cloudisland.nz is part of the decentralized social network powered by Mastodon.
A paid membership, strongly and pro-actively moderated Mastodon instance hosted entirely in Aotearoa New Zealand.

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e. hashman 🇵🇸

meta

Someone on bluesky was talking about the momentary joy of landing in a place with a lot of like-minded, fellow marginalized people and the disappointment that follows from the lack of leadership to keep those people safe.

This is how I felt about Mastodon and Eugen's insistence on ignoring feedback. But I'm hopeful there will be more opportunities to build something better.

meta

I also look at myself and what I am able to contribute. It *would* be great if someone gifted the world a safe social network but no one has.

Many people here are graciously offering expertise on moderation, a contribution which is frustratingly undervalued.

Others have shared their thoughts on design, platform architecture, and paths forward.

But ultimately, without resources, no one is able to act on any of this.

meta

It is deeply frustrating that the most well-funded teams tend to be sponsored because there is an understanding that they will not disrupt the current social status quo.

My out-of-pocket seed money for Cloud Island can't compete with tens of millions of VC dollars, e.g. the Bluesky team.

meta

After decades on Facebook and Twitter, users approach social media with the usability and performance expectations of billion-dollar polish.

When you need that kind of money to build your technology, your options are VC, corporate, or government. Which means strings that go along with that funding.

meta, bluesky

So given that, I'm not sure why people expected different results on Bluesky. The foundation is the same as any SV VC-funded product ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I saw a thread claiming it's "laziness" on the part of the Bluesky team for what's happening and I just don't buy that. They're hardly lazy.

T&S wasn't something they prioritized. Better moderation and a safer online space is not what drove the people to build this product.

Who has the power to decide what gets built?

meta

@ehashman fortunately there's more to fediverse than rochko; with bluesky the protocol is the people who manage the instance.

meta

@ehashman this is the feeling that makes me want to move away from this masto account and shift over to my gotosocial alt more, because that's a team that really understands what's at stake and why

they've still got some catching up to do, but the progress they've made in the last year is amazing