{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-15T14:55:49-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/15/145549/",
"syndication": [
"https://fed.brid.gy/"
],
"content": {
"text": "How public should social media be? How social should public websites be? It\u2019s your < 10min update on the #IndieWeb community!\nThis Week in the IndieWeb audio edition for July 8th - 14th, 2023.\nhttps://martymcgui.re/2023/07/15/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-8th---14th-2023/",
"html": "<p>How public should social media be? How social should public websites be? It\u2019s your < 10min update on the #IndieWeb community!</p>\n<p>This Week in the IndieWeb audio edition for July 8th - 14th, 2023.\n<a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/15/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-8th---14th-2023/\">https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/15/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-8th---14th-2023/</a></p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "38360295",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-15T14:53:20-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/15/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-8th---14th-2023/",
"category": [
"podcast",
"IndieWeb",
"this-week-indieweb-podcast"
],
"audio": [
"https://media.martymcgui.re/de/c0/0b/69/c5f4a43e11acd0358113adce46641080e6a76e26a87c88c2c9934130.mp3"
],
"name": "This Week in the IndieWeb Audio Edition \u2022 July 8th - 14th, 2023",
"content": {
"text": "Show/Hide Transcript\n \n How public should social media be? How social should public websites be? It\u2019s the audio edition for This Week in the IndieWeb for July 8th - 14th, 2023.\nYou can find all of my audio editions and subscribe with your favorite podcast app here: martymcgui.re/podcasts/indieweb/.\nMusic from Aaron Parecki\u2019s 100DaysOfMusic project: Day 85 - Suit, Day 48 - Glitch, Day 49 - Floating, Day 9, and Day 11\nThanks to everyone in the IndieWeb chat for their feedback and suggestions. Please drop me a note if there are any changes you\u2019d like to see for this audio edition!",
"html": "Show/Hide Transcript\n \n <p>How public should social media be? How social should public websites be? It\u2019s the audio edition for <a href=\"https://indieweb.org/this-week/2023-07-14.html\">This Week in the IndieWeb for July 8th - 14th, 2023</a>.</p>\n<p>You can find all of my audio editions and subscribe with your favorite podcast app here: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/podcasts/indieweb/\">martymcgui.re/podcasts/indieweb/</a>.</p>\n<p>Music from <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/\">Aaron Parecki</a>\u2019s <a href=\"https://100.aaronparecki.com/\">100DaysOfMusic project</a>: <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2017/03/15/14/day85\">Day 85 - Suit</a>, <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2017/02/06/7/day48\">Day 48 - Glitch</a>, <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2017/02/07/4/day49\">Day 49 - Floating</a>, <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2016/12/29/21/day-9\">Day 9</a>, and <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2016/12/31/15/\">Day 11</a></p>\n<p>Thanks to everyone in the <a href=\"https://chat.indieweb.org/\">IndieWeb chat</a> for their feedback and suggestions. Please drop me a note if there are any changes you\u2019d like to see for this audio edition!</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "audio",
"_id": "38360296",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"author": {
"name": "Jared White",
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/",
"photo": null
},
"url": "https://jaredwhite.com/videos/20230710/portland-vlog-lan-su-chinese-garden-for-fathers-day-wow",
"published": "2023-07-10T19:39:07+00:00",
"content": {
"html": "<img alt=\"\" src=\"https://res.cloudinary.com/mariposta/image/upload/w_1200,c_limit,q_65/father_s_day_lan_su_qyuywr.jpg\" /><p>For Father's Day, the kids \"treated\" me to a wonderful excursion to Lan Su Chinese Garden, a treasure of downtown Portland which exhibits one of the most authentic gardens outside of China itself. Enjoy the magnificent sights!</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://jaredwhite.com/videos/20230710/portland-vlog-lan-su-chinese-garden-for-fathers-day-wow\">Watch the Video Here</a></p>",
"text": "For Father's Day, the kids \"treated\" me to a wonderful excursion to Lan Su Chinese Garden, a treasure of downtown Portland which exhibits one of the most authentic gardens outside of China itself. Enjoy the magnificent sights!\nWatch the Video Here"
},
"name": "Video: Lan Su Chinese Garden for Father's Day WOW!",
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "38317387",
