@jwildeboer This is true, but I see it as a good thing. Don't you?

We get to talk in a generally not-very-confrontational space; to encounter masses of fascinating and inspirational people; to discuss how to tackle the major problems of our age without our discussions being massively disrupted.

I don't think I greatly care if the Nazis are off in a little pool by themselves, talking to one another. I mean, I hope SOMEONE is monitoring what they're planning, but I'm glad it's not in our face!

@jwildeboer the #fediverse is a lot like how google imagined google+ circles to be. Just not owned by any one entity, thus far greater.

@jwildeboer the word "Nazi" is overloaded. Today everything is Nazi, my grandma probably rolls in her grave

@jwildeboer that's an interesting element of the whole "will threads federated / how will threads federate" discussion.

All the talk here is if instances will just block threads, but now I'm wondering if Meta will have the foresight to preemptively suspend gab and truth social et al.

@jwildeboer My sense is the fediverse is more progress toward actually expanded choices for everyone than the usual left-progressive ideological circus one often finds in online spaces. It feels more like USENet, where arguments and even flame-wars happened, but there was still a sense that we were all *trying* to make the world more free in the sense of everyone being able to have more choices, even while we disagreed about how to do that.

@jwildeboer Agree completely. If someone wants to come into the fediverse and argue for lower taxes, school vouchers, smaller government, or similar (wrongheaded but nevertheless legitimate) policies that conservatives used to define themselves by, they would be welcome. People would debate them, Just as we did in the early days of Twitter. It's only assholes who aren't welcome here.

@jwildeboer I read on German Twitter that right-wing individuals have started calling Mastodon "linksgrün versifftes Twitter," which translates to "left-green filth-infested Twitter."

@jwildeboer wait, Gab is part of the Fediverse?

@jwildeboer The solution is so perfect. Very much like subreddits without spez to ruin it all.

@jwildeboer even those two words in American English is still probably very very moderate / centrist, which is worth being aware of. 😅

@jwildeboer Is there a lot of active blocking of Nazis happening behind the scenes or is the #fediverse just that more difficult for the general public to use/understand? Acting as a passive gatekeeping mechanism. Aside from not overtly advertising as political, I feel like it’s more the latter.

@jwildeboer@wildeboer.net I disagree about protocol neutrality. Protocols are political economy, and can be propertarian or anti-propertarian. Walled gardens are propertarian; open protocols are anti-propertarian.

@jwildeboer I guess in a sense there is no single #fediverse, but a multitude of overlapping fediverses (and entirely separate fediverses) and which instance you belong to determines which fediverse you're in, and what it can feel like. Sure, most people reading this thread will feel part of the same fediverse, but it's always going to be different to a greater or lesser degree depending which instance you're looking out from. (I think I may have overused the word 'fediverse' in that post)

@jwildeboer

Everything you say is true,

At the same time, since you brought up Nazis (and not a neutral word like right wing fascist), to coin a phrase by @raf "Do you love Jews, or do you just hate Nazis?"

That is to say that antisemitism on the Fediverse, and the response to antisemitism on the Fediverse is still a huge problem for Jews, even after all the right wing instances are blocked.

So hearing non-Jews celebrate the absence of Nazis is quite a bitter sting for us.

@jwildeboer

That we are capable of such coordinated action on the network is only a start. There is still lots of racism and bigotry. We should lean into our willingness to cooperate to further develop mechanisms to do so. To make coordinated action easier and more seamless

@jwildeboer In my book, "the fediverse" is defined by what's actually federated, not by what speaks a protocol that would allow it to be federated if not for being blocked by everyone. So no, Gab is absolutely not part of "the fediverse".

@jwildeboer @mekkaokereke Having tried out several of the “Twitter alternatives” over the past few months, I think that Mastodon is much less of an “echo chamber” than the others. So I think your point is well taken.