If Big Tech ever wants to bring down the free independent Fediverse, all they have to do is leak the private notes we pin to other people’s profiles.
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@CiaraNi I'd secretly hoped someone might write poetry about me one day. If it means I’m about to be blocked, though, I’ll settle for “Seems harmless. Prone to Kafka references.”;-)
@Flatus The idea of people writing little poems about one another as private notes is lovely. There's the premise for a short story right there.
"Seems harmless. Prone to Kafka references." Now I'm reminded of Arthur Dent taking offence at the 'mostly' in the Hitchhiker's Guide's two-word summing up of Earth as 'mostly harmless'
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If you click on the three dots beside someone else's profile, there's an option to 'Add a private note'. The heading in this screenshot is 'Private notes are only visible to you.'
The ever excellent Feditips has a good guide here:
https://fedi.tips/what-are-notes-on-mastodon-what-does-click-to-add-note-mean-on-mastodon-profiles/
@CiaraNi or
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Wait, what?
This is one of those "Innocent nerds find out banging together two bits of uranium releases huge amounts of free energy for the benefit of the world" moments.
"This'll be a useful feature: I can't imagine it *ever* going wrong."
@Badgardener Most of my private notes are aide-mémoires about mansplainers and reply guys. So I'll remember later why I muted or unfollowed or blocked them. Now I'm imagining some kind of meta-Singularity in the online universe if the reply guys saw my reply-guy notes and started reply-guying me about them.
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If you click on the three dots beside someone else's profile, there's an option to 'Add a private note'. The heading in this screenshot is 'Private notes are only visible to you.'
The ever excellent Feditips has a good guide here:
https://fedi.tips/what-are-notes-on-mastodon-what-does-click-to-add-note-mean-on-mastodon-profiles/
@CiaraNi @Tattooed_Mummy Nice save!
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@Badgardener Most of my private notes are aide-mémoires about mansplainers and reply guys. So I'll remember later why I muted or unfollowed or blocked them. Now I'm imagining some kind of meta-Singularity in the online universe if the reply guys saw my reply-guy notes and started reply-guying me about them.
The thing about that, though, is you can *see* it happening.
I mean, it just would, wouldn't it?
I feel a bit like the world has changed and we can never change it back.
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If Big Tech ever wants to bring down the free independent Fediverse, all they have to do is leak the private notes we pin to other people’s profiles.
@CiaraNi Back when I used reddit I occasionally tagged people with 'nutcase' to remind me not to engage, but that's about as bad as it got
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@CiaraNi @Tattooed_Mummy Nice save!
@feijoa @Tattooed_Mummy You'd better remember me when they make you Ambassador of Mastodon. I'll be wanting some kind of fancy post in your cabinet of Fedi-power. Like, I'll be the one who gets to decide how many hashtags are too many hashtags.
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@CiaraNi Back when I used reddit I occasionally tagged people with 'nutcase' to remind me not to engage, but that's about as bad as it got
@CarstenBoll 'Nutcase' is succinct. My notes are slightly more expansive. Especially the ones about Reply Guys. They have subcategories at this point, mostly with the given nuance if I decided to, say, mute instead of block. Or to not mute yet, but may later. Or if it's someone I haven't interacted with but see being a reply guy on someone else's thread. They're my favourites, it's like a stress-free block, avoiding the problem before it arises
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"That one about Alice just makes me smile whenever I think about it."
Thank you for the context, now I get the reference. I was imagining something far more not mainstream.
I think I'll start muting anyone who mutes anyone who posts in Welsh. I like posts in minority languages. They remind me how international the Fediverse is. I feel so cosmopolitan. Welsh is unguessable for me, so I use the Translate button and then I reply-guy in English.
@CiaraNi I’m pretty sure the only negative comments I’ve had about postng in Welsh have come from people who live in Wales. It’s always lovely to get a reply from someone who’s taken the time to translate something
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The thing about that, though, is you can *see* it happening.
I mean, it just would, wouldn't it?
I feel a bit like the world has changed and we can never change it back.
@Badgardener Agreed. I would never assume that it is impossible for something private online to become not private. Whether by accident or malicious design.
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@CarstenBoll 'Nutcase' is succinct. My notes are slightly more expansive. Especially the ones about Reply Guys. They have subcategories at this point, mostly with the given nuance if I decided to, say, mute instead of block. Or to not mute yet, but may later. Or if it's someone I haven't interacted with but see being a reply guy on someone else's thread. They're my favourites, it's like a stress-free block, avoiding the problem before it arises
@CiaraNi @CarstenBoll I use "reply guy", "twat" and "just annoyed me for some reason".
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@CiaraNi I’m pretty sure the only negative comments I’ve had about postng in Welsh have come from people who live in Wales. It’s always lovely to get a reply from someone who’s taken the time to translate something
"The only negative comments I’ve had about postng in Welsh have come from people who live in Wales."
That surprised me!
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@CiaraNi @CarstenBoll I use "reply guy", "twat" and "just annoyed me for some reason".
@CiaraNi I assume you live in a world where you reevaluate decisions, or that sort of detailed log seems a little pointless
I just block and then go on with my day.But I almost never block, though. People don't interact with me in a negative way, most of the time.
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@CiaraNi I assume you live in a world where you reevaluate decisions, or that sort of detailed log seems a little pointless
I just block and then go on with my day.But I almost never block, though. People don't interact with me in a negative way, most of the time.
@CarstenBoll @Tattooed_Mummy I was only joking about the sub-categories and long notes. Reply guys are so common in here that I have one-word codes for whichever variety they are. Not code as in 'secret', just a word that I know conveys the difference between one kind and the other.
"But I almost never block, though. People don't interact with me in a negative way, most of the time" - am happy that's your experience online!
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@Badgardener Agreed. I would never assume that it is impossible for something private online to become not private. Whether by accident or malicious design.
I think we also assume that because we're in an internet backwater here, the big platforms are not bothering with us.
I put my fediverse account aside for a year, and don't use things like Google *except* for a work email address which is kept for Reasons but which gets almost no traffic.
Shortly before firing up the fediverse account again, I ventured onto Google and asked it about Badgardener. The wretched AI thing immediately gave a detailed breakdown of my preferences, activity etc.
This conversation is currently being stored in Google, whether you use Google or not...
I'm going out in the sunshine now.
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"The only negative comments I’ve had about postng in Welsh have come from people who live in Wales."
That surprised me!
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"The only negative comments I’ve had about postng in Welsh have come from people who live in Wales."
That surprised me!
@CiaraNi it’s a very rare occurance (and much rarer here than in Other Places) but every now and then someone will explain that I’d get more engagement if I posted in English, or bilingually, as if I hadn’t worked that out for myself!
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@CarstenBoll @Tattooed_Mummy I was only joking about the sub-categories and long notes. Reply guys are so common in here that I have one-word codes for whichever variety they are. Not code as in 'secret', just a word that I know conveys the difference between one kind and the other.
"But I almost never block, though. People don't interact with me in a negative way, most of the time" - am happy that's your experience online!
"am happy that's your experience online!"
Well, I am sorry it's not everyone's experience.
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@CiaraNi I assume you live in a world where you reevaluate decisions, or that sort of detailed log seems a little pointless
I just block and then go on with my day.But I almost never block, though. People don't interact with me in a negative way, most of the time.
@CarstenBoll @CiaraNi Good Lord I block at least one person a day
