this post was submitted on 19 May 2025
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[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 95 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I stopped reading when the "journalist" asked this question:

How did you end up starting a decentralized social platform?

How little research must one do to credulously repeat that PR talking point for a platform that is in fact completely centralized?

[–] some_guy 47 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I stopped at the bit about revolutionizing communication online. That revolution happened over a decade ago with the rise of social media. More social media is just more, not new.

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 17 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Decentralisation via activitypub is the next revolution

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 6 points 1 week ago

or possibly something else, but definetly not atproto as it stands

[–] xnx@slrpnk.net 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (8 children)

Yall are so annoying. Bluesky is 2 years old. Mastodon is like 8 years old. Also theres already another instance and relays running on a raspberry pi.

Yall have such a hate boner you dont even do research. No wonder normies will never use mastodon or lemmy yall are insufferable and mastodon is still just a copy of twitter with no new features

Edit: to anyone curious about keeping up with bluesky’s progress in decentralization and all the other stuff theyre working on here’s a good blog https://fediversereport.com/

[–] M1ch431@slrpnk.net 50 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

We don't have a hate boner. We see "decentralized" being thrown around like a buzzword and we know that it really doesn't apply to their platform.

It's like the Libertarian Party taking the word "libertarian" and flipping the meaning to describe their ideology.

It's a distortion of the spirit of the word and actual libertarians obviously want to clear up the misunderstandings that result from being introduced to the concept of libertarianism through such a group.

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 1 week ago (2 children)

...mastodon is still just a copy of twitter with no new features

What new features does Bluesky have...?

[–] 30p87@feddit.org 34 points 1 week ago

Being a centralized decentralized platform of course. Very innovative.

[–] detun3d@lemm.ee 8 points 1 week ago

Someone clearly has never used context menus or opened their account settings in Mastodon.

[–] 30p87@feddit.org 17 points 1 week ago

Reddit is now decentralized, I just set up nginx to cache it🤡

Oh wait, PDS' don't even cache lol

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 week ago

Also theres already another instance and relays running on a raspberry pi.

Oh yeah? I can join that second server right now and communicate with folks on the main server?

[–] sexy_peach@feddit.org 13 points 1 week ago

Do you have a link to the raspi instance?

[–] tyler@programming.dev 10 points 1 week ago

Bluesky’s model is built in a way that means it won’t ever be decentralized. There are plenty of articles about it.

[–] melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Do you have a link to people talking about running a relay on a raspberry pi? I find it hard to believe that's possible. A PDS, sure, but a relay requires multiple terabytes of storage alone and plenty of bandwidth/CPU/RAM that I just don't see a raspberry pi being able to support.

I'd be curious to hear about any progress on setting up new relays though.

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[–] SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Oh, when did twitter add CWs that required a clickthrough? The ability to set your own character limit? When did it remove its algorithms to show you posts it considered relevant? When did it become open source? When did it become decentralised and federated? When did it start working on end-to-end encryption for DMs? When did it allow for built in themes?

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[–] zygo_histo_morpheus@programming.dev 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I think that it's fair to want the interviewer to ask more critical questions and in general be more precise with their phrasing but

repeat that PR talking point

is a very cynical and uncharitable take on bluesky and decentralization. Cynical takes aren't necessarily wrong but they're not necessarily correct either.

The AT protocol is by its own account an ongoing project with problems that still need be solved before it is able to provide a social network with all the properties that they're interested in.

I don't think that it's accurate to say that bluesky is "completely" centralized (it is less centralized than most social media) as much as it's de-facto centralized. One reason for this is that it's prohibitively expensive to self-host relays. This is something that the AT protocol devs have plans for addressing, so it's possible that this de-facto centralization is a temporary stage in the evolution of bluesky and AT proto.

It is of course possible that they are lying or that they will be unsuccessful despite best intentions but taking for granted that it's just a "PR talking point" is, once again, very cynical in a way that I don't think is completely motivated.

[–] cygnus@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

I don’t think that it’s accurate to say that bluesky is “completely” centralized (it is less centralized than most social media) as much as it’s de-facto centralized.

That's like me calling myself a millionaire because I could theoretically be one at some point in the future. I am de facto not a millionaire, but I also have more than zero dollars. so I'm not completely a non-millionaire.

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[–] madame_gaymes@programming.dev 70 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

Let's see here... ahh yes, it's a company run by a board with a CEO based in Amerikkka. Who gives a shit if it's non-profit or not, the users are not in control. No thanks.

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 37 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's also very much not non-profit.

[–] madame_gaymes@programming.dev 28 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

You're right, I guess the original thing by Jack Dorsey (Bluesky Protocol) was non-profit, but since becoming its own entity it is for-profit now. I conflated the two.

They consider themselves a Benefit Corporation, which I just learned is likely for-profit pretending to be socially aware.

