His grand vision remains to leave Mastodon users in control of the social network, making their own decisions about what content is allowed or what appears in their timelines.
I don’t use Mastadon cause I don’t care for micro-blogging, but nevertheless, I like this.
Even having ceded control, they will go down in history as a legend. More positively viewed then the likes of… other social media founders.
Will anyone be better than Tom?
Became everyone’s friend, became a millionaire, retired, (so far?) avoided falling off the right wing conspiracy cliff. Kind of just a quiet dude.
Goals, for sure. The guy just does whatever he wants at this point. I think he’s doing photography now?
I read this as pornography, and was like I can believe that, this is the type of thing super rich bastards do. But then I googled it and realized that I got it wrong.
The foil of Notch?
Notch was primed for that shit long before Minecraft took off. He posted early builds to 4chan, and was an active shitposter there.
The money just made him stop paying attention to anything else.
Lmaooo. I forgot about Tom. Which shows how good of a tech founder he was. Memorable, but not in the headlines every other day.
Weird man, had no idea that rupert murdock bought MySpace?
Ja der Typ.
(so far?) avoided falling off the right wing conspiracy cliff
People’s views typically tend to move slowly but what’s the current progressive position tends to move much faster, so if he’s young enough he’ll probably eventually fall off the progressive treadmill.
Copy-pasting a comment from Aurich (Ars Staffer):
I set up the Ars Mastodon instance, and speaking as a relatively educated and technically savvy person I found it extremely confusing. And the more I learned later the more I don’t feel remotely bad about being confused, it’s honestly pretty messy.
I put Ars on the main instance, and I think it was the right call. We’re not going to maintain our own, at least at this time, and trusting a random instance that’s very difficult to vet is kinda sketchy.
We ran a guest editorial a while back that I think really clearly outlines the various issues:
But you know, it’s really okay. It doesn’t have to be big, or popular or mainstream. As long as it survives and people like it? That’s good enough.
I think going into an era of balkanization of social isn’t the worst thing.
One of my complaints with Mastodon and similars is that you can’t search only for posts of a specific instance, or temporarily mute a single instance from your feed. There’s also some sort of “invisible wall” for Pleroma users (niche of a niche), as their public posts simply don’t show up in public Mastodon searches, though I don’t know whether that’s a problem with Mastodon or Pleroma.
The Mastodon devs have received a grant to work on a search/visibility tool in 2025, so I definitely expect developments there
Now I am wondering if there is a way to blast a message out to various micro blog platforms at once. Kind of like Ryan’s Woof idea from the office
The app openvibe does that for Mastodon and Bluesky. You have to have an account on both, though. I think they’re adding in other services eventually.
From my limited knowledge, you’d need one account on each instance and have all of them boosting the original post, which would make them more visible in their local instances.
Wuphf!
You can write a script to hit the API of multiple sites.
I’m not sure what the practicals of doing something like this will be, but it speaks a lot to who Eugen Rochko is.
He might also be an obtuse dick. I’ve gotten that vibe too. Still, good for him.
Good people are allowed to get annoyed when there’s a ton of people complaining about non issues. From what I’ve heard Mastodon users are somewhat insufferable.
Micro-blogging didn’t click for me, it’s just so much less exciting than the forum format of Reddit / Lemmy :)
I heard of Mastodon a couple of years ago. I was still on Twitter and Facebook. I am not really tech savvy, so I didn’t bother to go over to Mastodon. It was until just recent, I thought I would give it a try.
Long story short, I am on Mastodon, and I decided to ditch both Twitter and Facebook. Because, I like the layout and the format much better than the two. I even joined Friendica (open source platform like Facebook). So, as I started getting used to these open source social media platforms. They are much better and I would support Mastodon with some donations from time to time.
I mean, why pay $8 to Elon Musk, when you can do pretty much the same things on Mastodon? I wasn’t going to throw in my 8 bucks just to get a stupid tweetdeck. Mastodon has its own deck, and it’s totally free!
I am still investigating other various social media (open source) sites. I may even join Pixelfeed (alternative to Instagram).
I know you have to make money…but for a guy like Elon Musk, who owns Tesla, Space X, and a few others…why does he really need to charge people money to use his platform? I mean, I know he can do whatever he wants…but he has the money to keep the site going…without charging people 8 bucks to get “Premium” service.
The only thing Mastodon doesn’t have that X (Formerly Twitter) has, is the fact that you can watch (or upload) live streaming.
Maybe, in the future Mastodon will do that?
I think it’s unlikely that Mastodon (or other federated short form blogging platforms e.g. Pelorama) will integrate live-streaming as it’s pretty far outside of the normal content they are built for. There is a project that does support live streaming and is federated though: Peertube https://joinpeertube.org/
I believe that since Tiktok is about to be banned - if no buyer is sought by Sunday, January 19; that a lot of people will flock to Red Note. Another Chinese-owned social media. Having said that, more and more people will start to try new alternative places. I like the idea of open source sites. I wished I have known this much sooner.
