Puberty blockers don't hurt anybody, dude. They just delay puberty. Stop the blockers & boom, puberty continues as normal. It's a drug nearly twice as old as I am, not exactly new science. If a kid wants blockers, let 'em! Maybe its a phase, maybe it isn't. It's no different than letting them cut their hair, IMHO.

There was a time when nobody used Facebook. That's a spurious argument. lol

Why does it matter how fast it's growing? I want slow, sustainable growth, not false, destructive and fast growth.

​@@gardiner_bryant I want that as much as you do. The problem is, that this is not how capitalism works. Speed of growth (and acceleration of growth) matters for people who are giving out money (banks, advertisers, etc.) For you and your community the Fediverse might actually be a viable option, but not for the big mass. The big mass follows the money. Always. So the Fediverse can never replace the big players without becoming a big player and succumbing to the same issues.

You log into your instance and follow anyone you want from any other instance. Then, on your instance, you see all the posts from everyone you follow in one timeline. You can even follow Peertube/castopod/other accounts from any others. No island hopping needed.

It's like email. You can have an email account anywhere but it can be received by anyone even on a different email service. They rely on common standards.

And this is why when Facebook implodes, KZbin crashes and X finally dies, it will not be replaced by the Fediverse, but by the next mega corporation platform.

@@ReflexVE Great analogy. How many people run their own mailserver these days and how many of the mails you get are corporate BS ads (especially in the last week of November)? In theory everybody could host a mail service. In praxis half of the people have a gmail or outlook account.

@@christianbaer2897 The point is that Gmail and outlook interact with each other just fine. Which you choose is only relevant to you personally, you can still email everyone else. That is how the fediverse works. Pick an instance you like, it doesn't matter which. You can interact with anyone you like regardless of what instance they chose so long as they aren't on a block list (which email servers also have, for similar reasons).

This is the best take in this entire comments section, imo.

I was there. 90% of internet users were from universities. I wouldn't say it was kinder, not at all, on the contrary. "Flame wars" and trolling were legendary, but surely the average user was less dumb.

@souljastation5463 you might be more correct than me. But trolling was more recognizable. When it came to it, it felt more like community that helped each other. Sure there were trolly answers but it felt more like obvious jokes. Not beliefs one holds. But maybe I remembered it wrong. I was only there in 2000s early.

Look, I believe in free speech. But I think "free speech focused" services are a load of phooey. It literally doesn't make any sense to me.

Can you give an example of what you're talking about that isn't infested with Nazis and conspiracies?

​@@MrGamelover23 That's almost exactly what they mean when they write "Free Speech" in the context of a private platform, even if they might not see it that way. The kind of users that are frustrated that they can't say something offensive or hostile without having immediate social repercussions is the kind of person that inhabits that sort of platform, and naturally that appeals to the kinds of groups you just mentioned. Very often people who are actively concerned about having the capacity to say what they wish are more likely to be upset about The Algorithm which will mysteriously and inexplicably hide something that was posted than they are about anyone or any platform that has clear and explicit rules about what they do and do not allow on their platform. I have a moderate amount of sympathy because right now AI and Machine Learning are extremely polarizing and a bannable offensive in some chats, which hurts as that was a subject I was fascinated with in my college years so it's interesting to see it come into the limelight now. Buuuut the obvious purpose of those rules is to prevent conflicts and hostility, and there _are_ websites like Civitai with attached social platforms that specifically cater to that crowd. So it's like if someone needs a dedicated smoke-break area in a restaurant, it's there. But lighting up in the no-smoking area and expecting not to get rejected for it is silly. And making loud, open violent threats anywhere in the restaurant is gonna get someone booted out, no matter what "way" the restaurant leans.

Misinformation, hate and trolling has consequences when people have the ability to just say no. Sucks to be blocked but if you want to be heard you will need to consider your words more carefully. Freedom of speech is not freedom to be heard or responded to. One thing about the far right is that they can't handle being ignored...

​@@MrGamelover23 you mean, like talking to people in real life?

I left Facebook in 2017 because it became a toxic dump. I lost contact with almost everyone that refused to provide another means of contacting them. You can spin up an account on another instance and reconnect with everyone on the fediverse. Most admins sign up to an agreement to provide notice before shutting down so you have an opportunity to migrate the easy way. The cost of leaving isn't nearly as high.

That's my deepest fear, so I run my own instance.

I didn't say that. I said "Generally all legal content is allowed with a content warning," in that context I was talking about Mastodon specifically. But there are rules. Most Mastodon instances prohibit the dissemination of "content that's widely known to be false or misleading." Since very little of what Trump and his cultish acolytes have so say are based in fact, it's fair to say

@@gardiner_bryant You just admitted it's ok to exclude more than 50% of the united states. That's basically whats wrong with Mastodon. Folks think they should decide what their users are allowed to see when it should be up to the user. Moderation should be optional. That's why activity pub will never gain more than a niche market.

