[Air-L] Migration to Mastodon

Thu Nov 10 05:38:00 PST 2022

Hi Elena,

Sure, any person can silo themselves as they wish - but they are the algorithm. Most people interested in a topic, such as politics, will go to four or more sources (one being online) and online they will go to four or more sources. This tendency prevents most people interested in a particular topic like politics from being trapped in a filter bubble or echo chamber, unless they manufacture it for themselves. See: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2960697 

AOIR should be the last set of academics to be technologically deterministic - we need to study users. But of course I sympathise with you looking for a place in your comfort zone. You know this, as you and others thinking about Mastodon are communicating on Twitter, listservs, etc. Multiple sources help IMHO. 

Regards, 

Bill

William H. Dutton 
55 Victoria Road
Oxford OX2 7QF
United Kingdom

william.dutton at gmail.com
Twitter @BiIIDutton (II=two capital ii’s)

Phone: +44 (0)1865 423836
Mobile: +44 (0)7757 741670

Blog: https://billdutton.me

> On 10 Nov 2022, at 13:01, Elena Razlogova <elena.razlogova at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> In re the number of people on Twitter: A number of academics and public figures already locked their accounts or limited them to their "Twitter circle," which means they will be only speaking to their current audiences, not the 330 million of Twitter users. I also remember reading a number of studies, some by people on this list, arguing that social media algorithms put users into silos, sending them mostly messages they would already be interested in. These factors seem to be lost in comparisons favoring "open" Twitter over "siloed" Mastodon.
> 
> One thing that does not seem to be possible on Mastodon is activism that aims to jolt people out of their comfort zone--posting graphic pictures of violence to get support for causes, for example. That will just get you blocked. But building coalitions through deliberation works much better on Mastodon. Mastodon also makes it impossible to attack a poster en masse for an unpopular opinion, the way the right organized mob attacks of leftists on Twitter.
> 
> Elena
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Nov 10, 2022 at 7:42 AM William Dutton via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
> Great to see academics exploring Mastodon, but just to remind you of the blindingly obvious: it has about a million users, which is a surprisingly large number given the challenges in using it, but Twitter has about 330 million. Obama alone has 130 million followers on Twitter. And Twitter knows it has to grow its base of users. 
> 
> Just one pragmatic point in favour of being active on a number of social media sites albeit this choice seems quite personal for many. It's a (relatively) free internet.  
> 
> Bill
> 
> William H. Dutton 
> 55 Victoria Road
> Oxford OX2 7QF
> United Kingdom
> 
> william.dutton at gmail.com
> Twitter @BiIIDutton (II=two capital ii’s)
> 
> Phone: +44 (0)1865 423836
> Mobile: +44 (0)7757 741670
> 
> Blog: https://billdutton.me
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > On 10 Nov 2022, at 11:42, Stephanie Jo “Learning Resiliency” Kent via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
> > 
> > Hello all,
> > 
> > On the issue of trust, Cory Doctorow just posted a long Twitter thread/blog post about Certificates of Authenticity. It reads like a Nacirema ritual. 
> > 
> > Speaking of trust, is antiracism not an open topic of conversation on this list serve? I received a couple of private responses to a link about the Twitter migration to mastodon being perhaps an indicator of white fragility. I don’t know the norms for when one goes private versus public but the public silence in light of a couple of private responses was noticeable!
> > 
> > For any of you interested here’s another tweet thread with links to a couple of perspectives from “beyond white, left-leaning accounts” — https://twitter.com/sahdyadarr/status/1590266072627699713?s=46&t=JG_6hvzhr-wyhKV_0O_4Mw
