From 4f8ba6c1b8931fdeea51cc63f8266d473fd41030 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Correl Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2022 12:47:43 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] The fall of Twitter and the rise of the Fediverse --- blog.org | 43 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 43 insertions(+) diff --git a/blog.org b/blog.org index 2e4692f..3418e6b 100644 --- a/blog.org +++ b/blog.org @@ -5118,3 +5118,46 @@ result, and I learned a great deal about building electronics along the way. I'm looking forward to finding more ways to make our home just a little bit smarter and easier for us to manage, and I expect I'll have plenty of fun putting together even more electronic projects in the future! +* DONE On Twitter's fall and the rise of the Fediverse +CLOSED: [2022-11-18 Fri 12:47] +:PROPERTIES: +:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: on-twitter-and-the-fediverse +:EXPORT_DATE: 2022-11-18 +:END: +I've found a happy new home in the Fediverse, but I find myself wondering what +the broader effects of Twitter's implosion will be. Navigating Mastodon's +federated nature is a stumbling block for lots of people. I do wonder what will +come of it next, but I am liking how much interest there genuinely is for +networks not controlled by a single entity. + +A federated network really can't compare with the reach afforded by an +entrenched, centralized platform. It's a lot harder to get in front or even find +a lot of diverse new people without platform-wide virality and algorithmic +gaming. It's fundamentally a different type of network, and folks who are +reliant on it for their audiences aren't going to have a good time with it going +away. The low friction of a centralized network for people to join and content +to reach them just can't be beat. + +Things may change if the Fediverse reaches a critical mass, but I don't see that +happening (at least not anytime soon). Twitter's fall is going to leave quite a +void to be filled, and I'm not sure what will end up claiming it. Worst case, +nothing does for a long time, and a lot of social organization is going to +struggle with being siloed away for a good while. + +Maybe Twitter will somehow recover, but it's hard to imagine it will without its +staff. I'm wondering if it'll end up remaining as a company, but be forced to +pivot to different software as the current platform degrades with lack of +maintenance and experts to guide new development. Given it's scale, though, I +don't really think that's a tenable option either. What's it going to do, +attempt to ETL everything into an unfederated mastodon fork? + +I wouldn't have known how to find other trans people without Twitter. Maybe I'd +have eventually found some weird FB groups (or worse, reddit), but none of the +other options are built for those communities to find their ways in front of you +without deliberately seeking them out. + +So, yeah, regardless I'm most worried about the social impact all of this will +have. Twitter was pretty instrumental to a lot of recent cultural awareness, +uprisings, unionization efforts, and other such things. If it does collapse, I'm +not sure what'll come of it. It's a trash-filled hellsite for sure, but it's +also been an incredibly powerful tool.