"_source": "2783"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-12T07:01:42-07:00",
"url": "https://nadreck.me/2023/07/threads-and-mastodon/",
"category": [
"social-computing",
"social-media"
],
"name": "Threads and Mastodon",
"content": {
"text": "I\u2019ll shush on this soon, as I\u2019m sure y\u2019all either are already getting flooded with thinkpieces about this, or don\u2019t care about the topic that much. But before I move on to other things, a nice article by Watts Martin: \u201cYou\u2019re So Vain, You Probably Think This App Is About You: On Meta and Mastodon\u201d The gist is that a lot of the hand-wringing about Threads (and more specifically, Meta) joining the Fediverse and mucking it up is probably overblown.\n\n\n\n\nHow can I say that so confidently? Because Threads is\u00a0not\u00a0a Mastodon instance. It is its own self-contained, centralized social network with plans to let its users follow Mastodon accounts and vice versa.\n\n\n\n[\u2026]\n\n\n\nSo, on one hand: a billion users who accept Instagram showing them ads, algorithm-jamming their timelines and hoovering up as much personally identifiable information about them as they can. On the other: two or three million users on an explicitly anti-corporate platform engineered to be highly resistant to leaking private data. I dare you to make a convincing business case for Facebook spending a\u00a0single cent\u00a0trying to capture a fraction of the second group, when it\u2019s\u00a0less than a percent\u00a0the size of the first group.\nWatts Martin\n\n\n\n\nI\u2019m inclined to agree\u2026 mostly. I think them even announcing plans to support ActivityPub was a red herring, a way to hedge their bets in case they didn\u2019t get the immediate traction they were hoping for. (And as Watts points out in their piece, it looks good to regulators.) Since they did get the rapid adoption going, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if that feature quietly drops off their roadmap entirely. And honestly, that\u2019s fine \u2013 I didn\u2019t really expect them to keep it open for very long anyway, so if it never opens up in the first place, the end result is the same.\n\n\n\nI do also agree with Watts that mastodon instance admins being reactionary and defederating Threads before it even opens is overkill \u2013 silencing them so they don\u2019t end up flooding your Federated tab and killing your server is probably plenty.\n\n\n\n\nThe truly toxic idea, though, is that Mastodon instances should not only refuse to federate with Threads, but they should refuse to federate with other servers that\u00a0do\u00a0federate with Threads. In other words, users should be punished for decisions they have no control over and\u00a0may not even be aware of,\u00a0made by the administrators of servers\u00a0they don\u2019t belong to.\u00a0I am dead serious when I call this toxic. The default position must,\u00a0must,\u00a0be that breaking your users\u2019 social graphs is a last resort against clear and present danger. A server explicitly welcomes Nazis, child porn, TERFs, and serial harassers? Block that fucker. But it\u2019s absurd to insist that federating with Meta\u2019s general-interest server presents the same threat level.\nWatts Martin",
"html": "<p>I\u2019ll shush on this soon, as I\u2019m sure y\u2019all either are already getting flooded with thinkpieces about this, or don\u2019t care about the topic that much. But before I move on to other things, a nice article by Watts Martin: \u201c<a href=\"https://micro.coyotetracks.org/2023/07/10/youre-so-vain.html\">You\u2019re So Vain, You Probably Think This App Is About You: On Meta and Mastodon</a>\u201d The gist is that a lot of the hand-wringing about Threads (and more specifically, Meta) joining the Fediverse and mucking it up is probably overblown.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote>\n<p>How can I say that so confidently? Because Threads is\u00a0<em>not</em>\u00a0a Mastodon instance. It is its own self-contained, centralized social network with plans to let its users follow Mastodon accounts and vice versa.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>[\u2026]</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, on one hand: a billion users who accept Instagram showing them ads, algorithm-jamming their timelines and hoovering up as much personally identifiable information about them as they can. On the other: two or three million users on an explicitly anti-corporate platform engineered to be highly resistant to leaking private data. I dare you to make a convincing business case for Facebook spending a\u00a0<em>single cent</em>\u00a0trying to capture a fraction of the second group, when it\u2019s\u00a0<em>less than a percent</em>\u00a0the size of the first group.