I've been waiting for Trump to declare his social media alternative, but maybe we shouldn't be waiting, but doing. Maybe he wants to see where we go. So I've been doing some thinking about Twitter alternatives. Whatever it is, we have to all agree on a single one so we have the momentum to overcome the "network effect" that makes Twitter a natural monopoly. It also needs to be something that:
- can't be easily deplatformed
- we can trust it to remain free into the future
Someone made a post about a new social media paradigm called Fediverse, an open-source technology that enables decentralized social media. This could break the natural monopoly normal social media sites have, but only if it gains support.
So I did some research into Fediverse to see if it could be a viable alternative to Twitter, Gab, Parler, etc. To my surprise, it brought me full circle back to Gab. The answer has been staring me in the face this whole time.
WHY GAB?
Gab has already moved into the Fediverse! That means if you use Gab, you can connect to any other person on a social media site that uses the ActivityPub protocol, like Friendica, PeerTube, Mastadon, or if you wanted to make your own.
If Gab ever got deplatformed, or decided to go full commie censorship, no problem. You can just create a new account on another site in the Fediverse. Anyone else in the Fediverse, no matter what site they chose, can see your posts, as long as their site doesn't block yours.
For example, if Twitter was in the Fediverse and tried to ban Donald Trump, he could create an account on another Fediverse site. Twitter would of course block whichever site he went to. But then, Twitter's users could just go to another Fediverse site where they could stay connected to both Donald Trump and their idiot friends who stay on Twitter.
In addition, Gab is already very popular, and has the best chance of breaking Twitter's natural monopoly. They own their infrastructure, so they can't be deplatformed as easily as Parler.
DOWNSIDES
1. Fediverse is Left-Wing and Pro-Censorship
Ironic, I know! They must lack self-awareness. The Fediverse itself is heavily left-wing. They consider Twitter to be Nazis, and NOT because they censor people... but because they don't censor people ENOUGH!!! So imagine what they thought of Gab when Gab moved into the Fediverse. Literally Hitler.
The developers of Mastadon (one of the Fediverse apps) wanted to hard-code a Gab-ban into the software, but they couldn't because it's decentralized. Duh! So instead, they hard-coded a Gab-ban into their mobile apps. Fortunately, the developer of one of their mobile apps (FediLab) had an epiphany and realized it's not his role to hard-code bans into free software. It's like hard-coding a website ban into Chrome itself. (I think Trusky also supports free speech)
As of now, they've failed to ban Gab, and ostensibly can never ban Gab, as Gab has their own source-code and infrastructure. This proves the robustness of their decentralized model. Instead, the devs are limited to assisting individual sites to locally ban Gab, but this doesn't affect Gab because Gab doesn't need them -- they need Gab.
source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/12/20691957/mastodon-decentralized-social-network-gab-migration-fediverse-app-blocking
2. Gab Has Been Labeled RaCiSt by the MSM
Gab was free speech back before we realized how bad we needed it. So naturally, the fringe groups which were censored first moved there first. The fact is, Gab is the best social media site there is, and they will label ANY site we use as Nazi, racist, white supremacist, even if we heavily censor ourselves. Stop letting them tell us how to communicate and shame us for daring to let the "wrong" people speak.
Conclusion
We need Gab because it's free speech.
They hate Gab the most BECAUSE it's free speech.
Use Gab.
What do you guys think? Is this is a good idea? Should we start a Gab campaign to get people moved over?
I've been waiting for Trump to declare his social media alternative, but maybe we shouldn't be waiting, but doing. Maybe he wants to see where we go. So I've been doing some thinking about Twitter alternatives. Whatever it is, we have to all agree on a single one so we have the momentum to overcome the "network effect" that makes Twitter a natural monopoly. It also needs to be something that:
- can't be easily deplatformed
- we can trust it to remain free into the future
Someone made a post about a new social media paradigm called Fediverse, an open-source technology that enables decentralized social media. This could break the natural monopoly normal social media sites have, but only if it gains support.
