I introduced kbin to someone today who asked what the fediverse was. I answered for them of course, but it made me realize that the concept is still technobabble for most people. The average joe probably doesn’t care or notice that server A is really talking to server B. Just have them find out on their own and if a mass migration does need to happen from A to B, just make a standard announcement.
I don’t really agree with this because the fediverse is not only interconnected by a technology (ActivityPub) but also by some shared values, like inclusivity and kindness to each other.
so for me it’s important to agree to embrace those values if you want to be part of it. it’s not just a replacement for other platforms. users that experienced the twitter migration know what I’m talking about.
if an instance becomes toxic, il will simply be de-federated and continue to live on its on , on a secular island (a good example of this is thruth.social, who is not accessible from mastodon.social for obvious reasons). I really don’t want this to happen to here.
so please let’s keep what was on reddit on reddit and build something new here.
That’s kind of overegging the pudding. There’s nothing intrinsically “nice” about fedi, quite a lot that isn’t, and this feels like a promise that will be very rapidly seen as hollow lies the moment someone has a negative interaction, as well they might.
It’s what every underdog social network says when it doesn’t have the network effect yet. BlueSky, for example.
While I agree that it’s important for people to have an understanding of the values that the fediverse are founded upon, as well as associated etiquette, I still don’t think that the fediverse itself needs that much of an explanation for people to reach that understanding. Though platforms may provide tools that can be used for malice, a tool is only ever as good or bad as the intent of the person using them. I don’t think someone necessarily has to understand the technical aspects of the fediverse to know how to treat others. Maybe to put things in better perspective, like how much of a communal aspect there is to the efforts that maintain this network, but I think most people will get to that understanding on their own regardless if it’s truly in their intent. Inclusivity and kindness aren’t concepts that are unique to the fediverse, but human concepts that people learn, and unfortunately unlearn over entire lifetimes. And above all, I believe the best way to teach and convey values to one another will also always be the most intuitive: by example.
I think that it’s important for users to know where they are.
and I think that it’s critical to fight technological illiteracy, raise awareness about how it works, who’s developing it, who’s paying for it. it doesn’t need to be complex, but the main concept need to be explained, and thus let users be actors of their digital life.
in my opinion it’s important to take any opportunity to do so.
the online courses from the totem project about digital security and privacy are very well done and easy to follow, if anyone is interested:
https://totem-project.org