</p>\nWatts Martin\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m inclined to agree\u2026 mostly. I think them even announcing plans to support ActivityPub was a red herring, a way to hedge their bets in case they didn\u2019t get the immediate traction they were hoping for. (And as Watts points out in their piece, it looks good to regulators.) Since they <em>did</em> get the rapid adoption going, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if that feature quietly drops off their roadmap entirely. And honestly, that\u2019s fine \u2013 I didn\u2019t really expect them to keep it open for very long anyway, so if it never opens up in the first place, the end result is the same.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do also agree with Watts that mastodon instance admins being reactionary and defederating Threads before it even opens is overkill \u2013 silencing them so they don\u2019t end up flooding your Federated tab and killing your server is probably <em>plenty</em>.</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote>\n<p>The truly toxic idea, though, is that Mastodon instances should not only refuse to federate with Threads, but they should refuse to federate with other servers that\u00a0<em>do</em>\u00a0federate with Threads. In other words, users should be punished for decisions they have no control over and\u00a0<em>may not even be aware of,</em>\u00a0made by the administrators of servers\u00a0<em>they don\u2019t belong to.</em>\u00a0I am dead serious when I call this toxic. The default position must,\u00a0<em>must,</em>\u00a0be that breaking your users\u2019 social graphs is a last resort against clear and present danger. A server explicitly welcomes Nazis, child porn, TERFs, and serial harassers? Block that fucker. But it\u2019s absurd to insist that federating with Meta\u2019s general-interest server presents the same threat level.</p>\nWatts Martin\n</blockquote>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Nadreck",
"url": "http://nadreck.me",
"photo": null
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "38311510",
"_source": "2935"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-11T07:41:21-07:00",
"url": "https://nadreck.me/2023/07/enshittification-and-what-to-do-about-it/",
"category": [
"links",
"quotes",
"social-computing",
"cory-doctorow",
"enshittification",
"social-media",
"technology"
],
"name": "Enshittification (and what to do about it)",
"content": {
"text": "A while back, Cory Doctorow had an article that made the rounds called \u201cTiktok\u2019s Enshittification\u201c, and then a follow-up called \u201cGig apps trap reverse centaurs in wage-stealing Skinner boxes\u201c, both of which are well worth the time to read. I\u2019m fairly certain that\u2019s where the term \u201censhittification\u201d was coined, and damn if it doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense:\n\n\n\n\nHere is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.\n\n\n\nI call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a \u201ctwo sided market,\u201d where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, holding each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.\nCory Doctorow, \u201cTiktok\u2019s Enshittification\u201c\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading \u201cEnshittification (and what to do about it)\u201d",
"html": "<p>A while back, Cory Doctorow had an article that made the rounds called \u201c<a href=\"https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys\">Tiktok\u2019s Enshittification</a>\u201c, and then a follow-up called \u201c<a href=\"https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/12/algorithmic-wage-discrimination/#fishers-of-men\">Gig apps trap reverse centaurs in wage-stealing Skinner boxes</a>\u201c, both of which are well worth the time to read. I\u2019m fairly certain that\u2019s where the term \u201censhittification\u201d was coined, and damn if it doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense:</p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote>\n<p>Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a \u201ctwo sided market,\u201d where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, holding each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.</p>\nCory Doctorow, \u201c<a href=\"https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys\">Tiktok\u2019s Enshittification</a>\u201c\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n <a href=\"https://nadreck.me/2023/07/enshittification-and-what-to-do-about-it/#more-11686\">Continue reading<span> \u201cEnshittification (and what to do about it)\u201d</span></a>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Nadreck",
"url": "http://nadreck.me",
"photo": null
