🏠 Farvel Big Tech

@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome

That corporations are unscrupulous and will do everything and anything to maximize profits, I have no argument with.

But do not mislead yourself about "cause" vs "convenient tool". If non-corporate, federated social media was as widespread as FB in those places, then it would have been used to facilitate the same atrocities.

Social media overwhelmingly reflects existing social pathologies, it does not play as big a role in creating them as critics believe.

@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome

As for groups, I agree they are great for people who will pro-actively work towards curating their feed; but an overwhelming majority of the global south, and maybe even of the global north, simply do not have the bandwidth for that.

Life is really miserable for a hell of a lot of people. For them, getting federated social media working is way way down the priority list. It may not even be there.

ps: I value and appreciate your work.

@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome

Also: (global south or other low visibility) users/topics on even global north servers get invisiblized.

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114042102592947484

That’s something that needs to be addressed, I feel.

(continues)

@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome

The paucity of global south servers ultimately boils down

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114037640671009789

and

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114037643779263418

and

https://union.place/@feralthoughts/114030807764667593

(continues)

@jerome @EdwinG

That's precisely the point---on the Fediverse, it's impossible to know if you are not finding relevent global south (or other low visibility) users/posts, or if they simply do not exist.

Say there is a user X on random server Y. Assume that no user on mastodon.social (for example) follows user X. Assume that users on mastodon.social follow other users on server Y. Assume further that neither server has blocked the other.

User X writes a post containing the term, say, #Namibia. The post receives no reply, no boost, no like.

Later, someone searches for #Namibia on mastodon.social. The search results will NOT include user X’s post containing the term #Namibia.

(continues)

🧵 on how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the #GlobalSouth.

I have argued a few times that for all practical purposes, the global south does not exist for Mastodon, and for the rest of the Fediverse. But many people I interact with do not quite understand how this works in practice.

This series of posts is an effort to illustrate that mechanism.

(continues)