This is an excellent article about Elon Musk by economist Paul Krugman in the New York Times. This is a “gift link,” so you don’t need a subscription to read the full version.
Why Petulant Oligarchs Rule Our World
http://wfryer.me/42z
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Krugman may not have been surprised by Elon‘s actions in the past couple weeks, as he took over Twitter, but I naively have been. What a disappointment. I had some sense of Elon’s penchant for rash and “ugly behavior,” but that has become dramatically apparent to everyone this last week. Understanding who Elon Musk is and the values he both demonstrates through his actions and supports have me rethinking my latent desire to buy a Tesla electric car at some point.
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@wfryer he didn’t surprise me. I figured he was a poopy-head after he started treating people who worked at Twitter so badly. It just got worse. What I have trouble with is how folks got mad when I told them what was going to happen and that organizations should establish themselves on Mastodon. But orgs decided to take a wait and see attitude…would a fascist billionaire get worse? A silly question since you either are a poophead or you are not at his level. 🙃 They were afraid to lose their time investment in Twitter.
I have been on Twitter since May, 2007. What dumpster fire 🔥 for educators, and other special pops and communities who found a voice.
Now, our focus needs to be building our own space, and hope the masses decide to come. And if they don’t, at least, we have the benefit of hindsight.
@davecormier @wfryer Yes, a fresh start is nice! While we carry the seeds of doom with us, hope for the better travels with them, too. 🤣
@mguhlin @davecormier b/c more early adopters have been on Mastodon, it has reminded me of the mid-late 2000s as Web 2.0 was starting. Dynamics naturally change when more early & late majority adopters participate. For me, Twitter has almost entirely been a positive experience, I have heard about the problems & issues, but I have been fortunately sheltered. Of course, some of the consequences in terms of societal impacts (subversion of democratic processes, etc.) have an impact on us all.
@mguhlin @davecormier What were your “individual tipping points” in terms of knowing you want to abandon Twitter & entirely move to Mastodon, or primarily share on Mastodon?
@wfryer @mguhlin @davecormier I usually favor the #FOSS option if its UX and features are nearly equivalent with the leading commercial options. Crappy monetization shenanigans bug me enough that I prefer the non-commercial alternative when I can. In the case of Twitter vs Mastodon, the critical mass of users itself makes all the difference.
@tedcurran @wfryer @davecormier Google, Apple, and Microsoft beat FOSS out due to a lack of expertise available in k12, certification programs for technical support staff, and general ease of use for end users. If we didn’t have individuals stepping up for Mastodon server administration, the ignorant technically clueless masses would have nothing to switch to. The gulf between server setup/admin and a Google Form is huge for the tech challenged, ethics aside. That is why many abandoned FOSS except for non critical functions, instead seeking out turnkey operations and services. I agree with FOSS but realistically, I don’t want to administer a server to run my OwnCloud or squirrel 🐿️ mail solution. It has gotten easier now, but the knowledge-doing gap remains for so many. And, we should work to close it for our future security and freedom.
@mguhlin @tedcurran @davecormier Reflecting on why FOSS has not had more uptake & buy-in in EDU spaces is a super important topic, & not one we should give up on. Makes me want to bring my friend Kent Brooks into this conversation, not sure if he is on Mastodon yet? He is a college tech Director up at Casper College in Wyoming. Big community college FOSS champion I got to know in Oklahoma.
@imklg @tedcurran @davecormier @mguhlin For a start, it’s refreshing to have conversations like this. For me, Twitter evolved from a highly interactive space into more of a broadcast sharing platform… (EdCamps & evening Twitter chats excluded…) FOSS needs champions, & FOSS champion recruitment relies upon awareness borne via conversations…
@wfryer @davecormier The echo chamber feel, disengagement from people and the edtech branding and sales/ambassadors by teachers, always focused on selling and making money. Whatever happened to collegial connections that resulted in no profit but solution sharing, and improved human condition? While Twitter offered global reach, education professionals became commodities, each Twitter account an opportunity to achieve financial independence, escape from school-based tyranny. Typing this on a small screen, so apologies for lack of big picture connections. 🙂
@mguhlin @davecormier Thankfully, I have remained largely insulated from that “boat show” aspect of edtech vendors, not as much during my 4 years as a school tech director, but still pretty insulated. I think our experiences & perspectives with Twitter have been quite varied, & are not uniform. I wonder how many others have used Twitter mainly in very positive ways as educators, avoiding the ugly side / the dark side?
@mguhlin I think I was being willfully naïve, because I was impressed by technologies of electric cars & space rockets :-(
@wfryer aren’t we all. No judgement, just hope we can achieve Star Trek without the crappy treatment of humans. Of course, that is a longterm growth experience. We r here now.
@mguhlin Yea, indeed. You know, Shelly is a huge Star Trek geek but my literacy there is much more limited. But that’s also a great way to scaffold this conversation. Good leadership matters, & we need good leaders who consistently demonstrate respect & kindness for others at all levels. For this, there is no substitute. #EduTooter #leadership
@mguhlin @wfryer I have hopes that this will be good for our communities. I know I got lazy with my community work, and this has made me refocus my work. It's a fresh start where new people can, maybe, get into communities that had hardened on birdsite.