I feel about this article similarly to how I feel about the linked “WhatsApp and
the domestication of users” thing — lemme copy-paste my comment on that other
article from Lemmy.
This is a very well-written post, and it’s sad, because the same thing is going
to happen with it as with all the other well-written take-downs of proprietary,
siloed, platforms: the people who /need/ to read it aren’t /going/ to read it,
and WhatsApp (slash Facebook, slash Twitter, slash Instagram, slash Signal,
slash …) is still going to be used by a huge portion of the population.
Maybe I just feel really cynical today. I do think that “user domestication” is
a great metaphor for what happens. I guess what I’m saying is: fighting against
this kind of corporate behavior feels about as effective as fighting against
factory farming by going vegetarian. Like, sure, it helps, but the machine is
/so big/. It’s hard to feel like we’re doing anything.
I just don’t know what to do. The promise of the Internet has soured, mostly.
I have a friend who uses Matrix, and his main complaint is that he doesn’t know anyone, besides me, who would be willing to move away from Discord. IMO it’s not about getting everyone to move away right now, it’s about having Matrix (or XMPP or whatever!) ready on the side, for when the next major disruption to Discord happens. I feel like if more Matrix enthusiasts had been in the wsb discord guild, this could have been the start of a mass migration!
The key takeaway here is to pick an open chat solution. Set up an account, and talk about it once in a while. You’ll find some friends willing to try it with you, and strike when Discord pulls something like this!
And hey, the best part about these open protocols is that it really don’t matter if you choose Matrix or XMPP, because although they’re not interoperable, there exist bridges and means of communicating with people on the other protocol. It’s not as deadly a lock-in as Discord or Skype or Teams. And I’d bet that if XMPP really took off, Matrix would evolve to be more compatibile, and vice versa.
I agree with almost everything Drew says here. But this line made me chuckle:
They deplatformed /r/WSB because they were financially threatened by them.
If you’re offering someone a service, and some of your users are using it to coordinate activities that you or your investors deem a threat to your ongoing existence, it would be irrational to continue offering that service to those users.
I feel about this article similarly to how I feel about the linked “WhatsApp and the domestication of users” thing — lemme copy-paste my comment on that other article from Lemmy.
I just don’t know what to do. The promise of the Internet has soured, mostly.
no mention of xmpp, disappointing!
I have a friend who uses Matrix, and his main complaint is that he doesn’t know anyone, besides me, who would be willing to move away from Discord. IMO it’s not about getting everyone to move away right now, it’s about having Matrix (or XMPP or whatever!) ready on the side, for when the next major disruption to Discord happens. I feel like if more Matrix enthusiasts had been in the wsb discord guild, this could have been the start of a mass migration!
The key takeaway here is to pick an open chat solution. Set up an account, and talk about it once in a while. You’ll find some friends willing to try it with you, and strike when Discord pulls something like this!
And hey, the best part about these open protocols is that it really don’t matter if you choose Matrix or XMPP, because although they’re not interoperable, there exist bridges and means of communicating with people on the other protocol. It’s not as deadly a lock-in as Discord or Skype or Teams. And I’d bet that if XMPP really took off, Matrix would evolve to be more compatibile, and vice versa.
I agree with almost everything Drew says here. But this line made me chuckle:
If you’re offering someone a service, and some of your users are using it to coordinate activities that you or your investors deem a threat to your ongoing existence, it would be irrational to continue offering that service to those users.