Jack Dorsey skipped ActivityPub, built AtProto, lost Twitter, funded Bluesky, watched it become a company with VCs and a board, said it was "repeating all the mistakes," left, and now funds Nostr.
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@mastodonmigration @quillmatiq @dansup @thisismissem @evan I'm curious to know as well. I'm not dead-set against ATproto, and I like some of their ideas on paper, but i only really know of one public full-stack reimplementation that could exist if Bsky disappeared overnight - BlackSky. But last I read (admittedly been a minute), they're still dependent on Bsky for the plc directory, right? I'd like to be better informed if this is no longer the case, or if there are other fully independent full stack implementations!
@baralheia @mastodonmigration @quillmatiq @dansup @evan
PLC directory is in the process of being moved to a swiss association, it's just taking time, because legal stuff always takes time.
https://docs.bsky.app/blog/plc-directory-org
The thing about AT Protocol is that you don't *need* to reimplement the entire stack to be independent. You can push people towards independently hosted PDSes, you can use non-Bluesky relays, you can build your own application and social graph. You can run your own moderation systems.
Bluesky is a tiny subset of what we can do on AT Protocol: microblogging. There's so much more happening: video streaming, blogging, science collaboration, annotating the web, links and bookmarking, E2EE messaging, source control management (git), books and pop culture reviews, Q&A services, a container registry, a package management service, music scrobbling, learning journeys, work profiles, video sharing, etc.
I've probably missed at least a few entire categories here.
ActivityPub forces you to re-implement the entire stack, AT Protocol allows you to do it progressively or reuse community infrastructure.
If you think of AT Protocol as Bluesky, then that'd be the same as thinking of ActivityPub as Mastodon. Far too many ActivityPub developers fall into that trap of "I must be compatible with mastodon" that it stifles innovation.
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@quillmatiq @dansup I agree. Like I said, coalitions don't always share 100% the same goals and values, but we can still work together towards what we do have in common.
@evan If you agree, then I think you should be promoting and endorsing more kindness and productive criticism instead of threads like this that push people away. You have a major voice here, be a part of pushing a positive culture.
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Jack Dorsey skipped ActivityPub, built AtProto, lost Twitter, funded Bluesky, watched it become a company with VCs and a board, said it was "repeating all the mistakes," left, and now funds Nostr.
The fediverse is the only one in this story that never needed a billionaire to survive.
And it never will.
@dansup
Are others fighting to survive or dominate ? -
@quillmatiq @evan @dansup I agree!
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@dansup This is such a miscommunication of what's happening. Happy to chat with you about it sometime, but I highly recommend not taking a billionaire's word over what that ecosystem is and what it's meant to be.
@quillmatiq
Aren't the billionaires the ones designing the ecosystem now? -
@quillmatiq @evan @dansup There are a lot of monoculture on both ecosystems, with unnecessary cruelty towards people who all want to create better alternatives to the (closed source) giants.
Every system has limitations, but it would be much more constructive to learn from each other, instead of burning bridges between communities of creators.
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@quillmatiq @evan @dansup I am determined to make the vibes better, we need to stop pushing people away and actually make this a place people wanna be.
@alexchapman @quillmatiq @evan @dansup it happened to @HolosSocial just a week ago, that made me very sad, that the angry loud voices won.
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@quillmatiq @dansup I have a major voice because I'm ride-or-die for ActivityPub. That's my role.
You and I have different roles in the social web. I think yours is really important, and I'm glad you do it, but it's not mine.
We can achieve a lot together even if we don't agree on everything.
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@quillmatiq @dansup I have a major voice because I'm ride-or-die for ActivityPub. That's my role.
You and I have different roles in the social web. I think yours is really important, and I'm glad you do it, but it's not mine.
We can achieve a lot together even if we don't agree on everything.
@quillmatiq @dansup So, I'd like to give you some unsolicited advice, since you've been so generous with yours.
If you want to see more cooperation between people on the Fediverse and the ATmosphere, telling people on the Fediverse that they're bad and wrong and nasty isn't working. It may be true, but it's not effective.
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@quillmatiq @dansup I have a major voice because I'm ride-or-die for ActivityPub. That's my role.
You and I have different roles in the social web. I think yours is really important, and I'm glad you do it, but it's not mine.
We can achieve a lot together even if we don't agree on everything.
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@quillmatiq @dansup So, I'd like to give you some unsolicited advice, since you've been so generous with yours.
If you want to see more cooperation between people on the Fediverse and the ATmosphere, telling people on the Fediverse that they're bad and wrong and nasty isn't working. It may be true, but it's not effective.
@quillmatiq @dansup There are a lot of cases for Fediverse developers to support cooperation.
1. "They're like us". As you've pointed out, ATProto has evolved (almost?) beyond the control of one venture-funded startup. There is a community of third-party developers who are doing interesting things. They are more like Fediverse developers than we realize. Even if the foundations of ATProto suck (agree to disagree!), there's some cool work being done by cool people who share a lot of our values.
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@adamtewodros @dansup @quillmatiq
blacksky should build on activitypub
if they build on atproto, ok
good luck to them
but they seem to be choosing a sinking ship
@benroyce It's our own fault that they didn't, though. Black people have been actively pushed out of this community.