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "38295495",
"_source": "2935"
}
Joey needs $400 more by the end of July for the process of becoming a US citizen. Please donate as you’re able and help boost this request — any amount helps! https://gofund.me/49764bb6#SanDiego#MutualAid
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-09 21:27-0700",
"url": "https://gregorlove.com/2023/07/joey-needs-400-more/",
"category": [
"SanDiego",
"MutualAid"
],
"content": {
"text": "Joey needs $400 more by the end of July for the process of becoming a US citizen. Please donate as you\u2019re able and help boost this request \u2014 any amount helps! https://gofund.me/49764bb6 #SanDiego #MutualAid",
"html": "<p>Joey needs $400 more by the end of July for the process of becoming a US citizen. Please donate as you\u2019re able and help boost this request \u2014 any amount helps! <a href=\"https://gofund.me/49764bb6\">https://gofund.me/49764bb6</a> <a href=\"https://gregorlove.com/#SanDiego\">#SanDiego</a> <a href=\"https://gregorlove.com/#MutualAid\">#MutualAid</a></p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "gRegor Morrill",
"url": "https://gregorlove.com/",
"photo": "https://gregorlove.com/site/assets/files/6268/profile-2021-square.300x0.jpg"
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "38282729",
"_source": "95"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-10T07:54:36-07:00",
"url": "https://nadreck.me/2023/07/site-updates/",
"category": [
"errata",
"gallery",
"photography",
"site-improvement"
],
"name": "Site Updates",
"content": {
"text": "Two things, only one of which is probably relevant to you:\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve migrated my gallery into WordPress. It currently is just the work that was in my old gallery, but I\u2019ll be adding new stuff going forward. (It\u2019s also linked to in the nav bar at the top of the page!)\n\n\n\nI\u2019ve made some behind-the-scenes tweaks, how image attachment pages work, and also added a plugin for improving how the WordPress media library works (FileBird is what I landed on, will explain my thoughts on it all below the cut). If you notice any broken links or odd behavior, please let me know!\nContinue reading \u201cSite Updates\u201d",
"html": "<p>Two things, only one of which is probably relevant to you:</p>\n\n\n\n<ol><li>I\u2019ve <a href=\"https://nadreck.me/gallery/\">migrated my gallery into WordPress</a>. It currently is just the work that was in my old gallery, but I\u2019ll be adding new stuff going forward. (It\u2019s also linked to in the nav bar at the top of the page!)</li>\n\n\n\n<li>I\u2019ve made some behind-the-scenes tweaks, how image attachment pages work, and also added a plugin for improving how the WordPress media library works (FileBird is what I landed on, will explain my thoughts on it all below the cut). If you notice any broken links or odd behavior, please let me know!</li>\n</ol><a href=\"https://nadreck.me/2023/07/site-updates/#more-11676\">Continue reading<span> \u201cSite Updates\u201d</span></a>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Nadreck",
"url": "http://nadreck.me",
"photo": null
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "38278829",
"_source": "2935"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-09T14:45:56-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/09/144556/",
"syndication": [
"https://fed.brid.gy/"
],
"content": {
"text": "It\u2019s time for another IndieWeb blog carnival! Also, Threads, I guess. It\u2019s your < 10min update on the #IndieWeb community!\nThis Week in the IndieWeb audio edition for July 1st - 7th, 2023.\nhttps://martymcgui.re/2023/07/09/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-1st---7th-2023/",
"html": "<p>It\u2019s time for another IndieWeb blog carnival! Also, Threads, I guess. It\u2019s your < 10min update on the #IndieWeb community!</p>\n<p>This Week in the IndieWeb audio edition for July 1st - 7th, 2023.\n<a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/09/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-1st---7th-2023/\">https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/09/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-1st---7th-2023/</a></p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "38270224",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-09T14:43:40-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/09/this-week-in-the-indieweb-audio-edition--july-1st---7th-2023/",
"category": [
"podcast",
"IndieWeb",
"this-week-indieweb-podcast"
],
"audio": [
"https://media.martymcgui.re/0a/11/12/d6/a5fc011809da483cf9118606f543e26f3529901c1c5b7f0cbcf55adc.mp3"
],
"name": "This Week in the IndieWeb Audio Edition \u2022 July 1st - 7th, 2023",
"content": {
