@taylorlorenz the most persuasive description I have heard is that, if you're not getting the support or moderation you need, you can just move without having to leave all your followers behind.

In that way it's more like phone providers or ISP in that because everything's connected but independent, you're not stuck with whoever you started with.

@taylorlorenz it's not trying to steer society towards fascism, All the algorithmic social media chucks far right content at you now, The algorithms have been tweeked to prefer it. They also block searches for "democrats" for instance . Or "Trump dementia". The CEOs have adopted the strategie to bring up fascist regimes so they will not be regulated. Also: Trump has people on the board of meta now.
Open source is our only chance at keeping a democratic society.

@taylorlorenz for me- I enjoy posting without anyone trying to monetize me or my data

@taylorlorenz For me, "not owned by billionaires" is the key. I can use social media without an algorithm designed by a billionaire chum of Epstein shoving *his* favoured opinions into my feed, or shadowbanning me or closing my account for saying something that *he* disagrees with.

@taylorlorenz No "blue checks" are needed to prove account authenticity when the server instance is self-managed by a government/organisation/private-person. It's opt-in; you'll only see messages from those you follow, or what they boost, or from those on the same server. There's no single organization behind it with absolute power over the servers and it's data (no addictive algorithms), or that can suddenly change the rules after it becomes very successful.

@taylorlorenz
Mastodon etc. are like a bulletin board on campus, or at work,
or City Hall, or a public library, and you don't need permission from your employer, school administration, government etc. to post on it, and they can't take your posted stuff down. A friendly volunteer makes sure that there's not really nasty stuff posted. If you don't agree with what the volunteer might remove, you can always post your stuff to a different bulletin board.

The Fediverse, and Mastodon in particular, showcases what social media can be when designed for democratic dialogue rather than profit.

It’s open source, so its rules and algorithms are transparent and accountable.

No single company owns it, so no billionaire can unilaterally shape speech.

It’s also interoperable, meaning people can move freely instead of being trapped in walled gardens.

Because it doesn't depend on outrage for ad revenue, it fosters healthier, more civil conversations.

@taylorlorenz Not succinct, but I've documented a bunch of things great about ActivityPub/Fediverse/Mastodon here - https://shellsharks.com/notes/2023/11/16/hark-threaders-the-fediverse-is-good-for-you

Notably though, Fedi offers two things you can't get with traditional centralized platforms.

- Deplatforming / censorship resistance (you can't still be blocked by instances or removed from an instance, but you can always stand up your own and connect with the rest of the network that hasn't blocked you)
- Portability of your following

@taylorlorenz I talk about the algorithm and advertising and how the whole experience, the whole incentive structure, changes so fundamentally when those aren’t the driving forces.

@taylorlorenz if you go through US immigration, they're not going to ask to see your Mastodon account.

@taylorlorenz

> Why decentralized social media is better, especially re: Mastodon

It matters that you’re here now

The draw for me to get into social media is that I pay to read TheAtlantic, like my mother’s mother before me. So I keep an eye open for people who write well there. 21 of the 934 people I follow at Twitter follow you at Twitter. I don’t follow you yet, but long ago I learned to feel glad any time I hear from you

Now you’re here too. It’s your words I’m looking for. You and Karen Swallow Prior and Heather Cox Richardson and Derek Thompson and so on. Thinking well and writing well

I’m in mid life. I don’t make time to watch video or look through photos. I’ve paid zero dollars to Substack. But I want to read great texts. And you put some of yours here

Where will you lead us next?

Is this the core of your question? Taylor Swift’s I’ve found the problem and it is me, as with G K Chesterton before her?

@taylorlorenz every other attempt at social media out there is essentially "what it we tried capitalism again! It's *our brand* of capitalism, it'll be different", whereas decentralized social media is "let's try anarchist social media this time. It'll take work on our part, but it won't have the same systemic issues as that other stuff".

@taylorlorenz

It's run by volunteers and rich perverts who want to rule the world don't get a dime from it.

@taylorlorenz When your instance gets taken over by a fascist, you can just change your instance and still be in the same network with mostly the same people. Bonus point the fascist instance gets blocked if your instance admins have any integrity.

@taylorlorenz @JonChevreau so many of the replies here are reactive: lists full of "no" and 'not' and "free from". It's like digging q big hole, with all the thrown-out descriptors littering the ground outside. It still leaves a hole, though; none of it actually describes the pleasure and value we *enjoy* on Fedi. That's harder to describe, but worth the time.

Describe how one *enjoys posts* in their feed. The pleasure of chitchat, discovery, new like-minded peers , slow thoughtful conversation