Quick reminder that as Twitter continues to belch radioactive smoke and Bluesky plans to open up with no safety features...
Please don't move to Spoutible.
I research social media platforms and how they shape their communities, and Spoutible banned me for looking into their design.
INSTEAD, there are user-funded non-commercial alternatives available, some of which have *world standard* safety features and anti-harassment policies.
I have resources to help people set up as needed.
Which user funded non-commercial alternatives do you recommend?
Hello! My personal favourite is pillowfort.social: if you're interested in checking it out, a list of the most active communities is available here: www.pillowfort.social/posts/2952644
If that appeals, I can provide invite links and other setup resources?
DoktorHobo: List of the Most Active PF Communities (Updated November 2023)
Here is a short list of the most active Communities on Pillowfort as of November 2023.The metric I used was "there is enough content here that I got bored before I scrolled back through one month...
www.pillowfort.socialDreamwidth.org is venerable, user supported, and (like pillowfort) takes security and the other challenges of social media very seriously
Cohost.org is more recent: I hope it succeeds while being a bit warier about it due to issues with its ToS and its funding model, but it's definitely expanded very rapidly as a user-funded platform?
Happy to answer questions and expand/clarify anything as needed?
Interesting, thank you. I'll poke around.
Great! Happy to help if anything comes up? I can provide my feeds on PF and cohost if that'd offer a worked example of what they can look like in practice, too.
Mainly, good luck with exploring!
I wouldn't go to Cohost.
They explicitly allow child abuse materials as long as it's not a photorealistic image.
I notice a lack of ActivityPub-related options in your recommendations, which I assume is a deliberate omission. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on Mastodon et al
From my perspective Mastodon, activitypub and the fediverse are more complex recommendations because they're much closer to being tools for making social media platforms and linking them than A Social Media Platform.
The fact this isn't obvious causes... problems on a number of levels
Basically these three are ones I'm confident I can give an impression of within a skeet or two, while fediverse relates things are much more
"do we have a couple of hours for me to do a lecture on this?"
I see what you mean. Bluesky will face the same issue really, once federation opens up, but I hope it'll cause less friction.
Thank you for mentioning Dreamwidth! I was just lamenting that no one but me seems to use it.
Tribel is awful, too. As soon as I signed up, I got a dozen salt & pepper male followers, which were all fake. I'm a social media manager, since MySpace, and none of these developers really understand how social media works.
I am on Spout and don't mind it but Chris does what Chris wants...has a bit of an ego.
Yeah that's going to chase me away...especially with no block feature....butnim not going anywhere else...ill just abandon this like ive abandoned half a dozen other tedious platforms.
If you do wind up with energy to try something new, I'm happy to help with recommendations?
I will follow...feel free to make recommendations
My personal favourite is pillowfort.social: if you're interested in checking it out, a list of the most active communities is available here: www.pillowfort.social/posts/2952644
If that appeals, I can provide a sample feed to see it in practice, and/or invite links and other setup resources?
DoktorHobo: List of the Most Active PF Communities (Updated November 2023)
Here is a short list of the most active Communities on Pillowfort as of November 2023.The metric I used was "there is enough content here that I got bored before I scrolled back through one month...
www.pillowfort.socialDreamwidth.org is venerable, user supported, and (like pillowfort) takes security and the other challenges of social media very seriously
Cohost.org is more recent: I hope it succeeds while being a bit warier about it due to issues with its ToS and its funding model, but it's definitely expanded very rapidly as a user-funded platform?
Happy to answer questions and expand/clarify anything as needed?
I’d like to explore pillow fort if that’s possible.
Absolutely, thanks for asking!
here's a list of links for the *most* active communities:
www.pillowfort DOT social/posts/2952644
It also links to a list of generally active communities
And here's my feed to show what it *can* look like in practice:
www.pillowfort DOT social/DoktorHobo
If you decide you'd like to try it out, I can set you up with invites and resources for getting started?
I'm in. Let me know how to get an invite.
Excellent! There's a free rolling waitlist for invites here that returns codes in under an hour, often around 10 minutes:
www.pillowfort DOT social/waitlist
If that doesn't work I can send one, but it'll be public because Bluesky is unhelpful.
I also wrote up a page of tips for getting started and getting the best out of the place here:
www.pillowfort DOT social/posts/3459763
Happy to answer questions or offer suggestions whenever needed, here or on PF?
