My criticisms, and in the defense of Mastodon
This is a post I wanted to make for my own sake, really. You're welcome to read it and even discuss it with me if you want! This post works better if you understand what exactly Mastodon is. If you do, feel free to skip past the next paragraph. Also, this first part is going to sting, but I promise that I will do a 180 into optimism towards the end.
Mastodon is a "decentralized social network/microblog". Functionally speaking, it is similar to Twitter or Blue Sky. Your posts can be up to 500 characters per post instead of Twitter's 280 or Blue Sky's 300, but your particular instance may support more. Wait, what is an instance? Ok, so that's where the "decentralized" part comes in. Mastodon works by making an account on someone's server (or instance), and that server is interconnected with other servers. It's like if you join a Discord server, but your posts can be read by other Discord servers. There is no "centralized" location. This is a really rough explanation, and people will probably be mad at me for it, but you can look up more on your own time!
Mastodon being a collection of servers rather than a single one offers its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. The core benefit is that the "control" is kept in the hands of its users, rather than a single company driven by financial goals. If Twitter or Blue Sky decides to implement some random or restrictive rule, there is little you can do about it. With Mastodon, if you don't like the rules of your instance or how it's being run, you can simply take your data and move elsewhere.
However, as mentioned, there are disadvantages to how Mastodon works. Unfortunately, they are quite extensive. I want to focus on things from the perspective of people who may use Mastodon personally, so I will ignore the technical issues. Mastodon instances are run by volunteers, meaning they must maintain, moderate, and manage the servers for free in most cases.
- The operator(s) must be kept up to date on possible threats and vulnerabilities and update their server software appropriately and timely.
- The operator(s) have access to private information exchanged between users on an instance.
- The operator(s) can simply leave and close down their server(s) without warning, leading to a sudden loss of user data.
- The operator(s) have the ability to block user interaction with other instances entirely; this is often used to protect against malicious instances but can be abused to block friendly instances due to petty issues like personal disagreements with a different instance operator.
- The point of failure in a network generally falls on a single person, who is susceptible to social engineering, real-life distractions, lack of funding, or simply disinterest in running the server at any time.
- Offensive or malicious content is handled at the discretion of an instance's staff, who are also volunteers and who may not always be equipped to handle problems as they occur.
- Mastodon as a whole (like everything else in the "fediverse") has no centralized governing body. Each instance makes its rules and policies, which may make it difficult for people accustomed to the lax(ish) culture of Twitter/Blue Sky to discover instances that fit their vibe. Many instances often emphasize specific content guidelines, the use of content warnings, and spoiler text (another feature on Mastodon) for a litany of topics that would otherwise be freely posted elsewhere.
Mastodon may come off as a flawed, untrustworthy platform. Similar to the criticisms with Linux culture, it may appear far too technical, confusing, or even hostile to the average internet goer. Most people use social media as a means to post occasional jokes or advertise their wares/services. They may not be interested in having to navigate instances, hyper-specific rules, or instance drama or politics.
I'm not helping by painting a very negative picture of what could happen, so now comes the part where I offer my defense. I use Mastodon! I've used it off and on and have moved instances several times. I've found instances with rules so abhorrent that I haven't wanted to bother with them, but I've found ones that are just fine. I treat it the same way I treat my Blue Sky account; in fact, I even wrote a tool to let me post to both of them at the same time.
The most critical thing to understand is that a microblog is not like a Discord server or a website. When I sign up on an instance, I don't and shouldn't have care about who is running it or who is using it. I am here to share my art with anyone who can see it for the purpose of potentially getting customers. I am not interested in the culture, the mission, or whatever else. To me, it's similar to how most people use Imgur to simply host images and completely avoid their attempts at turning it into its own social media platform.
But I do care, because what's happening is that a person is willingly putting up their time and money to offer me a place to post these things. They're not in it for money, or attention, or fame. People probably won't care about the humans behind the cumtittysuckandfuck.sex instance (I made this up; if it is real, I'll scream), but they should. If it is a service that I want to use, then I should care about who is running it because they are running it for me. If the person running it is unreasonable, it is on me to find a new home or start my own.
People are often nostalgic for the days of the early internet, as am I. Mastodon doesn't completely capture that spirit, but it comes close. A series of interconnected, user-run platforms. Like web rings, but entire social networks rather than websites. I don't have some mystery answer to the criticisms I laid out, but I conduct myself on Mastodon like I would anywhere at this point. Something may happen to my instance, but I back up everything often, so I won't be screwed if something suddenly happens to it.
See, something I haven't elaborated on is that you have so much control over your experience. You can download your posts, your followers, your blocks, etc. At any time, I can import my entire existence into a new instance. When my last instance shut down, I was gone for months. Then I returned and immediately picked up where I left off with all of my followers; it was like nothing happened. Yes, it can be a hassle keeping track of my data and staying involved in my local social sphere, but it's this strive for convenience that has led us to where we are in the first place. The internet isn't always as infinite as we joke it is (though some really cool people are out there saving it;), it is just as open to sudden and drastic change. Like all change, we serve ourselves better when we prepare for it rather than let it surprise us.
Over time, I've come to appreciate the fact that we have alternatives and have come to realize that it's ok if they're not popular. I will never bother to try and convince people to use Linux, but it hasn't stopped me or others from using it. I get not everyone will want to use Mastodon, and again, I haven't exactly tried to make them. But I will use it, and I'll connect with others that do, and I am so thankful that we even have an alternative. I'll still use Blue Sky up until it falls apart or becomes too restrictive, and I'll also follow everyone to the "super cool alternative everyone is totally using and has a bright optimistic future." But if the day comes that there really is no viable alternative, then I will have been thankful I planned ahead and made a home on the fediverse.
I am reminded of a quote I enjoy, the author of which has asked to be forgotten.
There are an infinite number of things to see. If you don't like where you're looking don't look at me. You can't choose your neighbors. You choose your neighborhood.
There are only three things you can do to a thing, anything else is insane.
You can change it. You can accept it. Or you can leave.
Revisiting my criticisms one last time, I once again don't have a solution to them. But I think it is grossly unfair to highlight those as if the alternatives are without flaw. I have no shortage of things I can point to detailing the hell Twitter has become since Elon took it over, and with Blue Sky looking to purge content just over the horizon, I stress that people should at least consider alternatives if social media really means that much to them.
If you don't like how big social media is run, leave. Go join Mastodon! If you don't like how your instance is run, start your own! If you do like how it's run, thank your owner! There are instances run by people who have no business being any kind of leader, and then there are those that are; it's as simple as that. People made the internet; people can remake it. That means you, the one reading this! Stop feeling nostalgic, and start feeling proactive.
Edit: The header "I am reminded of a quote I enjoy, the author of which has asked to be forgotten." originally said "I am reminded of a quote I enjoy, of which the author has asked to be forgotten." I have swaped the "of which" to clarify that the artist themselves asked to be forgotten, not their quote.