[liberationtech] Wealthy entrepreneurs ask whether you would use a Liberationtech-friendly Twitter clone?

[Mariette Papic]

An extra big yes to 2) interoperability

Saw this requested time and again when working with farmers and those
trying to give them access to new social media meant to build bioregional
markets.

Share buttons change lives and project horizons. Bridges not walls. Mental
and systemic architecture that allows for proper expectations for various
circumstances that exist and arise -- well explained for the high
functioning lay person so people do not expect a single platform to suffice
for their liberation.

Make the learning/adaptation fun. Diaspora was minimal to a fault. All well
intentioned projects die at the dry plateau of documentation and
onboarding.

As for the advert model (which is onerous) -- which other/s to propose?

Free labor or the non profit model? Unnatural. Unattractive in the current
state of the world. Bridge that too.

Profit to non profit symbiosis?

Some other collaborative mechanism that actually functions in the incentive
driven world? Suggested micro payments/contributions for intense usage?
Thinking mycelia where micro exchange is the juice and when you look at the
exchanges under a camera you notice there is color and vibrance.

Elegant is not stark. Interface design matters.
Invitations to liberation fail if they only address the logical reason to
use A not B.



On Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 09:52 Chris Riley <mchris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Network effects are beyond hard to replicate, I'd call them impossible,
> FWIW. While I've also revived my dormant Mastodon account and echo those
> calling for it to be the hub around which we all rally - which means not
> adopting private alternatives, no matter how well-intentioned - to me
> success at building a better future here means 1) putting resources into
> Mastodon code and infrastructure, including making it even easier for non
> technical people to identify a server that aligns with their values and
> make an account, and 2) interoperability, interoperability,
> interoperability. We've been making a fair bit of progress (we being the
> community pushing for this in various ways); it takes on a number of forms
> and flavors depending on the advocate, but ultimately the bridge to a
> better internet means staying in touch with your Twitter et al networks
> from an independent home base (software/server stack).
>
> Just my $0.02...
>
> C
>
> On Thu, Apr 28, 2022, 6:40 AM Yosem Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I helped develop Diaspora, the once exciting FLOSS alternative to
>> Facebook. It seems in 2010 Diaspora was to Facebook what today Mastodon is
>> to Twitter.
>>
>> But, what good is a "good" Twitter, if no one uses it?
>>
>> As a Wired article notes about Mastodon, "Mastodon has never grown quite
>> as big as social networks like Twitter or Reddit. Rochko says that’s
>> because network effects are hard to replicate. People go where their
>> friends are, and most people’s friends are still on Facebook and Twitter."
>>
>> Diaspora was private, secure, and distributed, which the Liberationtech
>> community loved. But, most Diaspora users simply asked, "Why are our
>> friends not here?" Others asked, "What is your killer app?"
>>
>> UX research at Diaspora revealed that users were just as or more
>> motivated to meet new and interesting people as they were in connecting
>> with people they knew.  Meanwhile, Twitter's history shows it gained
>> critical mass when it entered the news/journalism space.
>>
>> So, I ask: What must Mastodon do to overcome Twitter's network effect?
>> What would make it go mainstream? Ideas?
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Yosem
>>
>> On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 6:12 AM Yosem Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> One thing I will note because it has come up a few times in the
>>> discussion already is the following: The founders of the Twitter clone in
>>> question did NOT build it for commercial gain. In fact, they are
>>> specifically offering to provide it as private, secure, and decentralized
>>> FLOSS software run by a nonprofit foundation, if that's what people want.
>>>
>>> On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 2:43 AM Petter Ericson <pettter at acc.umu.se>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I would agree insofar as to say that any particular social media
>>>> _platform_ is
>>>> unlikely to be "liberation" technology, but federated _protocols_ as
>>>> well as
>>>> specific online/digital places to be and ways to organise can be (and
>>>> are,
>>>> sometimes) liberatory.
>>>>
>>>> In particular, if it's hard to monetize, it's more likely to be
>>>> liberatory.
>>>>
>>>> And if it is built by "wealthy serial entrepreneurs" it is decidedly
>>>> less likely to be.
>>>>
>>>> Best
>>>>
>>>> /P
>>>>
>>>> On 28 april, 2022 - Jillian C. York wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > While I would certainly welcome a Twitter clone, I'd be really
>>>> hesitant
>>>> > about calling any social media platform "liberation" technology at
>>>> this
>>>> > point. I think we've all witnessed that this tech is/can be/will be
>>>> > utilized just as much by malicious actors as by liberatory ones,
>>>> regardless
>>>> > of the policies implemented or content moderation strategies employed.
>>>> >
>>>> > On Thu, Apr 28, 2022 at 12:35 AM Yosem Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> > > Dear Liberation Technology community,
>>>> > >
>>>> > > A group of wealthy serial entrepreneurs who built a Twitter clone to
>>>> > > foster civic democracy in the 2020 elections just reached out to me
>>>> to ask
>>>> > > whether you would be interested in using a Liberationtech-friendly
>>>> Twitter
>>>> > > clone now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter. They want to know the
>>>> > > following:
>>>> > >
>>>> > >    - Would you use a Liberationtech-friendly Twitter clone?
>>>> > >    - What would make you want to use it? Conversely, what would
>>>> make you
>>>> > >    NOT want to use it?
>>>> > >    - What would you name it? They said they might even be open to
>>>> calling
>>>> > >    it Liberationtech, if there were enough interest.
>>>> > >
>>>> > > Thank you,
>>>> > > Yosem
>>>> > > --
>>>> > > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major
>>>> > > commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you
>>>> > > moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt.
>>>> Unsubscribe,
>>>> > > change to digest mode, or change password by emailing
>>>> > > lt-owner at lists.liberationtech.org.
>>>> > >
>>>> >
>>>> >
>>>> > --
>>>> > +1-JILLIAN
>>>> >
>>>> > "To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger" -
>>>> James
>>>> > Baldwin
>>>> >
>>>> > "We must not be afraid of dreaming the seemingly impossible if we
>>>> want the
>>>> > seemingly impossible to become a reality" - *Vaclav Havel*
>>>>
>>>> > --
>>>> > Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major
>>>> commercial search engine. Violations of list guidelines will get you
>>>> moderated: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/lt. Unsubscribe,
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Petter Ericson (pettter at acc.umu.se)
>>>>
>>> --
>> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major
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>>
> --
> Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable from any major
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