@evanprodromou this is interesting! I think I agree with many of the points on both the "Big Fedi" and "Small Fedi" sides. It would be interesting to list them as a sort of multiple-select quiz (maybe without the big/small fedi headings) and see which combinations of points people end up selecting.

What I really hope is that there's some way for people from both clusters (and those stuck in between) to coexist. Can the Big Fedi people connect with everyone they want to, while the Small Fedi folk keep their comfortable distance and protect their safe spaces?

I think most of what Evan listed as Small Fedi aren't really about the small, they're about the sense of trust and the trust that we can defederate successfully if things go terribly wrong. I really don't have any opinion about any of the others trying to join except the known shitty, evil companies.

I also agree with the bolded part. Do we have a way to take polls and mix up all that everyone wants? It would be interesting to see what is most important to most fediverse users.

[–] thenexusofprivacy 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

It's a good comment, thanks for sharing it here! On the bolded part, yes, it's possible to do polls on Mastodon ... it could be very interesting to do a series around these questions. But of course a lot depends on who's doing the poll. Evan for example has blocked a lot of people -- which is fine, there is nothing the matter with blocking people, but it skews the poll results. And a lot depends on how the poll questions are phrased. Still, it's a good idea and I'll think about whether there's a sensible way to do it.

I agree that some of what Evan characterised as Small Fedi isn't about small for small's sake, it's more about the view you describe -- what L. Rhodes calls "networked communities". Of course, the consequences of this result in slower growth than the Big Fedi view, so a smaller network in the short-to-medium term, so from his perspective I can see why I chose this framing.

And from the comment:

Can the Big Fedi people connect with everyone they want to, while the Small Fedi folk keep their comfortable distance and protect their safe spaces?

Yes, I think a schism's likely to happen -- "Meta's fediverse", instances that federate with Threads, will be more attractive to Big Fedi people, and the "free fediverses" that don't federate with Threads (or other surveillance capitialism companies) will be more attractive to people who don't buy into the bigger is better view.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I agree that some of what Evan characterised as Small Fedi isn’t about small for small’s sake, it’s more about the view you describe – what L. Rhodes calls “networked communities”. Of course, the consequences of this result in slower growth than the Big Fedi view, so a smaller network in the short-to-medium term, so from his perspective I can see why I chose this framing.

I can see why he chose it, but I still don't agree with it. It's not a forgone conclusion that it will end up small if someone doesn't federate with threads. It's still growing slower, but it could hit huge now that all of the kinks are getting worked out. One more x fuck up and tweak to mastodon that makes it more user friendly, it could take off. I think people are okay with it taking off, just on fediverse terms, not evil company terms.

[–] thenexusofprivacy 2 points 11 months ago

Yep, totally agree!