I love the place and have been enjoying watching it grow.
Thanks for the info, I am signed up and waiting.
Fantastic! If an invite doesn't show up soon, I'll send you one.
“Bluesky plans to open up with no safety features”. Would you care to elaborate on this very strange claim?
Bluesky is entirely public and has always been. All posts are visible to anyone on the internet.
Possibly related to this? (Being public is not a safety feature, especially when you are being attacked personally or as part of a group.) techcrunch.com/2023/06/08/b...
Bluesky’s growing pains strain its relationship with Black users | TechCrunch
Bluesky is facing increased pressure to crack down on hateful and violent rhetoric, even though robust moderation conflicts with its decentralized goals.
techcrunch.com
Bluesky has been public from the first day.
Anyone who wishes to post in private shouldn’t be posting on Bluesky.
Yes, I understand that. But that's a non sequitur of an answer to someone concerned about the lack of safety features. For example, if someone were to start spreading lies about you and threatening you here, how much safer would you feel if someone pointed out to you, "Well, the threats are public."
The post claims that Bluesky is about to go public. That’s false. Bluesky has been entirely public from day one
Oh, I see what you mean. I can't claim to speak for the user, but I took that to mean that you wouldn't need an invite anymore to join. In the sense that you need an invite to join, Bluesky is not open to the public.
Unless I’m misunderstanding something, all social media is public.
Public to read. Not necessarily public to post. There's still a velvet rope in front of this place.
No. Facebook and Instagram and Twitter all allow posts to be private
Like “followers only” or limited to certain audiences?
To followers only or some to only limited close followers
Makes sense now. I admit that I use those categories to segment some content for relevance - Ex. I have friends on FB that aren’t interested in my Starbucks posts.
I think you might be mistaken. I took the URL from the head of this thread, pasted it into a fresh browser window, and got redirected to the login/signup page. That being said, I’ve seen previews for skeets inside discords, though so it’s a little public.
Is there something unique about Spoutible's design that they're trying to keep a secret?
Dunno what OP is getting at, but they do have a history of security issues and Bouzy is notoriously thin skinned about it
I have no idea. My impression is that they just didn't like scrutiny or comparison.
Like other folks have said, Bouzy rules by fiat over there so it could be damn near anything.
I was initially banned while still being able to post? And I posted about that? And then got banned/deleted.
I gave the wikipedia article a look over and he does sound like a bit of an ass
Was kinda of hoping that this would be toxicity free, largely. Has there been any indication why Dorsey is not putting the features that used to exist in Twitter? Is it a resource thing maybe?
My impression is that Dorsey and others see Bluesky as an opportunity to avoid 'problems' they felt saddled with at twitter: it seems likely that they see federation as a way of sidestepping obligations to moderate content, for example.
Every safety feature that exists here happened because the community demanded it, and have been created reluctantly.
Ah! Makes sense. Leverage fed to defray responsibility. I mean, you can see why! It makes sense from their pov. But still, not ideal for users. Would be nice if they took it seriously.
Thanks for context and lay of the land here. Only just landed.
Has there been a statement of intent on how to deal with fake/impersonation of accounts?
Not as far as I know, but there might well be one I'm unaware of.
What I can say is that as far as I know, Bluesky does not *have* a Trust & Safety team.
They've had plenty of time to fix that, so not having one is an active choice.
There's also the detail that the moderation tools eventually provided to the public include the ability to 'hide' hate speech.
Which from a platform design angle makes it easier to put it behind a curtain than to *report it to be moderated.*
Ha, yeah, just noticed that. Out of sight, out of mind. Erect an SEP field!
You research social media platforms but dont know that Jay is the CEO here and Jack has basically nothing to do with this place anymore lmao
Dorsey has nothing to do with Bluesky operations.
Assumption is the mother of all fuckups, huh?
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INSTEAD, there are user-funded non-commercial alternatives available, some of which have *world standard* safety features and anti-harassment policies.
I have resources to help people set up as needed.
Quick reminder that as Twitter continues to belch radioactive smoke and Bluesky plans to open up with no safety features...
Please don't move to Spoutible.
I research social media platforms and how they shape their communities, and Spoutible banned me for looking into their design.
As Bluesky turns predictably - inevitably, with how it was designed - rancid, a reminder that I have resources for setting people up on user-funded, non-commercial social media alternatives (that are NOT mastodon based) and which have fantastic anti-harassment tools and policies.