"text": "Show/Hide Transcript\n \n It\u2019s time for another IndieWeb blog carnival! Also, Threads, I guess. It\u2019s the audio edition for This Week in the IndieWeb for July 1st - 7th, 2023.\nYou can find all of my audio editions and subscribe with your favorite podcast app here: martymcgui.re/podcasts/indieweb/.\nMusic from Aaron Parecki\u2019s 100DaysOfMusic project: Day 85 - Suit, Day 48 - Glitch, Day 49 - Floating, Day 9, and Day 11\nThanks to everyone in the IndieWeb chat for their feedback and suggestions. Please drop me a note if there are any changes you\u2019d like to see for this audio edition!",
"html": "Show/Hide Transcript\n \n <p>It\u2019s time for another IndieWeb blog carnival! Also, Threads, I guess. It\u2019s the audio edition for <a href=\"https://indieweb.org/this-week/2023-07-07.html\">This Week in the IndieWeb for July 1st - 7th, 2023</a>.</p>\n<p>You can find all of my audio editions and subscribe with your favorite podcast app here: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/podcasts/indieweb/\">martymcgui.re/podcasts/indieweb/</a>.</p>\n<p>Music from <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/\">Aaron Parecki</a>\u2019s <a href=\"https://100.aaronparecki.com/\">100DaysOfMusic project</a>: <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2017/03/15/14/day85\">Day 85 - Suit</a>, <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2017/02/06/7/day48\">Day 48 - Glitch</a>, <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2017/02/07/4/day49\">Day 49 - Floating</a>, <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2016/12/29/21/day-9\">Day 9</a>, and <a href=\"https://aaronparecki.com/2016/12/31/15/\">Day 11</a></p>\n<p>Thanks to everyone in the <a href=\"https://chat.indieweb.org/\">IndieWeb chat</a> for their feedback and suggestions. Please drop me a note if there are any changes you\u2019d like to see for this audio edition!</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "audio",
"_id": "38270225",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "event",
"name": "\ud83d\uddd3\ufe0f The Level Up with XP",
"published": "2023-07-08T21:00:00-0400",
"start": "2023-07-08T21:00:00-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2023/07/08/the-level-up-with-xp/",
"featured": "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmarty/image/fetch/w_960,c_fill/https://media.martymcgui.re/3d/c9/27/f4/87778c4a6ef30926d5f28f0d954ba744605689a2b42cf51494e4c296.png",
"category": [
"improv",
"show"
],
"location": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Magnet Theater",
"street-address": "254 West 29th St (btwn 7th and 8th Ave.)",
"locality": "New York",
"region": "NY",
"url": "https://magnettheater.com/"
},
"content": {
"text": "Enjoy some improv delights at this indie showcase hosted by Xavier and Philip!\nI\u2019ll be playing in with DB Cooper Returns as well as The Unpaid Interns!\nMagnet Theater\n\n254 West 29th St (btwn 7th and 8th Ave.)\n\nNew York City, NY 10001\n\nTickets $10: https://magnettheater.com/show/57461/",
"html": "<p>Enjoy some improv delights at this indie showcase hosted by Xavier and Philip!</p>\n<p>I\u2019ll be playing in with DB Cooper Returns as well as The Unpaid Interns!</p>\n<p>Magnet Theater<br />\n254 West 29th St (btwn 7th and 8th Ave.)<br />\nNew York City, NY 10001<br />\nTickets $10: <a href=\"https://magnettheater.com/show/57461/\">https://magnettheater.com/show/57461/</a></p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "event",
"_id": "38263929",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-07T12:48:34-07:00",
"url": "https://nadreck.me/2023/07/trying-to-take-off-the-cynic-hat/",
"category": [
"social-computing",
"creativity",
"internet",
"social-media"
],
"name": "Trying to take off the Cynic Hat",
"content": {
"text": "I\u2019d started writing a screed here about how Threads\u2019 purported support for interoperation with other services through ActivityPub (an open standard) is a red herring, and how they\u2019ll be locking it down as soon as they hit a critical mass (which I stand by, for what it\u2019s worth \u2013 I give it two years before things start shifting, shutting down APIs, breaking interoperability, adding features that \u201conly work in Threads\u201d, putting their thumb on the scales for changes to the standard, etc). But I realized I was wearing my Cynic Hat, and yucking peoples\u2019 yum doesn\u2019t really help. I\u2019ve already mentioned my concerns about their privacy settings and intertwining with Instagram \u2013 if, knowing that, you still opt to sign up, that\u2019s up to you, go have fun.