I like Odysee - an open source to Rumble - minus the ads. Unlike Rumble, you don’t have to pay to remove ads (among other features). Odysee never has ads on their platform. Which I like a lot.
I am also on Pixelfed. That site is pretty cool!
Another Chinese-owned social media.
Doesn’t that mean it’s just law enforcement noticing it exists and applying the law that bans TikTok away from also being banned?
yould like for it to pickup - it is a google killer app
WebRTC could be used to provide peer-to-peer streaming. The load on the servers would be very minimal since the feeds would be sent directly from the host to the viewers. A lot of live streaming and video conferencing apps already use it to keep their hosting costs down.
The downside is that the IP address of the viewers will be exposed, even over a VPN unless precautions are taken by the user or the application.
I am not really tech savvy
I think you’ll find that a lot of things you think aren’t for you because of that phrase are more accessible than you realize. Look at you go!
Sure! I am always learning.
I’m amazed, he actually stopped corruption before it started
How it started:
“Oh, non-profit tech company! How noble! I trust that!”
How it’s going:
I have no interest in these hollow PR dance moves until CEOs are publishing compelling outlines of how they have instituted complex legal frameworks that mean they can’t reverse (or others can’t reverse) these cynical moves to temporarily sway public sentiment during a building phase without say… Being legally compelled to immediately forfeit all historical stock earned and donate any historical salary and bonus compensation to the Red Cross or children’s cancer research. They won’t though, at best, this is an option, subject to change at will.
Remember that Zuckerberg initially allowed those tampons in the men’s rooms and got a little praise, because some men do have periods and require tampons. They were in little wicker baskets, with the lids propped open on full display as you walked into any of their global offices. Zuckerberg then quietly told them internally to start closing the lids in the basket by default, still there, but closed, and then to place them on a lower shelf out of the way and ultimately, you now see the headlines that he ordered them fully removed performatively.
Declarative statements matter from people with proven, consistent integrity - that trait is inconsistent with anyone who can successfully rise to the level of modern CEO.
Open ai going for-profit will be funny/terrifying to see. They can’t even break even right now. Even if they try to sell AI powered advertising or something it will be so stupidly expensive for them.
My issue with mastodon is it’s strayed so much from its vision. I use misskey but there is not a ton of clients for it at the moment.
Sorry I don’t really use it, what was it’s vision, and how did it stray?
deleted by creator
Same here. I still try to use it once every day in support but I don’t like having such a low limit (or any limit at all, really) on how many characters I’m allowed to use for my posts or response. I am more of a macro-blogger as I tend to be very verbose; especially posting online. I do, however, think it is important to create accounts, use and donate to the project that is mastodon; as they are leading by example in this “New Social” era or movement we are all apart of. It would be a shame that something like this isn’t able to continue, let alone expand, because not enough people supported the project – even though such project is giving the people exactly what they wanted and asked for. Let’s all try to show our support behind such a bold and selfless decision.
There are different Mastodon instances with different post character limits. You could also use an ActivityPub based macroblog (like write.as / WriteFreely(?)).
Nice to know! I think lemmy has been meeting my needs pretty well, as there are no limits that I’m aware of here. What would be compelling for something like write.as and writefreely?
Right, Lemmy is very different from Mastodon, even though both use ActivityPub and can thus communicate with each other. Unfortunately, I don’t know that much about those platforms two platforms, other than that they do exist. You can find a ton of active open-source ActivityPub projects to explore on this list: https://github.com/BasixKOR/awesome-activitypub
I don’t like having such a low limit (or any limit at all, really)
Instead we should see value in opinionated software, when the alternative is software that tries to do everything for everyone.
Can anyone savvy to the nuance here please let me know how this is any different from Altman and ChatGPT?
As o followed along lightly, my read was that they used non-profit foundation structure to win public trust and calm initial opposition to them creating an unethical product that will ultimately destroy us all and then they fired all the people focused on ethics and codified the non-profit status.
Is this meaningfully different, or likely a similar tactic?
I am no professional but:
https://sfstandard.com/2023/11/21/openai-governance-structure-explainer/
This is what I have found about the governmance structure of OpenAI. It’s complicated but basically the working company is a for-profit controlled by a non-profit, controlled by employees and other investors, the non-profit is also controlled by a board of driectors. Also it’s all based in the US.
The Mastodon model is probably going to be a lot simpler and will probably not allow big investors to take ownership of the company. Also they are looking for a suitable country in the EU that will enforce the non-profit’s obligations to the people. Being based in the EU is in itself a huge difference, and by choice. They have not set anything in stone yet so it’s all specualtion essentialy.
Also there is the trust thing: OpenAI does not need trust from people, other AI companies are for profit too and work just fine. Mastodon is build around the fact that it is different from things like twitter. If they start doing maliciuos stuff, they will loose trust and in turn their main selling point. Also openness.
