Pondering an anti-non-Mastodon filter list

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 09:21:39 -0600

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

What if there was a filter list that blocks everything that isn't vanilla Mastodon? CW: long (over 1,000 characters), Fediverse meta, Mastodon vs non-Mastodon meta, blocklist meta

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Tue, 26 Dec 2023 09:31:42 -0600

lotfi

lotfi31@cirtensis.net

This is a possible hypothesis. But in that case, it would be legitimate to seriously consider a Fediverse bis, without Mastodon.

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 13:05:38 -0600

Tejan Ausland

tejan@hubzilla.monster

I can understand blocking platforms that spy on you, but blocking someone because they don't use Mastodon? That seems a bit... petty.

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 14:10:08 -0600

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Tejan Ausland I guess if someone does, it isn't immediately because of what they use.

It's more about the side-effects of not using Mastodon. Posts unashamedly written with over 500 characters. Quotes. Quote-posts. Text formatting. And so forth. All things that are perfectly normal outside Mastodon, but that feel weird for those getting used to the Fediverse as only being Mastodon before version 4.0.

Then there's the constant "advertising" and "Fedisplaining". Non-Mastodon users can't stop talking about their non-Mastodon projects and what advantages they "allegedly" have over Mastodon. Mastodon users, in contrast, rarely mention anything that isn't Mastodon, if at all.

Especially the old guard on Friendica and Hubzilla "refuses" to adopt Mastodon's overarching culture. In reality, that's because they've got little contact to Mastodon, and they know little about that culture. Also, there's no official documentation on how to write alt-text on these projects. Friendica doesn't even have a summary field that's required for Mastodon-like content warnings, it requires a pair of BBcode tags for that. And in parts, Mastodon's special culture comes from Mastodon's limitation which Friendica and Hubzilla simply don't have.

All that disturbs especially the first-wave and second-wave Twitter refugees on Mastodon who spent there first several months on Mastodon with no hint of any other Fediverse projects on either of their timelines whatsoever. The Fediverse that feels like home to them is vanilla Mastodon 3.x and nothing else, and they want that back.

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 08:32:30 -0600

Tejan Ausland

tejan@hubzilla.monster

@Jupiter Rowland Sounds like they want to remain in their little information bubble and are against diversity. That's fine. If they have a culture of exclusion rather than inclusion, I don't want them in my timeline anyway.

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 10:19:44 -0600

Jupiter Rowland

jupiter_rowland@hub.netzgemeinde.eu

@Tejan Ausland Exactly why many Hubzilla and (streams) users have ActivityPub off.

I can't afford that. If I had ActivityPub off, my contacts within the same main topic of this channel would be reduced to a maximum of two, one mostly inactive, one via the Diaspora* protocol. Everyone else is on Mastodon.

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 17:27:27 -0600

Tejan Ausland

tejan@hubzilla.monster

In my case, I started on Hubzilla because a friend introduced me. If people follow me from Mastodon, then they are welcome. But I don't feel the need to solicit followers from Mastodon or anywhere else. At least right now. Maybe if I release a book under my name instead of ghost writing, I might change my mind. But for now, I am not really seeking attention. Just chatting with friends and finding new ones.