Technology that supposedly is designed to connect people to each other. Facebook, Twitter, and maybe Youtube are examples.
In reality, most commercial social media platforms seem to be causing a lot of harm; in some cases, manipulating or exploiting people psychologically for profit. They particularly exploit your attention, which is how they make money, driving the Attention Economy.
Free Software alternatives such as Mastodon (and perhaps even Usenet) don’t have this incentive and, while not perfect, at least aren’t actively trying to manipulate people for profit.
See:
- How the Attention Economy Hurts You Via Social Media Sites Like Facebook
- How to Join the Fediverse and Cast Off the Attention Economy
Links to this note
This started out at a post on my blog. This edited version is intended to be kept more up-to-date.
The loose, decentralized confederation of non-profit Social Media sites such as Mastodon, Pixelfed, and PeerTube. They all use ActivityPub for federation.
This was originally published as a post on my blog. This version is intended to be kept up-to-date with developments, and is edited from the original.
This started as a post on my blog. This edited version is intended to be kept more up-to-date.
Profiting from convincing (or, perhaps more accurately, “manipulating”) people to pay attention. Big Social Media sites like Facebook are part of the attention economy: you pay nothing to use the site. In fact, you are the product; they sell your attention to advertisers, and therefore design their product to maximize their profits by manipulating you to spend more time on the site.
Mastodon is a Free Software, decentralized, global Social Media network. Unlike the other major ones, it is not a part of the Attention Economy, and generally has no ads.
I am a programmer, manager, hobbyist, advocate, volunteer, dad, and nature lover. I live out on an old farmstead in rural Kansas that once belonged to my grandparents. The nearest paved road is about 3 miles away, and the nearest town (population 600) is 7 miles away. I have three incredible children, which I might occasionally mention on my blog.