The Raspberry Pi social media (Mastodon) brouhaha from last week was bugging me, so I worked out some thoughts over on Medium.
Thanks to @jeffjarvis for the original link.
@jmproffitt @jeffjarvis "Toughen up, buttercup" completely, utterly, and irrevocably -- to an astonishing degree -- minimizes and deligitamizes the very real experiences of very real people who had to go through some serious shit to come to the opinions that lead to the issue in the first place.
John, how can you not apply the very same phrase to yourself?
@alltherum @jeffjarvis I do apply it to myself. I'm engaging with you right now. I'm not shrinking from the debate.
The point is Mastodon admins are in a different class. They have a higher responsibility to their users. They must have higher tolerances for stuff they don't like, or they have to put their politics front and center when launching their instances.
@jmproffitt @jeffjarvis Okay, follow-up, why? Truly, why? Why should a safety-minded admin expose their users to a person whose first response to the terrible, no good sensation of embarrassment to blame 1) "woke culture", and 2) a cabal of instigators working in secret?
We all just fled a network run by such lunatics.
@alltherum @jmproffitt @jeffjarvis Then users can block the brand's server if they feel it's unsafe.
It shouldn't be a moderator's job to protect you from opposing opinions. Users have plenty of tools to moderate their own feeds.
@LouisIngenthron @alltherum @jmproffitt @jeffjarvis
Agreed. I would much prefer the admin have a light hand on blocks - reserving them for the big offenses, and let me make my own choices re: the “assholes at large”.
There will always always always be people we don’t like and/or don’t agree with, and those parameters will change from person to person.
But then, that’s why I’m on a server with moderation practices that are in line with my own personal preferences. Isn’t that the whole point?
@ASquareClaire If you want an echo chamber, sure.
I come to social media for opposing opinions though. Helps me learn and grow. If my admin blocked sources for those opinions, I'd be moving accounts damn quick.
We need to learn to draw the line better between unpopular opinions and abuse.
@LouisIngenthron You were actually the one I was agreeing with… unless I’ve misunderstood something, I’m not sure how that would put me in an echo chamber?
@ASquareClaire That was in response to "choosing a server with moderation practices that are in line with my own personal preferences".
I may have misinterpreted your intent in that statement.
@LouisIngenthron Ah. Got it. To my knowledge, I’m not on a heavy-blocking instance (although they will certainly block people with dangerous/hateful intentions, but I would hope we can all agree on that).
For things like a difference of opinion, though, we make our own choices & I’m glad for it.
@LouisIngenthron I will say as a side note that I 100% back people who do hang with the heavy-blocking servers too.
Again, personal preferences. If someone doesn’t want to be constantly faced with friction when they open their timeline, I can certainly get that.
If someone wants to be in an echo chamber of nothing but cat posts, even, hell yeah. (That one is pretty tempting, tbh)
@ASquareClaire Sure, but then I'd argue that federation isn't the right tool for what they want, then.
They'd probably be better off in a private chat server or message board that serves that community.
@LouisIngenthron @ASquareClaire That is a perfectly valid personal preference. It's not perfectly valid to insist others have the same preference.
Admins on the fediverse are representatives of the people they wish to attract. They do it because (for the uncapitalized, person-oriented now), they respect the rules they've chosen for their instance.
They're not employees of a fediverse. The whole shebang relies on trust, and trust *needn't* be durable or copious.