How to Kill a Decentralised Network (such as the Fediverse) écrit par Ploum, Lionel Dricot, ingénieur, écrivain de science-fiction, développeur de logiciels libres.

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/719121

This blog post by Ploum, who was part of the original XMPP efforts long ago, describes how Google killed one great federated service, which shows why the Fediverse must not give Meta the chance

  • @nomadjoanneEnglish
    1•2 years ago

    Very true. Normies are gonna be normies no matter what. That does not make them bad people but it does mean that we probably don’t want them in droves over here. It would make the Fediverse much more vulnerable to being taken over by something by a centralized, corporate`` service.

    • @WilldrickEnglish
      4•2 years ago

      The main drive for normies is avoiding friction. From chat platforms to the phone brand or OS, they simply don’t want to learn something new, unless “everyone’s using it”.

      The only reason that people stick to GAFAM is because it’s made super convenient, no learning required, and if there’s a problem or limitation, they can bypass it for a few bucks per month.

      I’m all in for a decentralized self-hosted future, but the barrier to entry right now is too high for the average normie.

      • @nomadjoanneEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        Do you think a low barrier to entry would be a good thing though? I feel as though that would invite politics, censorships, free speech discussions and the like into the Fediverse.

        Normies, culturally, will still be normies. I know various fandom subcultures have suffered sad fates like this.

        I don’t know, I think a usability/freedom balance needs to be delicately handled.

        • @WilldrickEnglish
          2•1 year ago

          With enough people, it’ll happen anyway. One must always keep in mind those are very vocal but very small minories, and the best remedy against them is making it very clear they are not welcomed: don’t engage in their “debates”, don’t allow them to take over. No need for special modding tools or huge staffs, if everyone coming is on the same page. You see a nasty post, pile-on the downvotes and don’t even answer. It’ll go away