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DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

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Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#161

Post by flukus »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #82

For the life of me I can't remember where I originally read this quote, but it forever changed my perspective of FB. Paraphrased: "Facebook is 3 things: the wall, the messaging, and an automatically updating rolodex." Many apps fill 1 and/or 2, but nothing satisfies #3. There is no alternative. For better or for worse: I want to stay in touch with people I've met in the oddest places. In the middle of bumsquash Urugu…

> For the life of me I can't remember where I originally read this quote, but it forever changed my perspective of FB. Paraphrased: "Facebook is 3 things: the wall, the messaging, and an automatically updating rolodex." Many apps fill 1 and/or 2, but nothing satisfies #3. There is no alternative.

Have you considered that maybe there cannot be a facebook replacement that won't suffer the same problems? Deleting facebook isn't a painless thing to do, it requires some sacrifice on your part.

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#162

Post by badminton1 »

rainbowmverse wrote: post #155
badminton1 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes sense. But how can a user validate a mastodon instance is not malicious?

Reputation! And I don't mean some convoluted algorithmic scoring system. Most people seem to find out about Mastodon from someone, and that someone suggests the instance they're on. That's why a lot of artists end up on Mastodon.art, for example. So far, the admin has a good reputation for being consistent about updates and keeping the community engaged. People keep trying to find some technological heuristic to esta…

An instance could have good reputation and still be malicious in terms of privacy and what is done with your data.

In this sense, trusting a Mastodon instance with your data is the same as trusting a Bitcoin exchange with your money. Bitcoin is decentralized too, that doesn't make Bitcoin exchanges trustworthy.

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#163

Post by AsyncAwait »

CharlesW wrote: post #133

If you're thinking about using Mastodon, the CounterSocial[1] instance is worth considering. It's run by "The Jester"[2][3], who has experience running secure/hardened systems, and who takes more of an active role in countering bad actors. [1] https://counter.social/about [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jester_(hacktivist) [3] https://keybase.io/th3j35t3r

It's an instance that promotes U.S. hegemony, imperialism and exceptionalism. It's an instance that i.e. brands Iran as hostile, but doesn't acknowledge our hostility towards them etc.

No thanks!

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#164

Post by AsyncAwait »

spdionis wrote: post #46
godelski wrote: post #30

So I question the sustainability of these platforms? How are they supported when they have sufficient mass? If they aren't gathering data on users and selling ads then how are they generating revenue?

The main developer has a patreon.

Worth linking to it if you use Mastodon and want to support its development:

https://www.patreon.com/mastodon

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#165

Post by AsyncAwait »

badminton1 wrote: post #162
rainbowmverse wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reputation! And I don't mean some convoluted algorithmic scoring system. Most people seem to find out about Mastodon from someone, and that someone suggests the instance they're on. That's why a lot of artists end up on Mastodon.art, for example. So far, the admin has a good reputation for being consistent about updates and keeping the community engaged. People keep trying to find some technological heuristic to esta…

An instance could have good reputation and still be malicious in terms of privacy and what is done with your data. In this sense, trusting a Mastodon instance with your data is the same as trusting a Bitcoin exchange with your money. Bitcoin is decentralized too, that doesn't make Bitcoin exchanges trustworthy.

In the end you have to trust somebody. If you can't trust your instance admin, you can run your own, (even single-user),instance, however that still doesn't protect you from your host provider being malicious etc.

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#166

Post by AsyncAwait »

personjerry wrote: post #60

As far as I've seen, this doesn't provide new information, so it just reads to me like "Developer of startup social media platform agrees with bandwagon: please consumers, stop using the product of our biggest competitor"

Mastodon is an open-source, distributed project, there is no commercial interest to scale in it per se.

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#167

Post by snvzz »

egypturnash wrote: post #105
deft wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not encrypted afaik at all, besides https but that would be up to the host of the instance. Where do you want the encryption to happen and how? Anyone can federate with you.

Followers-only toots and private toots are a good candidate for encryption.

They're neither "followers-only" nor "private" if there's no encryption.

Even if both me and my followers do run their own Mastodon servers.

This is terrible indeed. How is this any better than twitter? At least, for private tweets and such, they'd need a court order to get the information from twitter.

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#168

Post by personjerry »

AsyncAwait wrote: post #166
personjerry wrote: post #60

As far as I've seen, this doesn't provide new information, so it just reads to me like "Developer of startup social media platform agrees with bandwagon: please consumers, stop using the product of our biggest competitor"

Mastodon is an open-source, distributed project, there is no commercial interest to scale in it per se.

Why do I see so much shilling for it on HN?

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#169

Post by AsyncAwait »

personjerry wrote: post #168
AsyncAwait wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mastodon is an open-source, distributed project, there is no commercial interest to scale in it per se.

Why do I see so much shilling for it on HN?

Perhaps because it's something distinctively different than the typical HN posts of startup X raising 5 trillion series G funding and Musk going to Andromeda in 2003?

Re: DeleteFacebook: Perspective from Mastodon

#170

Post by kolbe »

Slansitartop wrote: post #131
kolbe wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMHO If you need to preface a comment with 'IMHO', especially when your HO is just a dressed up and unsubstantiated insult, it's probably an indication that what you're about to say will add zero value to Hacker News.

I know I would have been happy if this whole thread never existed, but alas, the root comment came to be.

> Alas, the root comment came to be

Dude, you are insufferable. Quit being so pretentious and passive aggressive, and you won't have to nuke your HN account every few months and start fresh.

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