[–] Scrollone@feddit.it 13 points 1 week ago

Yeah I think "benefit company" is the most bullshit thing ever invented

[–] heavyboots@lemmy.ml 36 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (5 children)

What I don't get is why anyone would ever choose commercial social media again given there are Activity Pub clones for practically everything now, where you aren't the product. So many people learned nothing from the ongoing Twitter debacle and the zillion Facebook privacy scandals apparently.

[–] tormeh@discuss.tchncs.de 24 points 1 week ago (4 children)

Try using Mastodon and Bluesky at the same time. Bluesky is a twitter clone and perfect replacement. Mastodon is an excellent micro-blogging platform, but has none of the features people actually liked about twitter. People love recommendation algorithms and quote tweet dunking. That's the core of what it's all about. Mastodon is glorified RSS, which is great if you miss those days.

[–] Kache@lemm.ee 11 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Perhaps open federated systems should have recommendation algos too, just optional and open

[–] UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 week ago

It would be cool to download different algorithms people created to see how it feeds

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[–] madjo@feddit.nl 5 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Follow a few interesting hashtags and you have your recommendation algorithm, but one you're in control of.

[–] Scrollone@feddit.it 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Have you seen the average person recently? They like to be spoon-fed content in a passive way. Look at Instagram Reels or TikTok.

Mastodon is fine for geeks like us, but the average Joe would find it dead and boring. Bluesky managed to fill that hole left by Twitter.

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[–] melmi@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 1 week ago

Fediverse software tends to be kind of hostile to convenience features people have grown accustomed to. Recommendation algorithms, for example. Lemmy is on the cutting edge for having a "Hot" sort.

I know Mastodon has historically been pretty hostile to even more basic things like being able to search posts.

I get why they think like that, and I honestly agree with some of it, but it inevitably creates a culture shock for outsiders coming from corpo media. I think that plus the network effect means the fediverse will always be kind of niche.

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago (11 children)

Is Activity Pub integrated into Lemmy yet?

[–] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 10 points 1 week ago

I thought it was built on activity pub.

I'm gonna go over to my Mastodon account and try to reply to you. One sec.

[–] mishmash2000@mastodon.nz 6 points 1 week ago (6 children)

@60d @heavyboots It is supposed to be but I'm not seeing any mastodon replies showing up on Lemmy yet so I thought I'd give it a try. The fact that I can see your reply from mastodon and reply to it proves something 🤔

[–] 60d@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Cool! Yea I'm not on Mastodon. Replying on Lemmy via Voyager.

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[–] Powderhorn@beehaw.org 32 points 1 week ago

All the lefties fled to Bluesky following Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. But CEO Jay Graber says the app is for everyone—and could revolutionize how people communicate online.

... but probably not.

[–] AntelopeRoom@lemm.ee 26 points 1 week ago (2 children)

You have mastodon, which actually made a federated social media platform, but which has failed to become mainstream, and Blue sky which became mainstream, but has failed to actually become federated.

[–] andrewrgross@slrpnk.net 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Overall, I like the options today a lot better than what we had 10 or even 5 years ago.

I am glad that both Mastodon and Blue Sky exist. I would like both to be successful.

[–] remington@beehaw.org 9 points 1 week ago

I would like both to be successful.

Same

[–] crmsnbleyd@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 week ago

Mastodon didn't eat the world, but it's pretty successful. I have a great time over there.

[–] Butterbee@beehaw.org 25 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Decentralized app plotting a total takeover of the social internet? Are these tryouts for the mental gymnastics invitational?

[–] WatDabney@fedia.io 24 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The mental gymnasics part is the claim that Bluesky is decentralized.

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[–] 0xtero@beehaw.org 19 points 1 week ago

this is potentially the last social identity you have to create.

..as long as you stay centralized on the central BlueSky instance. Once you move out to a (potential, future) federated server, that identity (and it's super duper verification) doesn't follow you.

[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

"What are we doing today, Jay?"

"The same thing we're doing every day, Kate. Trying to take over the social internet!"

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[–] crmsnbleyd@sopuli.xyz 16 points 1 week ago

The fediverse will still be here when bluesky is killed by VCs

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 13 points 1 week ago

"Today, social media, tomorrow the world! Muahahahaha!"

[–] ininewcrow@lemmy.ca 13 points 1 week ago

Are they building an army with troops, tanks, aircraft and naval ships? Are they going to physically and violently take over the social internet?

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 11 points 1 week ago

Normies will be using weibo before they use Mastodon

[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 week ago

Oh no, the twitter people going back to twitter after sold them out. This will end in tears.

[–] Templa@beehaw.org 5 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Y'all are forgetting how hostile Mastodon users can be. Personally I feel a little bit scared of posting anything there.

[–] jcarax@beehaw.org 4 points 1 week ago

Now if only I could get a meaningful reply to a bug preventing complete account deletion, either on github or from support. It seems they modeled their support structure on Google's.

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