Skip to main content


Another federated medium: Bookwyrm


Here's a #federated service we don't often hear about: #Bookwyrm . If you are, well, a book worm, check out the #community at bookwyrm.social/.


Ready to quit X on Tuesday


Downloaded my data from #Twitter today (not entirely sure why; I'll probably delete it in a year). Already on #Mastodon at @Alfredo and on #Pixelfed at @AlfredoL@pixey.org . Joining the crowd at helloquittex.com on Tuesday.

Social Media Feed reshared this.

in reply to leastaction

@leastaction @Alfredo I'm always downloading my data whenever I leave a platform. I mean, it's my entire history there. It's a pity to lose it like that in a snap.

leastaction reshared this.


We finally have a platform that can compete with :insta:. This solves the #algorithm problem and everyone, especially Europeans, can jump on a platform that doesn't manipulate them. #Meta has already shown itself to be suspicious, to the point of censoring posts that refer to @pixelfed. With good reasons. In just a few days, #Pixelfed has already reached over 330,000 accounts.
But there's more from the #fediverse: an alternative to #TikTok is coming: it's called #loops.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

This entry was edited (1 week ago)
in reply to The Turtle

@the_turtle I don't have a #TikTok account, but I think the fact that @loops is part of the fediverse is reason enough to believe that the experience will be much better, but who knows, we'll just have to wait and see.
Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source
Cunha

@Elischeva91 they maintain a curated list of servers listed on pixelfed.org/servers

For a full list of servers, checkout fedidb.org/software/pixelfed

Source: mastodon.social/@pixelfed/1138…


We maintain a curated list of servers that follow the safety/security pledge listed on pixelfed.org/servers

For a full list of servers, checkout fedidb.org/software/pixelfed

(We built FediDB for the fediverse ❤️)



leastaction reshared this.


→ Mastodon’s founder cedes control, refuses to become next #Musk or #Zuckerberg
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20…

“"Our core mission remains the same: to create the tools and digital spaces where #people can build authentic, constructive online communities #free from ads, data exploitation, manipulative algorithms, or corporate monopolies," Mastodon's blog said.”

“Mastodon's day-to-day operations will be managed by the new European not-for-profit entity, "establishing a new legal home for #Mastodon."”

reshared this



Big day for the fediverse


Major news in the #fediverse: #Mastodon becomes a non-profit ; and Instagram replacement #pixelfed , which is seeing a big surge in membership as people flee Meta, launches mobile apps.

And while we're on the subject, let me point to Loops, a fediverse alternative to TikTok which is just now getting off the ground.

Helen Jojo Blackforest reshared this.

in reply to leastaction

I tried to join gram.social but the email confirmation didn't come in for a long while and then it didn't work. I requested another one. Maybe things are funky because of the influx.


On polling and propaganda


write.as/leastaction/on-pollin…


On polling and propaganda


For almost two years now polls in Canada have shown that the Conservative Party of Canada, led by Pierre Poilievre, Canada's answer to Donald Trump, have a commanding lead over the governing Liberal Party led until recently by Justin Trudeau. There is no doubt that this was a major factor leading to Trudeau's resignation, in the hope that the Liberal Party might recover lost ground under a new leader.

At the same time, I can't help feeling that the polls have a lot of influence on how Canadians will vote.

I wrote a thread on Mastodon about how this might work. The Conservative Party's messaging consists simply of repeating “Justin Trudeau is a horrible person and he should resign”. This is spread both by conventional media and corporate social media as news and commentary.

Then one day you get a phone call from a polling company asking whether you agree that Justin Trudeau is a horrible person and he should resign”. What are the odds that you will say yes, if you've been exposed to the statement repeatedly?

Polls are viewed as representing the most probable outcome of an election “if it were held today”. But that probability is only conditional. It is the probability that you will vote one way or another given that you've been exposed to a certain propaganda. I am sure that if in a parallel universe where the Conservative Party of Canada has not been hammering the message about Trudeau for years a similar poll was conducted, the result would be quite different.

But there's more. The poll itself has an influence on the election outcome. One reason is what is known as “social proof”. Gil Duran has a great post about this in The Framelab. He writes

People tend to copy what other people do. If something is popular, we tend to trust it more. When many other people buy a product or follow a trend, we tend to assume it’s good. Our brains are wired to look for clues from other people’s choices. It’s a basic human instinct to follow the crowd. “Monkey see, monkey do.”


If you see that a majority of your fellow voters will vote Conservative, you are more likely to do so yourself. Marketers know this very well.

The poll may also have another effect on the outcome of the election: If you are not a Conservative voter, but you are convinced that the Conservatives will win, that makes you less likely to take the trouble to vote. The poll becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I see propaganda as a process, where a certain political message is spread to as many people as possible and then polling is a feedback mechanism that confirms that the message is true. Polling skeptics will scrutinize the methodology and the statistical methods, and I have been one of them, but I believe now that that is missing the point. The polls can be quite accurate in that they reflect popular opinion, and yet be a key component of the propaganda process.

#Democracy #Elections #Statistics #Propaganda




Migrating from corporate social media


Starting to explore migrating away from corporate social media like Facebook or Twitter, to the fediverse. The biggest obstacle is of course the network effect: I have a group of friends on Facebook, we all follow each other, will they migrate with me? I guess I'll find out. I am doing this gradually, first migrating to the fediverse (links in my profile), and starting a blog at write.as/leastaction/ with some longer pieces about topics that interest me: the meaning of democracy is a big one for me these days. And yes, the rise of oligarchic despots around the world.

If any of these things resonate with you, do let me know. I am very happy to have conversations about these important topics.