Simon Wardley Profile picture
Nov 12 14 tweets 3 min read
X : Are you on mastodon?
Me : @swardley@unwashed.plebs
X : Is that a real thing?
Me : I am not going to promote a system which will degenerate rapidly into small excluded tribes reinforcing social divisions with huge amounts of people being denied a fair voice.
X : You don't think it's a good thing?
Me : I lurk. I have a lot of faith in the community. I'm like a moth to the flame. But ... the way mastodon is currently setup raises red flags for me. It seems a good technical solution if you ignore the social aspects of society,
X : Social aspects?
Me : security, exclusion, recourse, fairness ... it's a long ist. Just make sure that whatever server you have decided to become a serf on has pleasant lords who will treat you kindly and pay for all the costs .... just like throughout history.
X : Painful lessons?
Me : There will be. Don't get me wrong, there is potential in this path, there are a lot of ideas to like, there is even a path to national services but ... people will get burned along the way.
X : But it's growing?
Me : Well, I see a lot of people claiming to have so much "fun on mastodon" that they have to come back here to tell us how much fun they are having elsewhere. Don't they have people on mastodon that they can talk to about how much fun they are having?
X : Why are you negative about mastodon?
Me : Growth.
X : Growth is bad?
Me : Too much growth, expectation and pressure onto an existing community. Some are already "mourning a social media experience that was destroyed this week" - hughrundle.net/home-invasion/
X : You're in favour of the paid verification system?
Me : It's not a "paid verification system". It's a subscription system. To be blunt they should keep the subscription, including all the conditions / changes they are adding and drop the whole "blue ticks" completely.
X : You don't like the blue ticks?
Me : For many it seems to have blurred into a symbol of rightness / correctness / validity. I don't like the ticks, I never liked the potential reinforcement of existing social status. I do, however, like the subscription model based on PPP.
X : Get rid of blue ticks?
Me : Or give them to everyone who subscribes. Same effect, All it becomes is a signifier that someone has subscribed nothing more.
X : No different signifiers?
Me : The only ones that I see as valid would be for authorities such as Government.
X : Companies?
Me : They are no different to people. The distinction between people or companies and Government is that Governments are the authority for identity & verification ...
Me : ... if you really want a verified system of social media then it should be nationalised, provided by Government and all its institutions of identity, verification and authority should be applied.
X : Couldn't this identity and verification be provided by the community?
Me : Yes, if there were the right guiding principles in place. However, in their abscence then bad things will happen - secjuice.com/mastodon-child… - and rules will be introduced, and rules require rulers ...
Me : ... before you know it, the system will create hiearchies and fiefdoms. What started as a "great leveller for the community" will become another "reinforcer of rules, exclusions and restrictions" due to the whims of "leaders".
X : What guiding principles are needed?
Me : No-one probably knows. Hence my comment on good looking technology but lacks consideration of the social systems. I can see this going like most DAOs that don't start with beliefs and principles.
X : Which is?
Me : Nowhere good.

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More from @swardley

Nov 11
Questions on Map Camp London.

1) How often should we run it?
2) Should Map Camp London be a ...
3) What would you like to change at Map Camp London? What would you like to see more of?
Read 5 tweets
Nov 8
X : In favour of twitter's subscription?
Me : Yes. Skeptical at first but it makes sense.
X : Why?
Me : Supporting twitter (a useful service) and increasing costs for bots.
X : Two tier?
Me : Twitter reinforced pre-existing social classes, I see this as more of a leveller.
X : What?
Me : The verified blue tick thing was for prominent people i.e. twitter reinforced existing social classes. With a low enough cost, not only can twitter help clear up the mess of bots but also put more people on an equal footing.
X : Mastodon?
Me : More fiefdoms etc.
X : ?
Me : Servers for scientists, servers for lawyers .. not long until servers for public officials or prominent people etc. Rather than the great leveller, I see Mastodon has every chance of becoming the great reinforcer ... exclusion requires rules which requires rulers.
Read 8 tweets
Nov 7
X : Didn't you work in the environmental field?
Me : In early 90s, when we could have done something. Why?
X : Why did you leave?
Me : Because we wouldn't do anything until it became dire. Those who could change our fate are not going to do so willingly. No pleasant option.
X : What is going to happen at COP27?
Me : Not a lot. Some nice words, some promises of change, some resolve to make things happen but carbon emissions will still grow. The wealthy have got their eyes on space, hoping for some magic technology or looking how to profit.
X : But can't a green economy be ...
Me: There is no green economy, never was. The economic system is based upon trade which is based upon exclusion. The climate doesn't exclude hence we had to create "externalities" to try and account for the climate. It's a con, always ways.
Read 9 tweets
Nov 6
How about adding a large warning on your site that the "server" you select is run by unverified random people who will have access to all your DMs and data plus can send you "official" looking emails which may contain trojans. The public will get burned by this ->
To make a fair comparison it would be like Elon saying that Twitter infrastructure will be broken into small chunks and run by random unverified people around the world that he takes no responsibility for. People would be mad. Welcome to the Wild West of Mastodon.
X : Mastodon is like email.
Me : No. For the public, early internet email was mostly provided by their ISP. They didn't just go with random strangers offering to host their email and data for them. A nirvana for bad actors. If you're going onto Mastodon, run your own server.
Read 23 tweets
Nov 4
Ok @elonmusk

With twitter ...
1. You've not focused on user needs
2. You're trying to alter values in its community with "purchasable status"
3. You're being accused of downgrading @AOC for dissent i.e. you're showing a set of behaviours not in line with the community ...
4. You're actively undermining that sense of "safety" within the community which in turns impact belonging.
5. You're quickly creating a stock of "bad stories".
6. Are you intending to put twitter into a tailspin, a negative loop? Because that's what you're risking.
There are so many positive things that @elonmusk could do (not suggesting doing this but instead by way of example ) ,,, that it might be useful for @elonmusk to spell out more clearly his plans in order to steady the ship.
Read 4 tweets
Nov 4
I know, I know ... many of you are skeptical. But that transition of space from physical to the more industrialised commodity of virtual is going to happen -> Billions being spent in metaverse land grab - bbc.co.uk/news/technolog…
Me : The practices in this space are emergent - from status symbols to real estate. No-one quite knows how it will work out. A of mistakes will be made.
X : Like Meta? Zuckerberg lost the plot!
Me : Wall Street said the same of Bezos in 2006 over cloud. Many wanted him to go.
X : No, they didn't.
Me : Sorry, yes they did. Analysts were calling for Bezos to be replaced or to stand down or to focus on the retail business etc. If it had been left to Wall St then AWS (and the whole cloud era) would never have happened. Wall St are lousy forecasters.
Read 5 tweets

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