You've probably read this by now, but here it is again.
https://logicmag.io/policy/blackness-in-the-fediverse-a-conversation-with-marcia-x/
And of course: https://privacy.thenexus.today/start-making-the-fediverse-less-toxic/
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@quillmatiq @dansup There are a lot of cases for Fediverse developers to support cooperation.
1. "They're like us". As you've pointed out, ATProto has evolved (almost?) beyond the control of one venture-funded startup. There is a community of third-party developers who are doing interesting things. They are more like Fediverse developers than we realize. Even if the foundations of ATProto suck (agree to disagree!), there's some cool work being done by cool people who share a lot of our values.
2. "Bigger is better". Because we're bridged, more people on Bluesky and ATProto services is helpful for the Fediverse. It means more creators making cool content for Fediverse users to read and listen to and use, and it means a bigger audience for Fediverse creators to reach. Bigger networks are, generally, better. (Thanks, Metcalfe's Law!)
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@benroyce It's our own fault that they didn't, though. Black people have been actively pushed out of this community.
You've probably read this by now, but here it is again.
https://logicmag.io/policy/blackness-in-the-fediverse-a-conversation-with-marcia-x/
And of course: https://privacy.thenexus.today/start-making-the-fediverse-less-toxic/
@stefan @adamtewodros @dansup @quillmatiq
zero argument
i remember reading mekka's posts about the sordid harassment, that us while folks just don't see
that's a struggle we have a duty to help with
i can see jumping to atproto as a valid response
i just fear that whole ecosystem is doomed, because of bluesky
maybe bluesky crashes, and blacksky picks up from the ashes
regardless, it's fruitful to fight the fucking reply guy bigots on mastodon, as an ethos, and with technical improvements
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2. "Bigger is better". Because we're bridged, more people on Bluesky and ATProto services is helpful for the Fediverse. It means more creators making cool content for Fediverse users to read and listen to and use, and it means a bigger audience for Fediverse creators to reach. Bigger networks are, generally, better. (Thanks, Metcalfe's Law!)
3. "Exchange of ideas". There are some really interesting things for us to learn from each other in the different protocol communities. I think the client-first, dapp-style development happening in the ATProto community is a *great* architecture for us to adopt in the Fediverse. You mentioned long-form text standards between FEP-b2b8 and standard.site -- another great opportunity for some mutual learning.
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@quillmatiq @dansup So, I'd like to give you some unsolicited advice, since you've been so generous with yours.
If you want to see more cooperation between people on the Fediverse and the ATmosphere, telling people on the Fediverse that they're bad and wrong and nasty isn't working. It may be true, but it's not effective.
@evan I called out the culture here because this post exemplifies it. Taking my statement out of context from the broader thread here is unfair.
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@stefan @adamtewodros @dansup @quillmatiq
zero argument
i remember reading mekka's posts about the sordid harassment, that us while folks just don't see
that's a struggle we have a duty to help with
i can see jumping to atproto as a valid response
i just fear that whole ecosystem is doomed, because of bluesky
maybe bluesky crashes, and blacksky picks up from the ashes
regardless, it's fruitful to fight the fucking reply guy bigots on mastodon, as an ethos, and with technical improvements
@benroyce Absolutely!
But I'm just not seeing this as being important enough to the development of Mastodon in particular.
When people called out the strong opposition to quote posts as racist, given that the sort of call-and-response style of conversation has been so popular on Black Twitter, I thought this was reaching a bit.
But now we're looking at the most requested feature, the ability to disable replies, which many agree would help with the harassment particularly marginalized voices receive on here, and again, there is so much pushback, as well from the overall community here.
Starting to see a pattern.
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@benroyce Absolutely!
But I'm just not seeing this as being important enough to the development of Mastodon in particular.
When people called out the strong opposition to quote posts as racist, given that the sort of call-and-response style of conversation has been so popular on Black Twitter, I thought this was reaching a bit.
But now we're looking at the most requested feature, the ability to disable replies, which many agree would help with the harassment particularly marginalized voices receive on here, and again, there is so much pushback, as well from the overall community here.
Starting to see a pattern.
@benroyce And yes, we all know there are technical challenges making that happen, but given this was requested back in 2018, it tells you all you need to know about priorities.
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3. "Exchange of ideas". There are some really interesting things for us to learn from each other in the different protocol communities. I think the client-first, dapp-style development happening in the ATProto community is a *great* architecture for us to adopt in the Fediverse. You mentioned long-form text standards between FEP-b2b8 and standard.site -- another great opportunity for some mutual learning.
4. "Window of opportunity". This is a more complex one, but it is compelling. Basically, there is a non-zero chance that Bluesky's leadership team changes in the next few years, or that their strategy changes. (This has happened with other social networks like Twitter when the advertising business model was adopted.) They may at some point try to claw back the value that's been generated with the current open protocol, open source model. Hopefully not, but you never know!
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@benroyce And yes, we all know there are technical challenges making that happen, but given this was requested back in 2018, it tells you all you need to know about priorities.
@stefan @adamtewodros @dansup @quillmatiq
i opposed quote posts. i've never used them
even on twitter i never used them
i always thought of them "i'm going to repackage someone else's thoughts" (whether in support or to troll) as inauthentic. i always find replying to be more honest
nevertheless, people like them. and they did put controls on them
