Again, a quick and dirty analysis, but if I have no bugs then the 1% largest #Mastodon instances accounts for 84% of all users.
The top 5% accounts for 97% of all users.
We can say that the system is effectively centralizing around a few instances, and this might be a problem for the overall stability and sustainability.
@tiago @lmrocha @estebanmoro @hirokisayama @PessoaBrain @danielemarinazzo
@tiago @lmrocha @estebanmoro @hirokisayama @PessoaBrain @danielemarinazzo
With this high level of unequal resource distribution, the admins of the largest instances also will have costs that are not even comparable to the ones of the smallest instances: the scaling is simply not that simple.
Sustainability, moderation, robustness to attacks: tons of potential problems for the #Mastodon system.
I agree. I have been centered on qoto.org to avoid crowding the bigger ones --- also for historical reasons since I have been here since 2018 and like it :). But going forward, I think we have to push for a model where universities, companies and other organizations run their own instances? Of course that will probably imply greater speech regulation as those orgs will not want to be associated with completely free speech (e.g. much to my disappointment New York state employees like me at SUNY have some speech restrictions regarding Israel.) So what is self-organized solution?
@manlius @tiago @estebanmoro @hirokisayama @PessoaBrain
@lmrocha @hirokisayama @manlius @estebanmoro @tiago @PessoaBrain
By the way, it illustrates very well that without state-funded moderation, this whole free-speech and anti-hatred legislation (although very welcome) will ultimately create market-entry costs and encourage monopolies led by the GAFAM
@LuvUMeNeither @lmrocha @hirokisayama @manlius @estebanmoro @PessoaBrain State-funded moderation sounds horrible!
@manlius @hirokisayama @lmrocha @tiago @estebanmoro @PessoaBrain
Well think of it like a subvention, as it is already the case in many countries regarding newspapers, tv shows, arts…
@LuvUMeNeither @manlius @hirokisayama @lmrocha @estebanmoro @PessoaBrain I don't want the government deciding what is true, what is misinformation, etc. No institution should have that power. That's an Orwellian nightmare.
@tiago @manlius @PessoaBrain @lmrocha @hirokisayama @estebanmoro
So… no regulations ? Because as is, it still is the case but it also provides a freerider-type of state-enforced monopoly
@tiago @LuvUMeNeither @manlius @hirokisayama @lmrocha @estebanmoro @PessoaBrain well libraries are managed by state, it's not a problem as they are not the only source, and they help spread culture and knowledge.
There could be problems, but it's nothing Orwellian
@lmrocha @manlius @tiago @estebanmoro @hirokisayama @PessoaBrain This is an important discussion. Imagining a social media world where organizations have their own instances and own the data on those instances. How does that work? Email provides us with a model, but there are many legal and societal issues in addition to the technical concerns.
#mastodonmigration #twittermigration #mastodontips #fediverse #future #rubicon
@lmrocha @manlius @tiago @estebanmoro @hirokisayama @PessoaBrain
I don't know if that would make sense in the context of any type of company or organization. I do believe that media companies, NGO, political parties or universities are more likely to eventually go down this route.
If we think large banks, tech companies, or similar, I do not see the point on employees to affiliate to the instance of their employer - What would be for them to be in?
@lmrocha @manlius @estebanmoro @hirokisayama @PessoaBrain
I like the idea of public organizations running their own instances. It should be less of a problem in Europe than in the US regarding free speech issues (crazy times!).
One big problem is the current pressure against facebook/twitter/etc to be liable for what every user posts, to force them to do moderation. This will backfire, since now small instances are very easy to intimidate legally.