I can recommend a user-funded site with good anti-harassment/visibility/privacy tools and policies if that'd help, and have resources for helping people get set up if that'd be useful?
Given Spoutible has more features, a seemingly richer(?) user security and safety policy than any of the other bird app alternatives - *WHY* is Spoutible seemingly struggling to gain a foothold in terms of adoption, as a genuine alternative to the bird app?
Given Spoutible has more features, a seemingly better user security and safety policy than any of the other bird app alternatives - *WHY* is Spoutible seemingly struggling to gain a foothold in terms of adoption, as a genuine alternative to the bird app?
Are you on Spoutible? I really like it. Very professionally run and they have robust safety policies.
*marches in circle banging pots and pans*
🎵This place is an unsafe shitshow
When it opens to the public it'll get real bad🎵
🎵I can show people user-funded, non-commercial alternatives🎵
🎵Some of which have *really good* safety features and policies🎵
🎵None of this really scans🎵
This terrifies me. This platform has essentially no safety protocols (yes I know blocking and muting exist those are actually not largely effective and don’t prevent dogpiles and mass harassment). I don’t see how posting on here will be safe in any way if that doesn’t change before it gets bigger.
If I had to choose which are the best Twitter alternatives right now it would probably BlueSky and Spoutible
Trying to find reasons to leave Twitter, I have posted some content on multiple sites
Bluesky is very enjoyable, moreso with deckblue (GIFs!), I want this to be home.
Threads is okay, I feel like people have already forgotten about it, but if Meta pushes...?
Mastodon, I get almost no engagement.
spoutible.com/thread/22844... Heads up for any Spoutible users out there. Cross posting to BlueSky is now available on Spoutible.
Christopher Bouzy on Spoutible
📢Cross-platform posting from Spoutible to Bluesky is now live! You can spout images and even threads, and it will be automatically posted to Bluesky. Please close and reopen your
spoutible.com
To not just be a doomer about this, we're lucky that there are alternatives!
Pillowfort and Dreamwidth are established and good! I have resources to help people get set up or check PF out!
it's going to be bleakly hilarious how fast and how badly this place breaks when it opens to the public
currently it has the veneer of functionality from being small and invite only, but that's starting to crack as the bots and nazis get in
when it opens all bets are off.
A lot of people have mentioned features of Twitter that they'd like to have here.
What are some features of Twitter you DON'T want on BlueSky?
I met some of my Twitter friends last night, and they refuse to move over to Bluesky. They see Twitter dying as a natural end to their social media usage, which I find sad as it's the only place I "see" them.
Bluesky's been having more of stuff like that too, but I hope it's better for you?
If a plan B would be useful, I can provide some resources for getting set up on a non-commercial, user funded social media site with fantastic antiharassment tools and policies?
I don’t think it’s enough for some people to touch grass… I think they need to have their social media access revoked and be forced to work as teachers.
@yakufox.bsky.social i personally think that Tribel and Mastodon are better alternatives to X. And no invite needed.
it’s unfortunate they’re not implementing privacy features at the same time. i get that that would solve the issue for a lot of people. i get people are worried for their safety. maybe people were under the impression that there would be privacy features introduced as bluesky became open to public
100%! And as much as I want safety here to be sightly more robust (I especially want word mutes), I don't love how people try to offload basic information safety onto the platforms they use rather than taking responsibility for their own data.
I emailed them if they needed help and wanted to move to Mastodon to reach out wether they wanted to join an existing server or have their own server i could help them set that up.
There are people who lock themselves up in their rooms and cry and come out and put up a smile with a happy face.
They have no one to cry to or they don't have anyone to trust with their issues.
May Allaah hear their cry and wipe their tears.
What I mean is that lists and muting on Bluesky is still woefully primitive compared to Twitter (and lists in their current form are unusable to me).
Technology is not just the back-end, it’s the user experience and available features.
As to DMs and video, I have no doubt this place will have them in the next few months. It's not that they don't want those features, but that there are lots of features to be built, and that just takes time.
Obviously the funded face of the app needs trust and safety, and the resources and mechanics of doing it as a community are hard. But I imagine this in layers. Funded moderation from Bluesky to set a baseline standard, a default. Community moderation on top. (10/11)
I just learned a new term from reading your article, which is JOMO.
I think I'm experiencing that since I deleted my Twitter account.
I've settled on Bluesky and Spoutible as my main social media platforms.