Can Upstart Twitter-Clone Mastodon Create a Nazi-Free Space Online?
http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/04/mastodon-doesnt-have-nazis-yet.html
"[T]here is also little doubt that Mastodon’s lack of Twitter-like toxicity is due to its small size. It’s not that hard to find 50,000 people online who aren’t Nazis, and are mostly pretty nice (not that Mastodon doesn’t have spats). So one question is: Can it maintain its peacefulness as it grows?"
Scale, and scale effects, are the /only/ thing that matters.
@dredmorbius Early adopters don't tend to be the much at the bottom of the cess-pool either.
@pwm Oh, absolutely. That's part of the tech adoption cycle / hype cycle. Early adoptors are frequently (though not always) top-of-the-cesspool types. (If they're not, in social contexts, the network generally doesn't grow, though it may fester: 4chan, /b/). But that's not going to be sustained. I've argued for years that FB's biggest boost came not from Zuck but by starting at Harvard: a high-appeal cohort. I'm glad to see danah boyd mentions that in her work as well.
@dredmorbius It was absolutely FB's start at Harvard then passing it on to the other Ivy Leagues that got that kicking off.
It wasn't just exclusivity - it was exclusivity among a very desirable demographic.
@pwm It's so refreshing to see others actually acknowledge that. I've been howling into the void for years.
@pwm Or: it's all downhill from here.
@dredmorbius i'm 100% sure that mastodon will also devolve into hate once enough users join the platform
@tristan Avoiding that becomes the only real question. I've been diving into the history of media (to the Greeks and before) over the past few months. It's been ... interesting.
Clay Shirky: "I study social media. Which means, to a first approximation, I watch poeple argue."
What happens when everybody can talk to everyone? They find more people they disagree with.
It's complicated.
@dredmorbius Thanks for sharing!