So I did some research into Fediverse to see if it could be a viable alternative to Twitter, Gab, Parler, etc. To my surprise, it brought me full circle back to Gab. The answer has been staring me in the face this whole time.
# WHY GAB?
Gab has already moved into the Fediverse! That means if you use Gab, you can connect to any other person on a social media site that uses the ActivityPub protocol, like Friendica, PeerTube, Mastadon, or if you wanted to make your own.
If Gab ever got deplatformed, or decided to go full commie censorship, no problem. You can just create a new account on another site in the Fediverse. Anyone else in the Fediverse, no matter what site they chose, can see your posts, as long as their site doesn't block yours.
For example, if Twitter was in the Fediverse and tried to ban Donald Trump, he could create an account on another Fediverse site. Twitter would of course block whichever site he went to. But then, Twitter's users could just go to another Fediverse site where they could stay connected to both Donald Trump and their idiot friends who stay on Twitter.
In addition, Gab is already very popular, and has the best chance of breaking Twitter's natural monopoly. They own their infrastructure, so they can't be deplatformed as easily as Parler.
# DOWNSIDES
**1. Fediverse is Left-Wing and Pro-Censorship**
Ironic, I know! They must lack self-awareness. The Fediverse itself is heavily left-wing. They consider Twitter to be Nazis, and NOT because they censor people... but because they don't censor people ENOUGH!!! So imagine what they thought of Gab when Gab moved into the Fediverse. Literally Hitler.
The developers of Mastadon (one of the Fediverse apps) wanted to hard-code a Gab-ban into the software, but they couldn't because it's decentralized. Duh! So instead, they hard-coded a Gab-ban into their mobile apps. Fortunately, the developer of one of their mobile apps (FediLab) had an epiphany and realized it's not his role to hard-code bans into free software. It's like hard-coding a website ban into Chrome itself. (I think Trusky also supports free speech)
As of now, they've failed to ban Gab, and ostensibly can never ban Gab, as Gab has their own source-code and infrastructure. This proves the robustness of their decentralized model. Instead, the devs are limited to assisting individual sites to locally ban Gab, but this doesn't affect Gab because Gab doesn't need them -- they need Gab.
source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/12/20691957/mastodon-decentralized-social-network-gab-migration-fediverse-app-blocking
**2. Gab Has Been Labeled RaCiSt by the MSM**
Gab was free speech back before we realized how bad we needed it. So naturally, the fringe groups which were censored first moved there first. The fact is, Gab is the best social media site there is, and they will label ANY site we use as Nazi, racist, white supremacist, even if we heavily censor ourselves. Stop letting them tell us how to communicate and shame us for daring to let the "wrong" people speak.
# Conclusion
We need Gab because it's free speech.
They hate Gab the most BECAUSE it's free speech.
Use Gab.
**What do you guys think? Is this is a good idea? Should we start a Gab campaign to get people moved over?**
why can't people just stop using social media? http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/
Good question. It’s pretty easy.
I also don’t understand why there aren’t massive class action lawsuits from businesses that depend on these platforms, that pay money to advertise on these platforms, while at the same time, these platforms are destroying their user base.
I work for a company that still uses these platforms for marketing. I’ve seen our traffic drop off across the board. Hash tags are being disabled, users are being deplatformed. And we have a product that has nothing to do with politics.
I'd say "sue the bastards," but that's a rich man's game.
The best thing I can say is, follow your users. I feel your pain, and I wish I had a better answer.
Maybe there is one: Write your Congress critters.
Because social media is how we were able to wake up from mainstream media control in the first place, and we'll need it moving forward to stay awake.
Nice outline.
We are in a diaspora. We will not end up at one place. This will likely be one of them.
What else? Anything better?
You can't have a diaspora. If everyone doesn't coallesce in one place, then it will fail. Everyone will end up back at Twitter due to the "network effect", and we will simply have to accept the censorship and reeducation.