 There's a few threats to the Fediverse. Here's what I think they are: 1. Google extending their dominance into Fediverse search 2. Jack Dorsey's crypto obsessiveness (see Nostr) 3. Cloudflare's Mastodon competitor (Wildebeest) 4. A16Z investment in Towns -- which is just Matrix with crypto pixie dust 5. Developers' myopic focus on Mastodon to the detriment of the rest of the Fediverse 24 comments
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The fact that the community-at-large is so anti-search is not just an oversight -- it's practically gifting Google with another monopoly. People keep saying, "Searching the Fediverse shouldn't happen." But their wishful thinking isn't preventing it from happening. This is going to become a crisis if people don't see this as the existential problem that it is. The next issue is Jack Dorsey's crypto obsessiveness. Jack Dorsey very much wants to fund decentralized social media. But he also wants to infuse decentralized social media with all manner of crypto. And if you want to see the negative effect of that, just look at Nostr right now. It is entirely driven by crypto spam. Nostr isn't the only decentralized social network that Jack Dorsey is likely to invest in 😬 Next is Cloudflare's Wildebeest platform. At this point, I just think it's a tech demo. But it's the most half-assed thing by a major Internet company that I've seen in a long time. For one thing, it doesn't support account migrations. For most people actively using the Fediverse, that's a big no-no. But what about people who's first foray into the Fediverse is Wildebeest? Well, now they're locked in. Okay, so the next threat is a16z (a.k.a., Andreesen Horowitz). Their investment in Towns seems malicious. Towns, if you don't know, is a social network that's pretty much just Matrix with crypto pixie dust. But look into what a16z does, and they've been one of the biggest funders of Big Social in existence. Want to know why there's so many walled gardens on the Internet? Well, a16z is a big reason. So the last threat is probably the biggest threat, and it's that developers are myopic about Mastodon to the detriment of the rest of the Fediverse. There's lots of Mastodon clients. But most of these clients do not support the likes of Akkoma or Friendica despite both those servers having API compatibility with Mastodon. Even worse, some of these clients don't even display messages from non-Mastodon servers. This developer myopia actively breaks the intentions of the Fediverse. most of it is about and around Mastodon, like there is constant war against Pleroma / Akkoma, Miskkey and all other valuable Fediverse platforms
@atomicpoet if their API’s are compatible, then how do the clients even tell the difference ? Or to the point I’m thinking of… what are the differences they must have, that we could overcome in @tootsdk to make this turnkey for iOS clients built on top to support?  @davidgarywood  @atomicpoet this is an interesting topic ... I am developing an app to integrate one's experience with the US medical system into the Fediverse. My approach when sending a message to e.g. Mastodon is to have it masquerade as a Mastodon message (HTTP sigs the whole nine yards), it's a lot of work but it does not require that Eugen and his awesome team cooperate. It's called HealthPub™ I'll be talking about it more here.  @atomicpoet this distinction between clients and servers...would it be so difficult to implement a stripped AP backend server *inside* a client?
Let's pick a dyndns name at first setup and then everybody is a personal instance! @atomicpoet Hi! I appreciate your concerns, but there is no need to blame anyone for it. It seems to be a problematic situation regarding #Fediverse. There will be developer effort if those projects receive public appreciation. Mastodon was lucky. It filled a gap at the right time that was left by the blue bird site. All we have to do is (like you) put some effort into introducing other apps and their capabilities to the masses. Cheers!  @atomicpoet I think Nostr is a pretty healthy development from the perspective of the fediverse. The cultural values between the crypto community and the fediverse with regards to content moderation clashes super hard. Its hard to give that community a space on the fediverse because the core values are so different. So instead of continually bashing heads, I think its fine to start their own network with different values. @atomicpoet @fediversereport he is easily capable of being a formidable competitor, I wonder if there is anyway to help him be an ally instead @CartyBoston @atomicpoet I think he can be an ally in a way by being a competitor. The massive advantage that the fediverse has is the institutional support from governments etc. Jack Dorsey had trouble making friends with governments when his Twitter was the only game in town. Cant see that getting much better now that there is solid competition. But he might have some good ideas on a technical protocol level that the fediverse can use (like the AT protocol has with domain name transfer) With bridge from Nostr to Fediverse you can completely avoid crypto influence, just filter your followings and find it very useful
@atomicpoet have a take 😜 - I don't think real people (not us) care at all about crypto other than as a story in the news. *Real* Fediverse apps work better, that's all users need to know or see.
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@atomicpoet Mostly agreed on nr 5, with some nuance: I think this is a threat to the (micro)blogging side of the fediverse. PeerTube is unique enough that I think itll get dev attention once it gets a bit bigger, even if the devs are currently myopic on Mastodon. Its the growth/potential of Pleroma/Calckey/Misskey/Bonfire thats more worrysome for that @atomicpoet@mastodon.social we must defend our independence, @Gargron@mastodon.social told that accepting VC is detrimental to hard-earned independence for Mastodon. |
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