[TFNA]

I’d argue that microblogging inherently trends towards social pathologies, since there is little room for nuance in such short-form text. Not to mention that those other platforms already have their own established cultures and shibboleths, where not everyone coming from a competing network will feel comfortable. If someone manages to shake off an X addiction, they might be better off giving up microblogging entirely.

[kccqzy]

Microblogging in the fediverse somehow does not trend towards social pathologies. I just don’t ever feel the need to shorten my posts because the word limit is generally generous enough for significant nuance. It’s like HN: comments tend to be short just because of the medium, but longer comments with significant nuance are possible.

[TFNA]

> Microblogging in the fediverse somehow does not trend towards social pathologies.

The fediverse, too, trends towards social pathologies; something or some things is causing craziness on all the mentioned platforms, even if the exact manifestations vary. For example, well into 2023, almost daily among the top-ranking posts on Mastodon was one advocating for harsh anti-Covid measures: e.g. that live music and theatre should never have been permitted again, insisting on masking in public at all times, etc. This was after countries lauded for their responsible Covid response had already returned to normality. The fact that posts like these could get such a welcome reception, sending them to the top, says something about how highly online and out of touch a significant portion of fediverse users are.

[krapp]

Mastodon isn't a single web platform like Reddit. The phrase "among the top-ranking posts on Mastodon" is meaningless. There is no "the top" of Mastodon.

[dlcarrier]

It's a federated communication protocol, like email and SMS. There's very much a culture for each, regardless of whether or not it's hosted on a single server. Most users don't even know whether or not a communication system is federated, they just know they can use it to send messages and that there are social protocols around using it.

[TFNA]

I’m obviously talking about the main Mastodon instance and its Trending view [0]. The main instance has cultural prestige for the other instances that form the fediverse as people here normally define it and is regarded as exemplifying its values. But we’ve seen you disingenuously try to downplay issues here with the fediverse before.

[0] https://mastodon.social/explore

[krapp]

You know there are tens of thousands of instances yet you chose to use language that implied that you were speaking about "Mastodon" as a whole, and then you chose to make judgements about fediverse users as a whole, based on a description of a single post on a single instance some unknown number of years ago. That is at best disingenuous, and at worse intentionally deceptive.

>But we’ve seen you disingenuously try to downplay issues here with the fediverse before.

Who is "we?" Jumping immediately into the defensive and accusatory personal attack? I don't know what caused you to harbor this sort of grudge against the fediverse and people who use it but get over it. Just let people have their space, and find your own.

[TFNA]

Try reading my post again. I wasn’t making a judgement about “a single post” but a trend that lasted months and months.

But look at the Trending view right now (and tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that). The Mastodon instance with the highest prestige isn’t showing from those “tens of thousands of instances” a wide variety of subject matter discussed in longform, nuanced manner. It’s showing mainly political posts and memes. It depicts the fediverse as pathological a forum as any of the other microblogging platforms, even if the particular politics differ.

Even if some people across instances use the fediverse to discuss other matters, a healthy ecosystem would be one that discourages highly-online stuff, not does the opposite and boosts its visibility.

> Just let people have their space, and find your own.

The whole topic of this subthread was about people leaving X and possibly finding another space. I’m showing why those people might not “find their own” in the fediverse (or at Threads or Bluesky, for that matter) and would be better off avoiding microblogging entirely.

[kccqzy]

> almost daily among the top-ranking posts

Why would you even care about the top-ranking posts when it doesn’t even have an algorithmic timeline? It’s not like an algorithm will push such top-ranking posts onto your timeline. Your timeline remains under your control, with sophisticated muting and blocking capabilities.

[TFNA]

Mastodon developers have repeatedly stated that the fediverse is not just a protocol but a distinct culture and values, and federating with their servers means accepting that culture and values. So, even if one’s timeline doesn’t show those posts, the posts are still normative for the overall culture.