\n\n\n\nSo instead, here\u2019s a few projects that are giving me some hope:\n\n\n\n\nThe Flickr Foundation and Wikimedia Commons are partnering to improve the bridge between the services. (For those out of the loop, Flickr has been quietly rebuilding itself since it was acquired by SmugMug back in 2018, and launched a non-profit \u2013 the Flickr Foundation \u2013 in 2022, to help steward the large body of public domain or creative commons licensed material that had accumulated. I have a soft spot for any project that aims at preservation and responsible sharing of creative work, and this seems like a good one.)\n\n\n\nSeveral museums have begun making available high quality scans of many important works from their archives. Notably, the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art are both doing this. The Creative Law Center has a page with a list of museums part of this effort! (If you haven\u2019t checked the Creative Law Center out, it\u2019s a fantastic resource for explaining things like copyright, trademarks, licensing, and what to do about it all as a creator.)\n\n\n\n\nTumblr. Hear me out: after seeing it get run into the ground by corporate parent companies (for years!), seeing it get some genuine love and support from their new owners (Automattic, same folks who own WordPress) has been refreshing and appreciated. It has its own culture and customs, and while they\u2019ve made efforts to provide some mechanisms for monetization (gotta pay that server bill somehow, right?), those efforts have very much been in keeping with the nature of the site and the people who use it. Time will tell on whether that\u2019s enough for them to thrive, but that they\u2019re at least trying alternatives to the current de facto default of highly targeted user-data-driven advertising gives me some hope. Obviously I\u2019m more aligned with hosting your own shit, but if that\u2019s not viable for some reason, going somewhere that at least isn\u2019t going to actively sell you to the highest bidder feels like a good next-best alternative.",
"html": "<p>I\u2019d started writing a screed here about how Threads\u2019 purported support for interoperation with other services through ActivityPub (an open standard) is a red herring, and how they\u2019ll be locking it down as soon as they hit a critical mass (which I stand by, for what it\u2019s worth \u2013 I give it two years before things start shifting, shutting down APIs, breaking interoperability, adding features that \u201conly work in Threads\u201d, putting their thumb on the scales for changes to the standard, etc). But I realized I was wearing my Cynic Hat, and yucking peoples\u2019 yum doesn\u2019t really help. I\u2019ve already mentioned my concerns about their privacy settings and intertwining with Instagram \u2013 if, knowing that, you still opt to sign up, that\u2019s up to you, go have fun.</p>\n\n\n\n<p>So instead, here\u2019s a few projects that are giving me some hope:</p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>\n<a href=\"https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/07/07/flickr-foundation-is-building-a-new-bridge-between-flickr-and-wikimedia-commons/\">The Flickr Foundation and Wikimedia Commons are partnering to improve the bridge between the services</a>. (For those out of the loop, Flickr has been quietly rebuilding itself since it was acquired by SmugMug back in 2018, and launched a non-profit \u2013 the <a href=\"https://flickr.org\">Flickr Foundation</a> \u2013 in 2022, to help steward the large body of public domain or creative commons licensed material that had accumulated. I have a soft spot for any project that aims at preservation and responsible sharing of creative work, and this seems like a good one.)</li>\n\n\n\n<li>Several museums have begun making available high quality scans of many important works from their archives. Notably, the <a href=\"https://www.si.edu/OpenAccess\">Smithsonian</a> and the <a href=\"https://www.nga.gov/open-access-images.html\">National Gallery of Art</a> are both doing this. The <a href=\"https://creativelawcenter.com/museums-open-access-images/\">Creative Law Center</a> has a page with a list of museums part of this effort! (If you haven\u2019t checked the Creative Law Center out, it\u2019s a fantastic resource for explaining things like copyright, trademarks, licensing, and what to do about it all as a creator.)</li>\n\n\n\n<li>\n<a href=\"https://tumblr.com\">Tumblr</a>. Hear me out: after seeing it get run into the ground by corporate parent companies (for years!), seeing it get some genuine love and support from their new owners (<a href=\"https://automattic.com\">Automattic</a>, same folks who own WordPress) has been refreshing and appreciated. It has its own culture and customs, and while they\u2019ve made efforts to provide some mechanisms for monetization (gotta pay that server bill somehow, right?), those efforts have very much been in keeping with the nature of the site and the people who use it. Time will tell on whether that\u2019s enough for them to thrive, but that they\u2019re at least trying alternatives to the current de facto default of highly targeted user-data-driven advertising gives me some hope. Obviously I\u2019m more aligned with hosting your own shit, but if that\u2019s not viable for some reason, going somewhere that at least isn\u2019t going to actively sell you to the highest bidder feels like a good next-best alternative.</li>\n</ul>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Nadreck",
