With asshole mods and asshole users running amok around instances unchecked while playing victim when the favor is returned to them. I find that the fediverse as a whole is just like any other socializing platform. No different, just a different coat of paint and a neat little mechanic in how it operates. But, still the same old shit.
How disappointing.
People remain people. Look at the bright moments and exchanges and don’t get carried away by bad experiences. A thick skin is always good in any public and shared setting.
The point of the fediverse wasn’t to get rid of assholes. It was to give us control over which assholes we want to be subject to. I’m quite content and happy with my assholes (Emperor, Albatross and Flamingos)
What do you expect from any service where human beings are involved?
So… then host your own instance and set up your own rules and mod /de-federate how you see fit?
It’s an offer you don’t have to take as-is, and this shows it’s the exact opposite of a failure: you can be the change you demand from others.
There’s communities to highlight shit mods and to be honest, there’s a reason why you should search out smaller communities rather than big instances or surfing all. The Fediverse is what you make it.
My instance and community already far better because we owned and managed them. Toxic users, just kick them. Toxic mods, just move to another community.
Social media is simply reflection of society. There’s always bad actors, whether in real life or online.
I just mute users I find toxic and go on with my life.
No, this is not the same old shit, because while yes of course humans are still humans and will do shitty human things the difference is that there is no easy way to enclose the Fediverse and force an opinion, censor people speaking out against injustice. or hold the entire network hostage to push a profit for investors.
The Fediverse is still definitely vulnerable to those things, and who knows if longterm whether a large corporation or constellation of authoritarian regimes can critically undermine the Fediverse (we will certainly see attempts at some point), but no matter what happens, anybody can still spin up their own instance of Mastodon, Lemmy or any other fediverse software and start creating a new community.
From the perspective of an authoritarian ruling class, the problem of quelling dissent in the masses has gone from buying the one or two tv conglomerate networks that provide news for 100s of millions of people, or buying Reddit and paying someone to manipulate it with bots and ban people saying things you don’t like, instead you have to keep stamping out Fediverse communities wherever they pop up, in whatever country or legal context they happen to pop up all over the globe.
If you think that the Fediverse taking off and reaching a critical mass where lots of people use it daily for normal social media stuff isn’t a strategic failure for the dictators and ruthless capitalists willing to create mass murder if it nets them a profit, I don’t know what to tell you…
