The internet deserves a better answer to social

Mozilla Social Private Beta Launch.

I’m not convinced that Mastodon is the answer. It’s basically a copy of everything we had beforehand, just not in control of big tech… I know, I know… unpopular opinion for sure. I like to go against the flow.

@vincent I haven’t taken to Mastodon either. I’m aware that we Micro.bloggers are in a minority, but I’ve become sick of the ‘please retweet/retoot’ posts and suchlike. It’s great we can converse with them on there from here, though.

@vincent I know what you mean, don’t worry. I’m guilty myself of the very things that annoy me i.e. complaining about other social media platforms.

@vincent @BenSouthwood I’m new to Micro.blog, but once I learned about it, I was all in. I like the ethos of having your main content on your own blog and sharing from there. My mastodon handle is more of a news aggregator/hot take/quick thought/ask for ideas place.

@vincent the only thing I really wish Micro.blog had was a “love” function. I don’t need or want reblogging, but there are really times I want to share that I like something but don’t have anything to add and don’t want to comment. Happens a lot.

@inthedeltawaves It’s not for everyone, but I’m at my most comfortable here. :-)

@inthedeltawaves get you here… I like to think of it as: “silence is golden” 😀

There’s is a lot I like seeing here, but I never comment unless I have something to say (and even that is questionable).

Actually, I find it quite liberating because it goes against what we’ve been “taught”.

@Vincent @inthedeltawaves @kq @BenSouthwood

I have empathy for these perspectives. It can be surprising to notice what the software is affording us rather than just using it. To be missing a verb one imagined standard feels weird. Take love, or its junior high school buddy like, and consider the alternate affordance on micro.blog. It is one which doesn't consider every idle appreciation from every user of such significance that it is worth manipulating everyones share flow in reaction.

The alt affordance in micro.blog is Bookmarking something. I consider this worthy of attention, you've said. But it requires nothing else of you. And if I happen to be interested in what you think about things like that, I can follow your bookmarkery.

@bkryer there could always be the option to just…turn that off if you don’t like it.

@inthedeltawaves srry. Turn what off?

@bkryer were you not taking about the “like” button being a source of displeasure for you?

@inthedeltawaves not at all.

People can provide what ever verbs they want and attach whatever labels to the buttons which effect those verbs that they wish. It doesn’t bother me. It tells me something about them. And then I can chose what to do next.

Treating people like hamsters at the treat buzzer eventually gets you hamsters at the treat buzzer. And then people giving away awards for Best Hamster of the year. And then people thinking, damn if only I had been a hamster, and so on…

@inthedeltawaves I put my focus on how to improve the system for everyone and not so much on how my genius is ignored or how sometimes, I’m uncomfortable.

@vincent lately you have provocative threads ❤︎😃

@bkryer

What I was saying is that each account could have the option to turn the feature off. Not only for your own posts, but to not see them anywhere systemwide, either. Not having one just feels more like a creepy voyeurism than anything “social” to me.

@inthedeltawaves sure. but that “could” for one group of users creates a lot of “musts” for development. And financials are not going to miss a chance to leverage development, because it is expensive. And then the incentives are upside down.

And honestly I’m not even sure if the gesture is actual a social one when reduced, as it is, to a single click in a maelstrom of clicks. People take effort.

And just as honestly (always suspicious when then say ‘honestly’) if my comments are missing the point srry. Maybe look at some recent posts for context. It’s not unlikely that I’m way off in tangent land…. ❤︎😃🙃😶‍🌫️

@inthedeltawaves and you’re right that it is often just creepy voyuerism and creepy exhibitionism. It is often alarming to see how technology expands and accelerates group dynamics.

@vincent I always say, it's the people. Each platform has a "critical mass" number for the common least thinking individuals where it starts being a mindless blob.

The process can be slowed by providing certain restrictions like difficulty of entry (technical know-how) or guides/quality controls, but eventually you reach that number.

It doesn't matter if it's Mastodon, Twitter, Facebook, or whatever. That critical mass turns whatever mindful hub you have into a mindless hive of bots.

@jtr necessarily? im hoping that better verbs could reduce the harm if not completely obviate the behavior. I resist the notion it is a volume effect which causes collapse. I suggest instead it is bad tech, ie the wrong verb/nouns, coupled with economic preferences deforming design, enshittification, which causes it.

@kq And you get a “like” for this post. That is exactly how I feel about them.

@kq you are free to see it that way.

I see it as sadly the exact opposite of nonverbal communication in that they are strictly and only verbal, it is a single word (like or boost or whatevs) in the end. And a record remains of the incident. not true in nonverbal.

And there is not as much a communication as there is a tally.

No one is having non-verbal communication with more than, say, a few people at a time, occasionally, never mind hundreds of people, hundreds of times a day.

It would be cool to build what you are describing, its just that no one has.

If I left the pub at the end of the evening and looked at my receipt for the drinks, and also saw that I had five nods, four winks, three pats on the back, and one hearty guffaw; I’d ask myself, What the fuck am I doing reading this receipt?

@bkryer Love that description.

@BenSouthwood cheers!

@kq I suppose, yes. But I got the point 😉

@kq yeah, you made yourself understood I think. And it only took a sentence. I’m flailing for four paragraphs just to say, “Uh, maybe not only…” 😳