Been thinking about this and want to know if it bugs anyone else.
It’s crazy to me that Twitter, Reddit and Facebook all cut off API access and people just went quiet on it. There was noise and complaints but no solutions. Usually when stuff like this gets locked down a counterculture shows up around it. Workarounds, open alternatives, people who make it their thing to keep it open. Like file sharing or ad blockers.
That didn’t really happen this time and I can’t figure out why. With all the propaganda and fake stuff out there right now, wouldn’t being able to see what’s spreading be important to understand? And isn’t them shutting it down a pretty large signal that it is important?
Maybe there’s a boring explanation I’m missing. But the part that gets me is the other possibility, that there’s some kind of suppression force we might not even be aware of.
Is that terrifying to anyone else or am I overthinking it? Just curious what people who were around for it think.
First is the counterculture comment. I’ve thought alot about this and I think lemmy has done the opposite. You mentioned regaining control, censorship and payments which are all structure issues. But look at this place. What was actually created here? I’d argue it may even be worse then reddit.
The golden days of reddit and the internet existed for one reason, because they were everything you described. People had control. We had tools that let regular people create and post whatever they wanted, and also control the spaces we participated in. It was essentially a more socialized platform. But eventually reddit and the others wanted to make money, so they drifted toward removing those controls. YouTube removed the downvote button, then brought it back, but now it doesn’t do anything. It gives users the sense they’re doing something but its theater. Reddit and the others did the same. In the end everything was there to serve corporate interests.
Mods were given massive powers because it’s easy to appoint a producer or marketing team as a faceless mod who controls the space. That took away the communities freedom to grow organically. It also opened them up to political interests, like r/canada where a user became a mod, turned out to be a nazi and proceeded to only allow racists. That is exactly what lemmy recreated. It didn’t rebuild what reddit was in it’s best years. It rebuilt the features that allowed corporate control, censorship and the selling off of communities, and nobody questions this. Things are only good now because lemmy isn’t big enough yet. It’s a poison pill waiting to turn because we never addressed the original problems. We just found a new place.
So here’s what I think needs to change. Lemmy should reject mod control measures in favor of community based powers. Mods shouldn’t control communities. Control should be with the people in them, and mods should be there only to handle the most serious issues. Whatever power mods do keep should be transparent so everyone can see whats being removed and why.
Second, you didn’t know what I meant by collecting, analyzing and disrupting. I just mean learning.
My question back to you is this. Take anti vaccination groups, communities that defend rapists, or some of the most vile stuff online. Do you think those are just regular people showing up organically, or do you think there’s networks and information supply lines feeding each other?
I struggle to tell if other people see this the way I do. When you say you’re confused about why we would collect information, analyze it and disrupt things, it makes me think we’re living in two different worlds. It’s like trying to bring up vaccinations on Facebook. I feel like i want to learn a lot of things in life and right now to me this take over of our digital spaces is the most important. So I’m just always taken back when I’m asked “why would you want to”