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Erik Uden 🍑's posts Post Back to profile
Erik Uden 🍑

There's no “content” on the Fediverse. There's stories, articles, greetings, friends, and humans. Contentification of human creativity is what algorithm-based platforms drove us to do. Content to distract, void of meaning or a soul, but filled with sponsorships and monetary incentive.

The Fediverse is unique as it has meaning first, medium second. We say things not for the sake of saying something to please some algorithm or audience, but because we think it's something someone needs to hear, or we simply wish to say. Once you've become accustomed to this way of digital interaction, liberalize your creativity from the shackles of corporate interests and marketability, there's no way back. The only thing I wish is to give people, our generation that knows no alternative, that same feeling.

11 January at 14:43 | Open on mastodon.de
31 comments
Aubrey De Los Destinos

@ErikUden, I am content with your explanation.

11 January at 14:45 | Open on 101010.pl
asahi lunya :neocat_flag_bi: :neocat_flag_nb:

@ErikUden@mastodon.de mainly the reasons why i came to the Fediverse, to engage/interact with people, talk about many different topics, having actual fun, understanding each other, etc

Corporate social media really does lacks a heart and void of a soul once you finally leave it for something more meaningful

11 January at 14:48 | Open on transfem.social
TSource Engine Query
@ErikUden

also Fediverse:

```
"content": "<p>There's no “content” on the Fediverse....",
"contentMap": {
"en": "<p>There's no “content” on the Fediverse....",
},
```
@ErikUden

