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Asakiyume

Cory Doctorow on why he's on Mastodon and only Mastodon.

"Enshittification isn’t merely the result of greed or foolishness — it is the inevitable consequence of a captive userbase."

--thx @JoshuaACNewman for putting this in my timeline!

pluralistic.net/2023/08/06/foo

45 comments
Jimmy

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman And for those that look at the original quote and look questioningly, I want to point out the operative word which is USER; that's the point of feeding the USERS shit!

Brian Hawthorne

@asakiyume @pluralistic @JoshuaACNewman I try to interact with as many interesting bluesky users as I can using the fed.brid.gy and bsky.brid.gy Fediverse-to-Bluesky bridge, in hopes they might question why they are on bluesky in the first place.

fed.brid.gy/docs#fediverse-get

Asakiyume

@bhawthorne @pluralistic @JoshuaACNewman

I'm a mere peon who *is* on Bluesky, IG, and even FB. I think Cory Doctorow is absolutely right in everything he says, but I'm not as ideologically motivated as he is re: where I'm active. I go where people I know are--w/in the parameters of my idiosyncratic comfort levels. I can't stand FB & don't really like IG or Bluesky, so while I'm there, I'm minimally active. OTOH, I like Mastodon A LOT, tho more for the stuff I'm involved in than the structure.

Steven D. Brewer 🏳️‍⚧️

@asakiyume @bhawthorne @pluralistic @JoshuaACNewman This has been my approach too. I really, really liked old Twitter. And it was genuinely useful primarily because of who else was there. I like Mastodon better, but for the purposes of interacting with the SFF community, it's pretty clear — for better or worse (probably worse) — that they've settled at Bluesky. So I will build a presence there. But I'm not going to leave Mastodon. I love it here.

Maria Langer | 📝 🎬 ⚒️🛥️

@asakiyume @User47 @JoshuaACNewman You realize this post is a year and a half old, right?

I'm assuming he hasn't caved to Threads and Bluesky?

And I agree with him 100%. Unfortunately, 99% of other social media users don't and they're still letting themselves be sold while they subject themselves to poorly moderated, hate-filled services that are rotting their brains.

Asakiyume

@mlanger @User47 @JoshuaACNewman --Nope, I didn't realize! Thanks for the heads up and the reality check. Re: your question, I know if he has or not.

JL Johnson :veri_mast:

@asakiyume @mlanger @JoshuaACNewman he’s had a handful of posts similar to this reaffirming his commitment. I feel like I always end up saying this, but he’s a good guy.

Maria Langer | 📝 🎬 ⚒️🛥️

@User47 @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman I think he is a great guy. Smart, says what he thinks, doesn't really care about the consequences. I respect that in a person.

Joshua A.C. Newman

@mlanger @User47 @asakiyume
To be sure, he very much cares about the consequences of what he writes. But I think you mean that he’s courageous in the face of threats.

JamesWNeal

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman (May, 2024) The Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has left the board of Bluesky, the decentralised social network he helped start, and encouraged users to remain on his first site, now owned by Elon Musk and called X.

theguardian.com/technology/art

JamesWNeal

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman Sorry, I didn't immediately see that the Doctorow piece was published August 6, 2023.

only_me

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman
Hi! Please translate. Deepl.com can not translate the word "enshittification", so I do not know whether it means an ACTIVE or PASSIVE role. That is a big difference, I dare say.

Joshua A.C. Newman

@only_me @asakiyume
It means that, when a service is built with its interests aligned to maximized shareholder payouts based on userbase size, then they are making a system of enshittification.

The strategy is deliberate and built in to Venture Capital. But that model has inspired many, many people starting a business.

only_me

@JoshuaACNewman @asakiyume
But what does that word MEAN? I still do net understand it.

Joshua A.C. Newman

@only_me @asakiyume
It’s a neologism, coined by Cory Doctorow that means what I just said. It’s the name of the process of inventing something that’s good, then turning into shit.

only_me

@JoshuaACNewman @asakiyume
So it means "to turn something into shit"? And is an active deed?

Joshua A.C. Newman

@only_me @asakiyume
Yes, it’s the name of the process. Like “vitrification”, which means “turning to glass”.

Asakiyume

@only_me @JoshuaACNewman

I think Joshua's answer probably is sufficient, but in case another wording helps, it means the process of taking something good and wrecking it.

Joshua A.C. Newman

@asakiyume @only_me
But it’s a particular process that descends directly from the thing’s business model.

Sarah W

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman
Cory Doctorow generally makes good points but I was disappointed that he didn't mention Mastodon when he was discussing this on BBC R4 a couple of weeks ago.
@pluralistic

Cory Doctorow

@Sarahw @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman I did. They just didn't run that part of the interview.

Sarah W

@pluralistic @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman
Thank you, sorry to have blamed you, I should have known. Very disappointing by the BBC in that case.
I'm not sure if the BBC are still running their own Mastodon experiment, what a missed opportunity

Crispy Branzino
@pluralistic @Sarahw @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman he's also here to fart up my timeline with a 56 part takedown about how prime membership is fueling galactic levels of inequality and sorrow (its a good read)
Asakiyume

@mfurlan Ay, not on my account, please! I am still there--I was just sharing Cory Doctorow's thoughts.

nonlinear

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman I for one am looking for a mastodon to threads to bluesky pipeline.

I mean they are open, right? Openness is the openness to leave.

If they don’t provide it, it’s because their game is lock in.

nonlinear

@JoshuaACNewman @asakiyume @bsky.brid.gy Or keep apologizing for a conveniently shitty API

We need public pressure. I wouldn’t mind at all a syndication system, I post on mastodon (more control) and it reverberates to other platforms, audiences.

unexpectedteapot

@nonlinear @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman Threads is not open. Bluesky is only as open as they who control the relays and identity service decide.

nonlinear

@unexpectedteapot @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman I think open source community should keep trying and reporting on how *not* open they are. How thread users can subscribe to mastodon ones on Threads but not the other way around.

And point out that this is lock in. For future enshitification.

Openwashing is everywhere and our concepts will lose meaning if we don’t defend them.

nonlinear

@unexpectedteapot @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman For now bluesky mastodon integration doesn’t happen because of a crude API, they say.

But without public pressure, this API won’t be built. Why would they, leaving EXIT doors to their captive audience?

nonlinear

@unexpectedteapot @asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman Lock-in policies are about closing exits

And enshittification is the fire

Mister Wanko

@asakiyume he's still on Twitter. Man has bills to pay like the rest of us.

Asakiyume

@MisterWanko'm also still on Twitter, but only passively. There are accounts I want to keep up with that only post there.

Alf No Problem

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman
Thanks for sharing. Great article.
Enshitification is very real in so many places. No joke! Take the freakin' AI customer service chat bots for example - most are absolutely useless!

Urban Hermit

@asakiyume @JoshuaACNewman

I was just thinking about how airplane travel is the oldest and the most enshitified service that we have. There are 20 people in the front that can afford to sit in a chair like a human being and 80 people in economy that are having the worst day of their year.

And it is all because some of us have to travel in a way that takes less than several days. Captive customers.

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