Also it is open source is it not? So any progress they have made can be used to create a competitor. Basically the whole business model is different.
Thank you, but look at the publish date on that, I think this info may be out of date at this point. Altman headlines in past year.
Also, seems his own sister is suing him for sexual assault, so that’s something to get to at some point as well I guess…
I haven’t seen their governance structure yet, but I don’t think it will ever be like Altman and OpenAI. Eugen just doesn’t have that cult of personality around him, and there’s not that much money in a free and open-source platform that doesn’t lock people in.
uh… ok? So now it’ll be controlled by someone who DOES want to be the next Musk or Zuckerberg?
No it is the opposite, this is the first paragraph in the article:
Mastodon announced Monday that it’s shifting its structure over the next six months to become wholly owned by a European nonprofit organization—“affirming the intent that Mastodon should not be owned or controlled by a single individual.”
Wasn’t this same ceo criticizing Zuckerberg last week for shutting down fact checking?
Getting really mixed signals here. What’s with the back and forth on this guy’s approach to centralized authority?
Isn’t it decentralized authority since every instance controls what they allow, not the CEO of mastodon?
As I understand it. It’s just weird that this same guy was praising centralized authority at Facebook last week. Something seems off.
I would think there is a priority order in his mind. Decentralized fact checking, centralized fact checking, no fact checking. His actions fit well with that. Also, I believe zuck wasn’t using only one asset to do the checking. He was using multiple fact checking sources. So it was kinda decentralized. I would expect this guy would rather see the user choose the fact checking source for content they see.
Surph_ninja is definitely right with one thing though: previously Meta used a pre-selected group of organizers who were able to fact check. Meta are now switching to a model where everyone can “fact check” (the former Twitter “community notes” system).
Using multiple sources that support the same pro-western narratives means little. It doesn’t make a lie peddled by the IDF any better by delivering it through multiple outlets.
Meta has replaced third places, public square and community directories and then sells that access to other media.
It is a conflict of interest for the community directors themselves to profiting off things which harm the community.
To the best of my knowledge, Mastodon does not have that conflict of interest.
An interesting real time experiment to see how long it takes for stratification caused echo chambers and/or extremists zealots from both ends of the political spectrum to seize control of the platform. Turning the platform into a hellscape of zealots fighting each other for dominance and the eradication of all the others.
Sadly, humans as a rule need adult guidance for polite interactions to prevent violence. The sad part is it has become impossible to pick said adult capable of doing the job. And anyone in their right mind should run from such a job anyway.
While this is a good move, I don’t think John Mastodon was making anywhere near the kind of money to turn into the next Musk or Zuck to begin with.
The point isnt money. The point is the “benevolent dictator” model, see Matt Mullenweg and the current WordPress controversy. The whole future of that software depends on this guy because he controls the most important assets (like the trademarks) personally.
Eugen and the whole Mastodon development team want to avoid a situation like that.
He’s no Tim Apple.
Or Jennifer Facebook.
Or Lenard TikTok III.
Zhang Wei can change his name to whatever the fuck he wants he’ll still ve Zhang Wei TikTok
Please, “Mr. TikTok” was my father, call me Zhang.
You can see exactly what he made in 2023. The report is available here.
€60k
I read that url as blog.johnmastodon.org and for a second I was seriously wondering if that name was real lol
Not now, but in the future that was a possibility.
I mean in the future it’s a possibility I’ll be fucking Zendaya but that doesn’t mean it’s reality now does it?
Are you in a space/career where you could conceivably interact with Zendaya?
Yeah, I don’t get it. Mastodon is already huge with millions of users and hundreds of instances. Rochko is already on speaking terms with Zendaya, if you will.
mass market media can only understand the world through the lens of mass market media
I have recently been using it more to connect with others on a new subject, but now for the first time ever on the internet since early 00’s, we are all owners of it ourselves. All the great new stuff was always owned by others and frankly I’m sick of it.
I never even liked twitter. Then I followed #nature and #bloomscrolling on mastodon for a while and my home feed was a feast of beautiful pics. So now there’s one use for me for microblogging. Neat! Mastodon does what it says it does and even offers ‘default’ instances. I’d love for some GO’s to help reach that donation goal quicker, so we can all get with the program and ditch corpo social media. -Why doesn’t my library host it’s own peertube?? #MakeLibrariesGreatAgain
we are all owners of it ourselves.
Not unless you run your own instance you aren’t.
I couldn’t find any legalese on mastodon.social that my toots are somehow not my property. While it’s true that I no longer have total control over its distribution, that doesn’t mean I have somehow relinquished ownership.
You seem quite confident that that is incorrect , with your one line reply. Could you link or explain where you got this information?
Could you link or explain where you got this information?
Common sense. The instance admin deletes the instance (or your posts) 'cos the coffee was bad this morning… there goes “your property”.
Obviously orders of magnitude better than commercial social media but it’s no silver bullet either.
There, 3 lines.Yep, it’s still someone else’s platform, even if it’s open source.