1: if you don't like the rules of one Mastodon instance, find another. 2: if you don't want to find one, set up your own and peer with the instances you want to. 3: fun fact, Truth Social *is* Mastodon with a custom interface.

@@gardiner_bryant See that's the problem with Mastodon, there is no reason why your digital identity should be tied to someone else's moderation rules. It's better to have your identity/social graph, data storage, and any moderation rules/algorithms completely separate from each other. This is why Protocols like ActivityPub will fail. Protocols like NOSTR and Pubky are/will be significantly better.

"Trump won 2020" is a lie. "Alex Jones was right" is (most likely) a falsehood. Especially if you're talking about Sandy Hook. As for "Jesus is Kind," I would direct you to my pinned post on Mastodon where I express my love, adoration and belief in Jesus of Nazareth. I've not been banned. So it was clearly the lies that are prohibited on Mastodon that got you removed.

Bluesky solves zero problems.

@@caleb7475 It solves only one problem: It's not a sans-serif-swastika like X.

Mastodon just isn't there yet. If it was, people would have been fleeing to it instead. The fact that it isn't a single platform makes it terrible for visibility.

@@MrGamelover23 Being not-a-single-platform is the whole point. It's a decentralized collection of many smaller connected systems, instead of a big corporate centralized platform.

Plus blue sky is owned by crypto bros, so we know that's going to end well.

What do you mean? How is everything tied to one account?

​​@@gardiner_bryantone fediverse account for all your fediverse sites? Is that now how it works?

You have an account that you sign into and then you follow accounts on other sites. You don't log into those other sites, you follow them on your home instance.

Typically, you can export all of the data related to your account and restore it somewhere else. And there is the option to self-host an instance as well, so the person with your data is you.

Yep. TLDR, "Just because it's decentralized doesn't mean it's not immune to hackers." Some general advice concerning your question: If an attacker gains access to a single Fediverse account that is linked to multiple services or instances, they could exploit it in several ways: Unauthorized Access: The attacker could access all linked instances, compromising each one. They could read private messages, post on your behalf, and interact with other users, potentially damaging your reputation. Data Harvesting: They could collect personal information from each instance, such as email addresses, messages, and other sensitive data, which could be used for further attacks or sold on the black market. Spread Misinformation: By posting misleading or harmful content across multiple instances, the attacker could spread misinformation quickly, leveraging the interconnected nature of the Fediverse. Social Engineering: Using the compromised account, the attacker could attempt to trick your contacts into providing additional information or access, thereby broadening the scope of their attack. Disruptive Activities: They could engage in activities that violate the rules of the instances, potentially getting your account banned and disrupting your online presence. Credential Harvesting: If the same or similar passwords are used across different services, the attacker might use the compromised credentials to access other non-Fediverse accounts, leading to broader security issues. To mitigate these risks, it's important to: Use strong, unique passwords for each instance. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible. Regularly monitor your account activity for any suspicious behavior.

I said "NSFL" not "NSFW." NSFL stands for "Not Safe For Life." I rarely see porn on Twitter. What I *do* see, though, is gore that I repeatedly click "I'm not interested" on... yet the algorithm still pushes in my face. It's psychological warfare that Elon is waging against accounts he deems as dissenters, imo. I also see extreme lies, disgusting neonazi propaganda, and Russian bots engaged in a disinformation war against those who are still using the platform. That's why I censored all of it. Because it's content that's not safe for the living.

@@gardiner_bryant sounds like a skill issue. My feeds do not look like this.

Right. It's a skill issue that there are different algorithms results for different classes of users. Its the same on KZbin and Facebook.

What do you mean "should be transparent?" It is. Every Mastodon instance I've ever seen lists which servers they do not federate with on their /about page. You can see it before you ever sign up. Peertube is similar. Is that not transparent enough?

​@@gardiner_bryantnot every. There are instances that say "we don't want banned servers to know they are banned".

What's worse is that some are even starting to do "allowlisting".. so by default they don't federate, and instead they exclusively select who they wanna federate with. This is the case with many lemmy instances. The problem is that by design Activitypub requires each instance to host the content from other instances in order for their users to be able to access it. And this is a lot of pressure on the instances since many don't want to host/promote content that they don't agree with or that can potentially be illegal. There should be a way (as an optional fallback) to allow the user to directly request to the remote instance without having to force the home instance to act as a proxy/mirror. What's the point of federating if you end up forced to have multiple accounts for different parts of the "fediverse"?

Nostr fixes this

@@Moon-zo6hu This is why I stopped using Mastodon. It's too much work to tip toe around all these ban lists, and the juice isn't worth the squeeze.