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Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

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Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#21

Post by rjbwork »

VectorLock wrote: post #15
rglullis wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Pure) ActivityPub would be the wrong basis for this. Its federated model is not meant to give control to the end user. SOLID or ActivityPods, on the other hand...

>Its federated model is not meant to give control to the end user. Can you elaborate on this? I would think giving control to the end user is exactly what a federated model would do.

It gives control to the node operator. You join a node on the basis that you like the operator and trust them to federate responsibly. The end user is along for the ride with the node operator.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#22

Post by xnx »

rglullis wrote: post #10
xnx wrote: post #6

If Matt wasn't so fixated on WPEngine, he could actually do something important and radical by pushing Tumblr as a true user-controlled (i.e. each user has their own TLD) alternative to Twitter, BlueSky, Instagram, Threads, etc.

(Pure) ActivityPub would be the wrong basis for this. Its federated model is not meant to give control to the end user. SOLID or ActivityPods, on the other hand...

You sound much better informed on the technical/plumbing details than I. Mainly I was trying to emphasize that the lock-in and high-switching cost from social networks comes from centralized control of the urls. If each content creator controlled their own domain, the discovery mechanism/feed could be separate.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#24

Post by actualwitch »

OkayPhysicist wrote: post #16
TiredOfLife wrote: post #4

Can we expect another round of silly blocklists from the fediverse?

I'd gamble that it'll be less so than the response to Threads. Tumblr users, on average, are generally a better culture fit than Facebook/Instagram ones.

Users? Yes. Owner? No.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#25

Post by rainonmoon »

kmeisthax wrote: post #13
TiredOfLife wrote: post #4

Can we expect another round of silly blocklists from the fediverse?

It depends on the server operator. Threads was preemptively shitlisted just for thinking of connecting to Fediverse, because a lot of instance admins are ActivityPub or Mastodon maximalists[0] and believed that everyone would just flock over to Threads immediately. Then it was shitlisted again because Mark Zuckerberg started zucking on Trump, and decided to take their already threadbare moderation team and tie their…

There are extreme ideological distinctions between Facebook and Tumblr that you're ignoring. Suggesting ideology only came into it with Trump and that the Threads pushback was about the spectre of a competitor's popularity is very strange. As is the "Fedi admins are petty, but not me, a Fedi admin" commentary. People had well-founded and widely varied concerns about Meta joining the fediverse. It had nothing to do with wanting to remain in obscurity; just about every fedi user I've ever encountered is absolutely begging everyone on social media to join.

> The Fediverse's structure is already a lot more centralized than anyone would like to admit

Hi, I'm "anyone", and: no it isn't? Technically and philosophically, no it isn't. Large instances are not a failure of decentralisation, because as you evidently know, their existence does not preclude you or anyone else setting up a server and federating. There's no universe in which "scaling the network" reduces decentralisation, in fact it's the solution to the "fuck Matt Mullenweg" situation you speculate about. The less homogenous fedi admins become, the more the network is sustained by people who don't even know who he is. Your comment is rife with generalisations about the motivations of people on the fediverse, but it's far less monolithic than you think.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#26

Post by echelon »

VectorLock wrote: post #15
rglullis wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(Pure) ActivityPub would be the wrong basis for this. Its federated model is not meant to give control to the end user. SOLID or ActivityPods, on the other hand...

>Its federated model is not meant to give control to the end user. Can you elaborate on this? I would think giving control to the end user is exactly what a federated model would do.

Mastodon suffers from the same problem Reddit does. Moderators have too much power.

A truly P2P system where the end user has 100% control over what is blocked, and furthermore where they can't be shut out in the cold by capricious mods, would be the ideal social media vehicle.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#27

Post by actualwitch »

kmeisthax wrote: post #13
TiredOfLife wrote: post #4

Can we expect another round of silly blocklists from the fediverse?

It depends on the server operator. Threads was preemptively shitlisted just for thinking of connecting to Fediverse, because a lot of instance admins are ActivityPub or Mastodon maximalists[0] and believed that everyone would just flock over to Threads immediately. Then it was shitlisted again because Mark Zuckerberg started zucking on Trump, and decided to take their already threadbare moderation team and tie their…

There is no tension. ActivityPub and its creator are well-aligned with the community. What you you are looking for is nostr, and if you find it more appealing you are free to choose it, that’s the beauty of open source.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#28

Post by AlienRobot »

piperswe wrote: post #2

I'm befuddled that Automattic is still investing in adding features (e.g. federation) to Tumblr. There's just about no chance of them actually making money from it, because its users are just about the most monetization-hostile users on the Internet. It doesn't help that the CEO actively antagonized a large portion of the site not too long ago.

Ironically, I found the opposite. Tumblr users will pay Tumblr to "blaze" posts of other users, sending the post to everyone on the platform.

I don't think there are many platforms in which users are willing to give the platform money.

If you asked me whether I'd give money to support Reddit, I'd say just let it crash and burn.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#29

Post by bhhaskin »

riffic wrote: post #14
rglullis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their play is not to make money from Tumblr users, but to grow the total number of users connected to ActivityPub. Then they can go to BigCos and say "here it is, you can drop Twitter/Threads/Instagram/TikTok and control your social media presence directly." It's not that different from what Facebook is doing with Threads. They are not interested in making money from social media, they are just hoping they can become…

basically bring your own domain like Google Workspace or O365. I'd love to see the Mastodon project (or any other AP implementation) adopt that managed services model.

I don't believe there is anything stopping someone from starting a managed Mastodon service.

Re: Tumblr to join the Fediverse after WordPress migration completes

#30

Post by rglullis »

riffic wrote: post #14
rglullis wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their play is not to make money from Tumblr users, but to grow the total number of users connected to ActivityPub. Then they can go to BigCos and say "here it is, you can drop Twitter/Threads/Instagram/TikTok and control your social media presence directly." It's not that different from what Facebook is doing with Threads. They are not interested in making money from social media, they are just hoping they can become…

basically bring your own domain like Google Workspace or O365. I'd love to see the Mastodon project (or any other AP implementation) adopt that managed services model.

I've been trying that with Communick for over 5 years already, and (thanks for Trump and VP Elon) this was the first month where my revenue (barely) passed my operating costs.

Companies/agencies/media institutions are not interested in being trailblazers, so they will just go where they see their audience going, meaning Bluesky nowadays. On the other side, the absolute majority of end users still believe that (free) social media is not something worth paying for, and the most you'll see is people that contribute a few dollars per year "to cover hardware costs".

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