> > 
> > respectfully,
> > steph   
> > 
> >> On Nov 10, 2022, at 5:58 AM, Robert W Gehl via Air-L <air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
> >> Hi, Emma --
> >> 
> >> One of the major critiques of the development of ActivityPub (the protocol underlying Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, etc) is that the developers did not pay enough attention to security and privacy questions. Those concerns were bracketed off. For example, in terms of connections between servers, the developers assumed that other projects, like SSL, would solve any security issues. Encryption in general was bracketed off as out of scope for the ActivityPub project. (To be fair, they had a lot on their plates).
> >> 
> >> So, as a result, there are some definite privacy issues. DMs between two members are not end-to-end encrypted. An instance admin has a great deal of insight into the network, from member profiles to who is talking to whom.
> >> 
> >> There are people working on solutions to these problems. Indeed, one of the key developers, Christine Lemmer-Webber, recognized the problem of encrypting DMs back in 2017: https://github.com/w3c/activitypub/issues/225 and has proposed some solutions in the time since.
> >> 
> >> But currently, DMs are not encrypted.
> >> 
> >> The key issue, as always, is trust. Admins have to foster trust among their members by being good actors. But we also know from hard experience that admins can break trust. So, Emma, your questions are BIG ones and need to be pressed.
> >> 
> >> Note that much of what I am saying is true of the corporate model, however. Twitter doesn't encrypt DMs. Yes, FB might have end-to-end encryption -- but of course, you have to trust that they haven't been compelled by a powerful state to have a backdoor. (And this is a company that holds a patent on an automated system to turn user data over to law enforcement).
> >> 
> >> - Rob
> >> 
> >> 
> >> On 11/9/22 21:13, Dr. Emma Briant via Air-L wrote:
> >>> I’ll be honest, I’m a little worried about the privacy and security issue
> >>> of using these services. I did see Wolfie Christl (who I trust) share two
> >>> such sites and say he trusts the people behind them (
> >>> https://mastodon.social/@wchr/109299350293033545), but he also doesn’t seem
> >>> to have used them himself as his Mastodon follower count doesn’t seem high
> >>> like his Twitter. May I ask the community here whether anyone has concerns?
> >>> Many thanks,
> >>> Emma
> >>> 
> >>> On Wed, 9 Nov 2022 at 16:07, Sarah Ann Oates via Air-L <
> >>> air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
> >>> 
> >>>> This app to help migrate from Twitter to Mastodon was recommended by a
> >>>> colleague today; I have yet to try it but looks promising:
> >>>> https://pruvisto.org/debirdify/
> >>>> Sarah
> >>>> Sarah Oates
> >>>> Pronoun: she/her
> >>>> Professor and Senior Scholar
> >>>> Philip Merrill College of Journalism
> >>>> Distinguished Scholar-Teacher
> >>>> University of Maryland
> >>>> College Park, MD 20742
> >>>> Email: soates at umd.edu
> >>>> Phone: 301 455 2332
> >>>> www.media-politics.com
> >>>> Twitter: @media_politics
> >>>> *Support the UMD Student Crisis Fund
> >>>> <https://giving.umd.edu/giving/showPage.php?name=crisis-funding> today. *
> >>>> On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 10:22 AM Steph Kent via Air-L <
> >>>> air-l at listserv.aoir.org> wrote:
> >>>>> Hi all,
> >>>>> Following the Twitter|Mastodon threads with critical interest. I
> >>>> appreciate
> >>>>> the invitation from Michael Ruigrok to  members of this group to bring
> >>>> your
> >>>>> sophisticated knowledge and experience to the improvement of federated,
> >>>>> communal social networks. I'm always interested in access, thinking about
> >>>>> outlier groups such as the Deaf, for whom text is frequently not a
> >>>>> sufficient accommodation (despite the convenience of this belief for