also Fediverse:

```
"content": "<p>There's no “content” on the Fediverse....",
11 January at 14:54 | Open on suya.place
Jan K.

@ErikUden Fun fact: I started a diary/journal. Things that are suitable for Mastodon go here, the other stuff goes there. Neither of both is the brainfart dump the birdsite was.

11 January at 15:01 | Open on mastodon.art
JW prince of CPH

@ErikUden I utterly agree, obviously - but on the other hand, maybe we should find ways to reclaim words from commercial actors, platform owners & other exploiters?

I mean, today they've taken "content" - a perfectly normal, meaningful word - from us; tomorrow one of them is going to commoditize the word "fediverse" & then we can't use that anymore either...

11 January at 15:04 | Open on norrebro.space
Werawelt

@jwcph @ErikUden
I initially read the opening post in the German translation and didn't even understand it. In English I understand, what it means. Apparently the English word "content" is a kind of technical term too. But not in the German translation. Here it means "Inhalt" and that is always meaningful. I could imagine that it is the same in other languages.
It is therefore important to separate the technical term from the real meaning of the word "content" in English.

11 January at 16:15 | Open on social.tchncs.de
Erik Uden 🍑

@werawelt @jwcph well, in both languages that issue exists. However, in the English space people more often discuss “content mills” or “content creators” etc. I have begun disliking that term, I think Tom Scott also mentioned it once.

I just... I don't know. If Shakespeare wrote a playwright and then was approached by World of Tanks in order to put an ad placement into his “content” he'd be insulted so much he'd die. Just the reduction of creative work down to a level where people simply do the work to make money, not because of passion, is something I deeply despise.

The word has morphed in order to have that meaning for me. You don't just make content, no, you make something you love. Technically speaking that is content, but I will not stand for the reduction of that work to something so basic. An AI makes content. You make content. A random number generator makes content. There's just no appreciation for the work inside of that word, to me it just means seeing that work as nothing. As something an AI could replicate, but no. Only one human could've done what you do, and whatever it is we're doing is not producing content, as that's just the result, not the goal.

@werawelt @jwcph well, in both languages that issue exists. However, in the English space people more often discuss “content mills” or “content creators” etc. I have begun disliking that term, I think Tom Scott also mentioned it once.

I just... I don't know. If Shakespeare wrote a playwright and then was approached by World of Tanks in order to put an ad placement into his “content” he'd be insulted so much he'd die. Just the reduction of creative work down to a level where people simply do the work...

11 January at 16:20 | Open on mastodon.de
Erik Uden 🍑

@werawelt @jwcph it's hard to explain but something I personally am very invested in! So don't worry if it doesn't make too much sense ^ ^

11 January at 16:21 | Open on mastodon.de
Werawelt

@ErikUden
I understand what you mean. Words and their meaning change over time, e.g. due to technical developments. Content and identity with the content as something alive, a creative act, were one and the same until a few years or a decade ago. Just as dance cannot be separated from the dancer. If there were automated, programmable dances, we would probably have the same problem with them as we do now with the word content.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
@jwcph

@ErikUden
I understand what you mean. Words and their meaning change over time, e.g. due to technical developments. Content and identity with the content as something alive, a creative act, were one and the same until a few years or a decade ago. Just as dance cannot be separated from the dancer. If there were automated, programmable dances, we would probably have the same problem with them as we do now with the word content.

11 January at 16:32 | Open on social.tchncs.de
F4GRX Sébastien

@ErikUden so much this. Thank you for writing it down.

11 January at 16:02 | Open on chaos.social
rateexportpilot

@ErikUden Mastodon feels like a pivot back to social network from social media

11 January at 16:47 | Open on infosec.exchange
The Mad Codger
Cheradenine Zakalwe

@ErikUden@mastodon.de "Contentification" is the prelude to enshittification.

11 January at 16:54 | Open on plasmatrap.com
Nichelle Seely

@ErikUden
I rarely ever check my Facebook feed. I'm only on there because of groups I find valuable. I just now checked it randomly. Here's a description of the first ten items in my feed:

Post from a group I belong to
Reels suggested by FB
People FB suggests I follow
Org FB suggests I follow
Post from a group I belong to
Post from a person I follow
Meme from a person I follow
Post from a group I belong to
Org FB suggests I follow
Post from a person I follow

40% of the content is trash.
I❤️ 🐘

@ErikUden
I rarely ever check my Facebook feed. I'm only on there because of groups I find valuable. I just now checked it randomly. Here's a description of the first ten items in my feed:

Post from a group I belong to
Reels suggested by FB
People FB suggests I follow
Org FB suggests I follow
Post from a group I belong to
Post from a person I follow
Meme from a person I follow
Post from a group I belong to
Org FB suggests I follow
Post from a person I follow

11 January at 17:07 | Open on wandering.shop
C. R. Collins

@Nichelle

Sounds like my feed, except I don't follow many people so it's mainly group posts and adverts. I've found useful info in the groups on occasion but the crap (not to mention the scams) has overtaken that.

@ErikUden

11 January at 17:22 | Open on writing.exchange
Mike

@Nichelle @ErikUden
I'm surprised you're getting as high as 40% - I'd say mine was around 20%
It's a waste of bandwidth

11 January at 18:07 | Open on cupoftea.social
eyrea

@Nichelle @ErikUden The last time I was on FB (under protest) it was to join a group of people who were all going to the same conference I was.

I totally locked down my account and didn't tell any IRL friends I was (briefly, temporarily) joining.

Even then I had to struggle to see all the group posts and in chronological order.

11 January at 20:21 | Open on mstdn.ca
pochitoque

@ErikUden thanks, Mr, the feeling of being a human among 8 billion in the planet and say or show what we feel at the moment, without any regrets or expecting something in return. even if there is no or little response it feels great..

11 January at 17:22 | Open on sivar.cafe
ahimsa

@ErikUden
Help me understand - is there a reason that using the word "content" is wrong when talking about "stories, articles, greetings, …" ?

I think I'm missing some nuance here.

I do like having control over the content I see (to an extent, not 100%) by using mute, block, filters, etc. No unsolicited posts whether that means advertisements, posts that someone else liked, suggestions for people to follow, etc.

I'm not saying there are no problems here, but I think it's a good platform.

@ErikUden
Help me understand - is there a reason that using the word "content" is wrong when talking about "stories, articles, greetings, …" ?

I think I'm missing some nuance here.

I do like having control over the content I see (to an extent, not 100%) by using mute, block, filters, etc. No unsolicited posts whether that means advertisements, posts that someone else liked, suggestions for people to follow, etc.

11 January at 17:35 | Open on disabled.social
Uwe Küchler

@ahimsa_pdx @ErikUden In the corporate world, "content" is widely used to treat works and communications as a commodity whose purpose is to fill a box and make money.

See a more elaborate description on the GNU website: gnu.org/philosophy/words-to-av

11 January at 18:14 | Open on ieji.de
ahimsa

@oraculix
Thanks for the link! I had heard of this corporate use of the word content but I appreciate the extra info.

The usage in that first post is a bit confusing to me but I have cognitive issues.

It would have made more sense to me if the post had said that content on the Fediverse is difficult to monetize and then listed the reasons why.

11 January at 21:24 | Open on disabled.social
Jorge Candeias

@ErikUden Beautifully put, but I've always done that wherever I was. To post whatever I want and/or whatever I think people need to read. Never cared one iota about how that might impact the allmighty algorythm (except when it started to restrict the visibility of external links; that's the one instance that I remember having changed how I posted because of an algorythm).

May be because I'm old in this whole internet thing, having been here (a LOT) before social media took over?...

11 January at 19:20 | Open on mastodon.social
Luke MacNeil

@ErikUden I disagree. I make content. Content is art and tons of it is full of soul.

Creating content is creating art.

The beatles were creating content.
Aristotle was creating content.
Mozart…

So are today’s creatives.

Never before could you realistically market and distribute an album worldwide by yourself, or publish and print a book on demand, or make a career out of making meals primarily out if bacon.

There has never been a better time for creatives and creativity.

@ErikUden I disagree. I make content. Content is art and tons of it is full of soul.

Creating content is creating art.

The beatles were creating content.
Aristotle was creating content.
Mozart…

So are today’s creatives.

Never before could you realistically market and distribute an album worldwide by yourself, or publish and print a book on demand, or make a career out of making meals primarily out if bacon.

11 January at 20:46 | Open on mastodon.macneilmediagroup.com
Ronald vd W.
Florida atheist:

@ErikUden prepare for deep dives: youtube.com/watch?v=HUokZJWTwA :ablobcatrave: :ablobcatbongo: :ablobcatwave:

11 January at 21:32 | Open on mastodon.online
Some Guy Named Chris

@ErikUden I love that it also encourages quality of posting. If I write something and it lights up, that's all. It's over. The next thing that I write won't get any more distribution than the last thing. The only way to do that is to make people want to hear the next thing you have to say.

11 January at 22:33 | Open on mastodon.online
10-volt :neocat_flag_ace:

@ErikUden maybe that's true on mastodon and similar activitypub implantations, but I have to disagree on the fediverse at large, as peertube exists, as peertube videos are content, even joinpeertube.org referring to it as that. also if i wanna get technical I can say that mastodon's api refers to post text as content but that may be pushing it content is just a word for stuff that is there, the concept of content isn't inherently corporate. And "content" doesn't mean sponsorships or soullessness, it can be both content and articles, greetings, friends etc at the same time.

@ErikUden maybe that's true on mastodon and similar activitypub implantations, but I have to disagree on the fediverse at large, as peertube exists, as peertube videos are content, even joinpeertube.org referring to it as that. also if i wanna get technical I can say that mastodon's api refers to post text as content but that may be pushing it content is just a word for stuff that is there, the concept of content isn't inherently corporate. And "content" doesn't mean sponsorships or soullessness,...

11 January at 22:45 | Open on wetdry.world
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