"url": "http://nadreck.me",
"photo": null
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "38247711",
"_source": "2935"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2023-07-06T06:58:44-07:00",
"url": "https://nadreck.me/2023/07/social-network-power-vacuums/",
"category": [
"social-computing",
"social-media",
"twitter"
],
"name": "Social Network Power Vacuums",
"content": {
"text": "The continued collapse of Twitter has lead to all sorts of folks scrambling to fill the void. They\u2019re all a bit of a shitshow in different ways (which, let\u2019s be honest, so is/was Twitter). Will Blue Sky be the next Twitter? Will Threads be the next Twitter? Will Hive be the next Twitter? Will Twitter be the next Twitter? It\u2019s all a bit laughable. \n\n\n\nFirst there were the young scrappy services that were already trying to do a thing (think Mastodon or Hive), so already existed when the exodus from Twitter first started. None of those are going to get the mass inertia (and I think that\u2019s a good thing, let them fill particular niches like they already were \u2013 hopefully enough folks stick around there that it just makes them more viable for their communities in the long run).\n\n\n\nNow you\u2019ve got the services that were either in development (Blue Sky) or fast-followed (Threads). Blue Sky might end up doing a thing \u2013 I\u2019m not on it, but it sounds like a lot of \u201cthe cool kids\u201d managed to land there. It\u2019s still a semi-closed beta, so it\u2019s got the \u201cexclusivity\u201d thing going (but folks say also means it feels more like pre-2013 Twitter). Threads is Meta\u2019s fast-follow into the Twitter-like space, it just came out, and design-wise people seem okay with it, but is a privacy nightmare, and has the sort of dark patterns and bullshittery you\u2019d expect from Meta (for instance, if you decide you don\u2019t like Threads and want to delete your Threads account, you must also delete the Instagram account you linked to it).\n\n\n\nBroderick had a good observation that\u2019s been making the rounds: \n\n\n\n\nI think hardcore Twitter users have rose-colored glasses about the site\u2019s coolness. The reason for its success, if you can argue that it was ever really successful, wasn\u2019t that it was cooler than Facebook. It was because of its proximity to power. The reason it was so popular with activists, extremists, journalists, and shitposters was because what you posted there could actually affect culture. The thing that ties together pretty much everything that\u2019s happened on Twitter since it launched in 2006 was the possibility that those who were not in power (or wanted more) could influence those who were. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an accident that a deranged billionaire broke that, nor do I think it\u2019s accident that we\u2019re suddenly being offered smaller, insular platforms or an offshoot of a Meta app as replacements. The folks in charge clearly don\u2019t want that to happen again.\nRyan Broderick, \u201cPaying to use a site you can\u2019t use anymore\u201c\n\n\n\n\nI think he\u2019s right. I also think that will probably continue to be an anomaly. The \u201csocial media\u201d era in general I don\u2019t think has been a healthy one, both for individuals and as a culture. There have been some great benefits (rapid information dissemination in times of crisis, methods to have dialogue with folks in positions of power, etc), but it\u2019s lead to some pretty massive drawbacks as well (a rise in depression and feelings of isolation, conflation with personal identity and \u201cbrand\u201d, influencer culture in general).\n\n\n\nI don\u2019t know what shape things will go from where, what the transition will be, or if we\u2019ll not actually move on and instead just limp along with a shittier, rotted husk of an internet. I think the corporate-driven shambling zombie outcome is just as likely (or more likely) as the outcome where we move past this and figure out a healthier, better method for interacting online. The internet is pretty shit right now, but shit can make good fertilizer, so a part of me remains hopeful that there\u2019s a seed somewhere out there that will germinate and grow, and in like a year or three we start hearing about something that is surprisingly awesome. (I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be any of the services from now, though.)",