> >>>>> h/Hearing people). *That said, Deaf academics on Twitter are formidable!
> >>>>> I'm glad of the resources from Meryl, Joly and Fred Fuchs too, as I'm at
> >>>>> the edge of my learning curve learning how to navigate Mastodon.
> >>>>> Wanted to share this political, antiracist perspective from Tim Wise, who
> >>>>> argues that it's mainly white liberals who are concerned with 'fleeing'
> >>>> the
> >>>>> new Twitter
> >>>>> <
> >>>> https://timjwise.medium.com/fleeing-twitter-the-twexodus-is-about-white-liberal-fragility-3631cb2ac317
> >>>>>> ,
> >>>>> suggesting this is evidence of the pervasiveness of white fragility --
> >>>> even
> >>>>> among progressives.
> >>>>> best regards,
> >>>>> steph
> >>>>> On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 1:30 AM Fred Fuchs via Air-L <
> >>>>> air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
> >>>>> wrote:
> >>>>>> Here's a TechRadar article on Mastodon.
> >>>> https://www.techradar.com/news/mastodon-is-a-great-twitter-alternative-but-it-needs-to-be-easier-to-sign-up
> >>>>>> Fred
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> Fred Fuchs - Founder, CEO, & Producer
> >>>>>> FireSabre Consulting LLC
> >>>>>> ---
> >>>>>> On 11/7/2022 8:26 AM, Fred Fuchs wrote:
> >>>>>>> On 11/7/2022 6:51 AM, Richard Forno via Air-L wrote:
> >>>>>>>> I have a hard time *relying* on a communications platform
> >>>>>>>> run by a company now fully engaged in the proverbial
> >>>>>>>> "move fast, break things" mentality based on whatever
> >>>>>>>> singular whims or rage cycle its owner is in at the time
> >>>>>>>> a decision is made.   To wit:  They are now asking people
> >>>>>>>> just fired to come back, b/c nobody knew they were
> >>>>>>>> integral to the features Musk wanted to develop.  (Were
> >>>>>>>> it me, I'd say sure, but double my salary.)
> >>>>>>> Sadly this is not uncommon during "regime changes" at
> >>>>>>> Internet tech companies. The new leadership fires far more
> >>>>>>> people than they should've, and then often has to hire
> >>>>>>> some or even many back at a significant salary increase.
> >>>>>>> On top of that, some of those with good employment
> >>>>>>> prospects may decide to seek better opportunities. So
> >>>>>>> their possibly irreplaceable tech and business practices
> >>>>>>> knowledge is lost forever.
> >>>>>>> Fred
> >>>>>>> ---
> >>>>>>> On 11/7/2022 6:51 AM, Richard Forno via Air-L wrote:
> >>>>>>>> It's not Musk's views per se that's driven me from
> >>>>>>>> Twitter, but that's a major reason, sure.
> >>>>>>>> I have a hard time *relying* on a communications platform
> >>>>>>>> run by a company now fully engaged in the proverbial
> >>>>>>>> "move fast, break things" mentality based on whatever
> >>>>>>>> singular whims or rage cycle its owner is in at the time
> >>>>>>>> a decision is made.   To wit:  They are now asking people
> >>>>>>>> just fired to come back, b/c nobody knew they were
> >>>>>>>> integral to the features Musk wanted to develop. (Were it
> >>>>>>>> me, I'd say sure, but double my salary.)   He's also
> >>>>>>>> reversed other polices and views that he preached -- he
> >>>>>>>> was against permabans until Kathy Gifford parodied him
> >>>>>>>> over the weekend, so she's banned.  He's also said other
> >>>>>>>> people not 'clearly identifying' as parody accounts would
> >>>>>>>> be perma-banned. That's a far cry from his views about
> >>>>>>>> how the company handled other perma-bans in recent
> >>>>>>>> years.  The entire company -- and platform -- now feels
> >>>>>>>> rather unstable in many ways, and I feel sorry for the
> >>>>>>>> many serfs still there who will endure such chaos ....
> >>>>>>>> and it's only been a week!
> >>>>>>>> Heck, if I wanted to interact on a platform conducting a
> >>>>>>>> perpetual beta test[1], I'd use something from Google.
> >>>>>>>> -- rick
> >>>>>>>> [1] either technical or managerial
> >>>>>> _______________________________________________
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