cYRF85o by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:21:59Z
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And finally, like many social media sites, Mastodon does have some good people who are genuinely curious and willing to engage charitably. As much as I critique the platform, it is not completely made out of assholes and bad actors.That said, the culture of mastodon makes possible these bad actors in ways different from Twitter. I have encountered more "nice whites" here than on twitter, which is to say that there are white folks who use civility to cloak their racism.
(DIR) Post #APtwkz0LWRgKPFyYQy by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-18T02:23:07Z
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But again, these are social problems that we deal with offline. It is only the unique affordances of Mastodon that brings them into the online sphere. All of this is to say that I am critical of Mastodon because I believe there is potential in it, but that belief is hampered by the current social and cultural norms surrounding the use of the platform.
(DIR) Post #APv9pLFuEFN98YceFE by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-21T07:54:06Z
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She snooze.
(DIR) Post #APvA8BdME68WnWZrxQ by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-23T14:16:13Z
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Here's some nerd shit:The Jedi are a quasi-religious order that snatched children from families and stamped out competing doctrines with lightsabers and colonization. They're not "good guys:" they're literally an oppressive force.Makes you really question how the lightsaber was a more civilized weapon for a more civilized age, and the ways that the Jedi acted as guardians of peace and prosperity before the Empire.
(DIR) Post #APxu3ILGqH0oMYduxk by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-14T12:41:16Z
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#Introduction time.I'm John Flowers, a philosopher. I got shot through a wormhole and now I'm on this ship, this living ship... Oh wait.I'm Johnathan Flowers, assistant professor of philosophy at Cal State Northridge. I primarily specialize in American Pragmatism, Philosophy of Technology, East Asian Philosophy, Aesthetics, and Race, Gender, and Disability. When I'm not teaching, I ride motorcycles and do a variety of martial arts. I am the companion to a lovely grey tabby named Rose.
(DIR) Post #AQ0Mh8vaRvOhmUL3zs by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-26T02:43:13Z
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This shit demonstrates exactly some of the arguments I've been making here. The thing that I want to direct everyone to is this:"There is a fundamentally diferent culture here that you will need to understand or accept or you won't make it here... This is a world of builders.. you won't get anywhere by publishing social thesis or critiques."https://soapbox.midwaytrades.com/objects/0c9b5e2b-1673-408d-acef-e6e7024ff3f1
(DIR) Post #AQ42fS9klZtiO3inGC by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-11-17T23:13:06Z
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@Are0h BRUH. I will NEVER adopt the "toot." Toot is some ish that old white folks use as a euphemism for "farts."
(DIR) Post #AQB0cisbIEyTaCzKjo by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-12-01T22:09:19Z
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Next semester, I get to teach Philosophy of Technology, and I have only one objective: teach students that "social media" does not "cause" anything. Yes, you heard that right, I'm going to teach them that social media does not have agency, but is instead given agency through how users use the platform and interact with one another on the platforms. Hopefully, this will cut down on the "social media causes..." or "due to social media" takes.
(DIR) Post #AQFgex34YeEUoUTHhQ by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-12-04T03:53:03Z
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In response to this, I googled TempleOS. What. The. Fuck.Did people actually USE this?https://zirk.us/@shengokai/109452065497271450
(DIR) Post #AQGLiXjciBiVaECnlQ by shengokai@zirk.us
2022-12-04T12:08:12Z
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Since I have been exposed to the weirdness of TempleOS and other Hobbyist OSes, I guess I'm going to have to take this up a notch.What is the most cursed programming language?
(DIR) Post #ARqjO11IbTCu3OxhCa by shengokai@zirk.us
2023-01-20T19:34:26Z
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The thing of it is that we have no real use case for activism on the fediverse as compared to Twitter, but we have PLENTY of examples of the impediments to activism on the fediverse as demonstrated by the conduct of instance admins and the broader fediverse culture.I would say that it is less the case that I am limiting my imagination, and more the case of comparing two use cases on platforms by virtue of their cultural and technical structures.https://infosec.exchange/@JessTheUnstill/109723173897321990
(DIR) Post #AW5zAbJr1FtR6VoFKC by shengokai@zirk.us
2023-05-27T23:25:51Z
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My first post in a while? Literally something I'm taking from BlueSky.I'm going to start calling ChatGPT spicy autocomplete.