humanetech

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/1230183

Just gave my satyrical take on The Splinterverse. Grassroots movements adopt an implicit "Divided we will be conquered" approach, where big corporate newcomers can easily disrupt with Big Marketing™ followed by an Eternal September by their user influx to the Fediverse. The Muskening™ already gave a taste of that.

Currently new channels are abuzz with the Reddit shenanigans, and there's potential for another influx. People are inventing names like "threadiverse" for forum-like federated apps. There's a broader vibe where people come to the realization that enshittification on proprietary walled garden platforms is inevitable, and that the old web is re-emerging with blogs and webrings. And the heterogenous Social Web with countless alternative federated/decentralized apps where there isn't a single gatekeeper. That opportunity certainly exists (as Meta likely know all too wel also).

The common name that has stuck is "Fediverse", or affectionally spoken the "fedi". Many say it is a bad name, and maybe it is. It is a name you get used to, though, and it is not easy at all to introduce a new name in a grassroots movement.

But that is NOT what I find important at all ..

The Fediverse has slowly matured during many years. That slow growth has shaped an all-important aspect: A vibrant culture. This is what all growth-hacking enterpreneurial minds easily overlook. There have been a shit ton of social media launched.. and failed. The big ones we have have their solid position with FOMO and network effects. Those who say social media is easy have survivorship bias.

"It is the culture that matters, stupid!"

I love all the quirky aspects of the Fediverse. The diversity and inclusion. The weird angles. And also, weirdly enough.. the friction. Friction to get on the Fediverse has also served as a filter. We now have 'competitor' decentralized social networks with Nostr and Bluesky. "Nostr is developing way faster.. come to us!" --> This is a purely technical viewpoint. Wait till you see what culture that creates. Technical buzzwords like "encryption", "censorship-resistance", "micropayment", etc. that seem like features may see all the wrong types being attracted to those networks.

What I feel is the biggest thing that is missing on the Fediverse is a shared vision, a common notion of where we are headed, where the potential of the Fediverse is, what we might achieve collectively.

It is "App focus". App app app app app ... Apps are siloes!

Related to "marketing against Meta" it was asked "Where is the Mastodon branding agency?" --> They branded an app, not an ecosystem / online environment. And them being successful means we have this big confusion now, where people "Join the Mastodon". We should get rid of app focus.

The vision that appeals to me, and I am advocating for quite a while is that of a Peopleverse to emerge.

• Fediverse (technical) --> Peopleverse (social)

The Peopleverse is NOT a name.. it is an abstract idea, a vision of how things might be. The Peopleverse is where people find value online. Where they interact with others in a way that is enriching to their lives. It is where online and offline worlds are seamlessly intertwined.

Considered like that means that this Peopleverse will also have implications for the technical perspective, when looking at the Fediverse technology landscape and ecosystem. It highlights the amount of socio-technological support that is needed. It highlights a technology vision that encompasses the Fediverse's full potential.

"Hey, are you on Mastodon?"

"I joined The Mastadon network if that's what ya mean."

"Wait an instance. You are both using the Fediverse protocol."

"Ha. Well.. I joined the Threadiverse and like that way better."

"Is Lemmyverse connected to that?"

"Dunno. Let's ask at ActivityPub."

"Yay, beer 🍻 It is Friday."

"ActivityPub isn't a real pub, it is a community of sorts."

"Hi there.. dialing in from the #Pixieverse 👋 Can you see me?"

#Fediverse #ActivityPub #Threadiverse #Mastadon #TheMastodon #Lemmyverse #Pixieverse #Vidiverse #Web69

You can help by boosting my toot, but when offering help, the SocialHub forum discussion is the best place to do so.

As Reddit's enshittification reaches new heights their attempts to suppress attention for alternatives, like federated Lemmy, has the opposite effect as this Hacker News discussion shows.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/952618

Fediverse is going mainstream fast. And it is going to be a corporate hellhole if the grassroots initiatives that drove it to its current success are losing their grip on evolution in proper direction: Humane tech that is to the benefit of the people andd society, free culture thriving.

While corporate threads are looming, meanwhile the activated developer community is once again splintering, fragmenting initiatives appearing that dilute attention to focus on common efforts, cohesion, cross-pollination and collaboration. The "herding cats" problem of grassroots movements.

Great opportunity is now. Cohesion means that initiatives remain independent, but take care to coordinate with what is going on elsewhere.

👉 You can help! Avoid a CorporaVerse where you are exploited and milked. Bring attention to the opportunity and participate in the related initiatives to help bring them closer together. You might also boost my related toot.

Fediverse is going mainstream fast. And it is going to be a corporate hellhole if the grassroots initiatives that drove it to its current success are losing their grip on evolution in proper direction: Humane tech that is to the benefit of the people andd society, free culture thriving.

While corporate threads are looming, meanwhile the activated developer community is once again splintering, fragmenting initiatives appearing that dilute attention to focus on common efforts, cohesion, cross-pollination and collaboration. The "herding cats" problem of grassroots movements.

Great opportunity is now. Cohesion means that initiatives remain independent, but take care to coordinate with what is going on elsewhere.

👉 You can help! Avoid a CorporaVerse where you are exploited and milked. Bring attention to the opportunity and participate in the related initiatives to help bring them closer together. You might also boost my related toot.

Sorry, gotta divulge that this was an April Fools. It is the opposite.. we want to get more cohesion and collab in The Grassroots Fediverse as a counterbalance to mainstreaming and corporate takeover forces.

Quoting the toot sent out by the blog:

In this blog post I sum up and review the experiences gained from last Stream. Check out the VOD If you like this content and would love to send me some treats you can Subscribe on my GitHub Sponsor Page or checkout all the other pages via Linktree If you would like to have me as a coworker or consultant I am available for hire! #fedihire