"html": "<p>The continued collapse of Twitter has lead to all sorts of folks scrambling to fill the void. They\u2019re all a bit of a shitshow in different ways (which, let\u2019s be honest, so is/was Twitter). Will Blue Sky be the next Twitter? Will Threads be the next Twitter? Will Hive be the next Twitter? Will Twitter be the next Twitter? It\u2019s all a bit laughable. </p>\n\n\n\n<p>First there were the young scrappy services that were already trying to do a thing (think Mastodon or Hive), so already existed when the exodus from Twitter first started. None of those are going to get the mass inertia (and I think that\u2019s a good thing, let them fill particular niches like they already were \u2013 hopefully enough folks stick around there that it just makes them more viable <em>for their communities</em> in the long run).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now you\u2019ve got the services that were either in development (Blue Sky) or fast-followed (Threads). Blue Sky might end up doing a thing \u2013 I\u2019m not on it, but it sounds like a lot of \u201cthe cool kids\u201d managed to land there. It\u2019s still a semi-closed beta, so it\u2019s got the \u201cexclusivity\u201d thing going (but folks say also means it feels more like pre-2013 Twitter). Threads is Meta\u2019s fast-follow into the Twitter-like space, it just came out, and design-wise people seem okay with it, but is a privacy <em>nightmare</em>, and has the sort of dark patterns and bullshittery you\u2019d expect from Meta (for instance, if you decide you don\u2019t like Threads and want to delete your Threads account, you must also delete the Instagram account you linked to it).</p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https://garbageday.email\">Broderick</a> had a good observation that\u2019s been making the rounds: </p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote>\n<p>I think hardcore Twitter users have rose-colored glasses about the site\u2019s coolness. The reason for its success, if you can argue that it was ever really successful, wasn\u2019t that it was cooler than Facebook. It was because of its proximity to power. The reason it was so popular with activists, extremists, journalists, and shitposters was because what you posted there could actually affect culture. The thing that ties together pretty much everything that\u2019s happened on Twitter since it launched in 2006 was the possibility that those who were not in power (or wanted more) could influence those who were. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s an accident that a deranged billionaire broke that, nor do I think it\u2019s accident that we\u2019re suddenly being offered smaller, insular platforms or an offshoot of a Meta app as replacements. The folks in charge clearly don\u2019t want that to happen again.</p>\nRyan Broderick, \u201c<a href=\"https://www.garbageday.email/p/paying-to-use-a-site-you-cant-use\">Paying to use a site you can\u2019t use anymore</a>\u201c\n</blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I think he\u2019s right. I also think that will probably continue to be an anomaly. The \u201csocial media\u201d era in general I don\u2019t think has been a healthy one, both for individuals and as a culture. There have been some great benefits (rapid information dissemination in times of crisis, methods to have dialogue with folks in positions of power, etc), but it\u2019s lead to some pretty massive drawbacks as well (a rise in depression and feelings of isolation, conflation with personal identity and \u201cbrand\u201d, influencer culture in general).</p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t know what shape things will go from where, what the transition will be, or if we\u2019ll not actually move on and instead just limp along with a shittier, rotted husk of an internet. I think the corporate-driven shambling zombie outcome is just as likely (or <em>more</em> likely) as the outcome where we move past this and figure out a healthier, better method for interacting online. The internet is pretty shit right now, but shit can make good fertilizer, so a part of me remains hopeful that there\u2019s a seed somewhere out there that will germinate and grow, and in like a year or three we start hearing about something that is surprisingly awesome. (I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll be any of the services from now, though.)</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Nadreck",
"url": "http://nadreck.me",
"photo": null
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "38226778",
"_source": "2935"
}
