diff --git a/content/blog/the-internet-is-broken-due-to-structural-injustice.md b/content/blog/the-internet-is-broken-due-to-structural-injustice.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..988c559 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/the-internet-is-broken-due-to-structural-injustice.md @@ -0,0 +1,137 @@ +--- +title: "The internet is broken due to structural injustice" +date: "2022-10-27" +--- + +Over the past few years, I've come to realize that the Internet as we know +it is utterly broken. Lately, I've also been pondering how participants +in the modern Internet have enabled and perpetuated harm to society at +large. Repeatedly, we have seen the independence of the commons chipped +away by powerful men who wish for participants to serve their own whims, +while those who raise concerns with these developments are either shunned, +banned or doxed. + +On Friday, October 28th, we will see another demonstration of these structural +injustices where the commons takes another loss to the whims of a powerful man. +Last time, [it was freenode's takeover by Andrew Lee][fn], and this time it +will be Twitter's takeover by Elon Musk. No, really, the deal is already +concluded: [TWTR will be delisted from NASDAQ on Friday][twtr-delisting]. + + [fn]: https://ariadne.space/2021/05/20/the-whole-freenode-kerfluffle/ + [twtr-delisting]: https://seekingalpha.com/news/3896099-twitter-delisting-from-nyse-effective-on-friday-after-musk-completes-deal + +Will this be the end of Twitter? Probably not, but it will be the end of the +current relationship the commons shares with Twitter. Instead of acting as +a self-described "public square," it will further evolve into a chaotic +cacophony of trolling and counter-trolling driven in the name of algorithmic +engagement. Some will move to other microblogging services and networks, +and will likely discover that everything which made Twitter horrible likely +applies in some way to the replacement. + +## Are social platforms working as designed? + +The reality is that **microblogging sucks**, but Twitter managed to make it +addictive for a few reasons, [which is *why* the most popular alternative, +Mastodon][masto], is basically a copy of the underlying formula, but tweaked to +work on the ActivityPub federated network (the so-called fediverse). + + [masto]: https://joinmastodon.org/ + +The formula is not that hard to understand if you understand how people +think and react to stimulation. People are inherently social creatures, +and because of the formula used by Twitter, have tried their best to use +Twitter *despite* the inherent conceptual flaws behind microblogging. + +If you've ever sat down at a slot machine, you will likely note that they are +constantly making noises as you interact with them. These sounds are +designed to stimulate the reward center in your brain and thus cause it +to release endorphins. In the same way, microblogging and other social +platform formulas have built rich notification systems to ensure that +users experience pleasure from being online. Don't believe me? Try +muting the notifications from Twitter or Mastodon and see if you remain +interested in it: odds are, after a while, you won't. + +The other key part of the formula: sew discord amongst the users. This +can be done organically (by users) or algorithmically. People have an +inherent desire to be *right*, and this keeps the engagement loop going +as people fight over stupid things like whether Android or iPhones are +better. The things being argued over do not even have to have any basis +in reality: people are more than happy to hold positions which falter to +any modicum of dialectical analysis, such as whether *furries are actually +shitting in litter boxes in schools* (obviously this is bullshit if you think +about it for more than 10 seconds). + +Eventually these pointless arguments evolve into arguments which have +actual societal impact: *are trans people legitimate* and *do they deserve +rights*? Obviously, they are, and they do, but in a world where +microblogging discourse is the primary form of media ingestion, the consumer +is manipulated with fight-or-flight challenges to make their own +280-character thought piece on the discourse of the day, which leads them +to consider the possibility that *perhaps* Chudlord18 might be on to something +when he points out that George Soros was seen at the last Bilderberg +meeting, even though all of the contents of Chudlord18's post was fake news. + +Sadly, as we see in the world today, it turns out that fascism is the +most optimized ideology available given the limited cognitive bandwidth +constraints of a 280-character post. This is because the answer is always +simple with fascism: generally a death threat towards the marginalized group +of the day will do just fine, which easily fits into 280 characters: +"Storm the capitol building!"? Yep, even congressional members can be +marginalized under the right circumstances, *and* it's under 280 characters. + +## Spamming and scamming + +Fascism is hardly the only problem that these networks face. Almost every +day I get spam like this on either Twitter or Mastodon: + +![Spam messages for an affinity-fundraising scam from a Mastodon user](/images/mastodon-spam.png) + +Spam like this is a huge problem with Mastodon, but not with Pleroma, another +ActivityPub server, which provides a robust message filtering facility. +However, due to the combination of mismanagement of the Pleroma project and +an absolutely absurd fediverse turf war, admins of Pleroma instances are +written off by some Mastodon admins as being evil, even if they are otherwise +harmless. + +Between this and the architectural complexity of deploying a BEAM application +like Pleroma on Kubernetes, by comparison to how easy it is to deploy Mastodon +using Knative on Kubernetes, I am using Mastodon. Since the project mismanagement +issues are largely resolved now, I might suck it up and convert the instance to +Pleroma in the near future just so I can deal with the spam in a more automated +way. + +I'll probably continue to use Mastodon (or maybe Pleroma if I switch my instance +to it), but lately I've been using microblogging platforms less and less, as I +have realized that ultimately the format doesn't provide the sense of community +I am looking for. + +And this is ultimately the problem with the fediverse: everything on the fediverse +is a clone of a proprietary platform, with basically the same social downsides. +It turns out when you take something useful, and turn it into a "social experience," +you basically ruin its utility. + +## Social tools which are actually respectful + +To me, social tools exist to facilitate communication with my friends, and perhaps +expansion of my friend group to others which have the same interests. It turns out +that we already had good social tools for this all along: blogs and IRC. Because of +certain realities -- it is inherently easier to clone an open protocol and turn it +into a proprietary service -- for most people, these social tools turned into +centralized platforms like Dreamwidth and Discord. + +Microblogging forces you to shout at people, while IRC (now for the most part Discord) +facilitates thoughtful conversation. Social photo sharing encourages the editing of +photographs to make people appear more attractive for additional likes, while posting +photos of yourself to your blog removes that dopamine loop and lets you just focus on +living and occasionally documenting your life. + +Yes, the point is that these tools are largely boring. They aren't *meant* to dominate +your life, they are meant to facilitate communication with your friends. They exist to +serve the needs of the commons. + +Maybe somebody will eventually build the tools I am ultimately looking for. In the +meantime, I've expanded my list of contact points to include services I previously +kept mostly private. + +But either way, for the most part, I won't be investing my time in microblogging anymore, +be it on Twitter or Mastodon. diff --git a/static/images/mastodon-spam.png b/static/images/mastodon-spam.png new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca76dae Binary files /dev/null and b/static/images/mastodon-spam.png differ