long post, kind of meta
Ever see a post that gets stuck in your head all day, but you can't figure out why? This toot from @timnitGebru did this to me today:
https://dair-community.social/@timnitGebru/109501639967911597
It's not that I care about quote toots (I'm agnostic about whether to add them). What bothered me is the notion that we *ought* to structure our social platforms to maximize the reach of activists. Something about that has rubbed me the wrong way.
long post, kind of meta
I'm trans, so I get wanting to rally people toward a cause, but does every platform need to be focused on that? Does it need to be *designed* to maximize that? Like, can't we be allowed have a quiet little corner of the internet to ourselves where we aren't constantly being bombarded with messages from people telling us that the sky is falling?
long post, kind of meta
There's an infinite number of issues in the world that I *could* pay attention to, but very few I can do anything about. I've really enjoyed mastodon the past few weeks precisely *because* I'm not being bombarded with negative news all the time. You could say that's me sticking my head in the sand, but for someone that's prone to anxiety and depression, this is an important part of self-care. I can't help anyone when I'm depressed.
long post, kind of meta
Maybe the Fediverse isn't the best place for activism. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with it. Maybe the activists need to devote their attention elsewhere if they want a platform that hands everyone a megaphone
@malcircuit @timnitGebru what a strange metaphor. quote-tooting isn't a megaphone, it's using your own voice in concert with someone else's voice.
meta, activism talk
@elfprince13 It's a method for amplification, which is why @timnitGebru wants it. She said as much in her toot:
"2)Amplify people's voices and add context."
She's concerned about being able to spread her message as far and wide as possible. She's an activist — it's what she does, and that's fine.
meta, activism talk
My point is that there are two sides to that blade. Optimizing the system so that a minority can reach as many people as possible will mean that *every* user will likely see a lot more stuff that they didn't ask for. IMHO, I don't know that it's a good move for the system as a whole.
meta, activism talk
@timnitGebru @malcircuit think about the meaning of the words in context instead of just latching onto the word “amplification” and knocking down a tangentially related straw man. An algorithm promoting popular posts to people who don’t follow them would give some users a megaphone and silence others. Adding your own voice to repeat what someone else is saying is…”amplification” but definitely not a megaphone.
meta, activism talk
@timnitGebru @malcircuit the “minority dominating the conversation” doesn’t come into play here at all (and if it did, the existing boost functionality would do the same but moreso since there is no opportunity to add your own voice with only boosting)
meta, activism talk
@elfprince13 I don't know what you want me to say here. Sorry that I used the word "megaphone"? That was maybe hyperbolic, but it wasn't because I was trying to be a dick.
In my head, I had a vision of a activist on a soapbox with a megaphone. That's why I used that word. I'm not literally equating quote tweets and having a megaphone.
My little thread is just pointing out that different people are using this platform for different reasons, not all of which are compatible
meta, activism talk
@malcircuit I think a more apropos IRL activism metaphor is a march or protest where the amplification is proportional to the number of speakers. And of course as I pointed out this is also true with the existing boost functionality, quoting doesn’t change anything about that except adding the ability to say something new in concert with the original content.
meta, activism talk
@malcircuit And of course people are going to use Mastodon/the fediverse for incompatible reasons - that’s one of the selling points. It’s not a single platform, it’s a federation of platforms who interconnect as much or as little as their users want to.
