Europe
News and information from Europe πͺπΊ
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cool story, bro - but WITH WHAT?
I mean, look at the current state of tech we've got in Europe. Look at the Fediverse, which is nice, but about as complex for an average Joe as a fusion reactor. That's ALSO the reason why Bluesky took off and skyrocketed, but Mastodon - despite being there before - is still WAAAAY behind.
Lemmy the same - the user experience and App situation is ABYSMAL. Hell, I'm glad I don't have to fill out a form and FAX it to the server operators to get anything through.
Reason is: Though the FOSS community is great, there's no single design philosophy behind it. Everybody is free to do whatever they please, everything looks a bit different, works a bit different. That's nice for the fans of individual services and programs, but NIGHTMARE FUEL for said average Joe.
And yes, this average Joe is around 80% of the userbase. Plus - and I bet you already did that whilst reading what I wrote - this average Joe is ridiculed by the communities and developers (like all those Gentoo nerds like to joke about everyone who struggles at writing their own drivers for being losers and shouldn't be allowed to operate anything digital for instance). THAT is, by the way, THE reason why Linux NEVER took off, never WILL take off for the end users (despite Microsoft providing THE golden opportunity to switch with their dick move on Win10. But well - average Joe prefers to throw bucks into the bin over switching to Linux. Should make you think why...)
Social Media made in Europe won't work, because we lack those able AND willing to build something modern, "sexy" and easy to use. We've got too many people doubting, too many people holding others back, and others who just want to go through with THEIR idea of something, omitting EVERYTHING around them. And because we ignore the userbase.
Fuck the "average Joe"... i was there when the internet as a whole turned to shit because it was flooded with "average Joes", hell... i even visited the smoldering ruins of the Usenet after the dreadful hordes of "average Joes" have finished plundering it. The Fediverse doesn't need to grow too large, let it stay a bit under the radar... its better this way.
I think the same, but OP wants a Facebook for Europe, so quite different IMO. Also, yes, let them all pile up there and leave us alone π
I know that this is repeated over and over, but I really do not see it. Go to join-mastodon.org. Pick a server, it really doesn't matter that much for starters. Start tooting. You'll notice that usernames work like mailadresses, so you can have jon@server1.com and jon@server2.com, but you know how that works from your Mailadress.
Go join-lemmy.org. Pick a server, maybe the one local to you? Start posting. You'll notice that there might be several communities with similar names, but you know that from Reddit where there are also similar communities or from your local town where there might also be two soccer clubs or so.
Go to Instagram.com. Register. Get instantly blocked for suspicious activity unless you provide more data. WTF are "reels"? WTF is "Threads"? Those words do not mean anything! What is a "story"? Wasn't there something that you could post pictures?
The fediverse might have its complexities, but lets be honest: If you can read, you can manage. And if you can't read, you shouldn't be on a text-based social media like Mastodon or Lemmy.
It's all well and nice until someone put a link to a post and that sends you off your instance.
For example here https://lemmy.zip/post/44734232
I honestly believe the Fediverse is a good place, exactly because it's slightly less accessible than mainstream stuff. It keeps the absolute scum of the earth out. The internet turned to shit once everyone all of a sudden could access it. It was a fun place to be when you actually had to know your way around a computer. Now the internet essentially is an app on the fucking phone and even the dumbest mouth breather can access it.
Remember that we used to have social media's in specific countries, but at least the one I know (Hyves) got bought out by the Americans iirc (or the Chinese)
Yes. Germany had StudiVZ. It shows that regulation isn't the only problem. The fragmentation caused by language barriers is a serious problem. Still, regulation is the problem that could be easily addressed. StudiVZ was forced to split its user base; to segregate users under 18. That didn't help.
Today, AI could help a lot with the language barriers. That's also something the Americans don't think about much. It's no coincidence that DeepL, an early AI company, is European. But with the regulatory headwinds, I'm really pessimistic about their future.
FOSS can have a single design philosophy. It just needs enough funding and structure. Just look at the Eclipse Foundation (Java).
If we would have a Fediverse Foundation (perhaps with EU backing) that distributes funds to different Fediverse related organisations and has a board for standardisation we could have a very different outcome.
Sadly the F in foss doesnβt stand for Funding
The German Sovereign Tech Fund begs to differ.