Fediverse

it does. as an mbin cheerleader, its heartwarming to see the disparate AP based servers communicating with my server. lemmy/friendica/mastodon etc.... knowing that no entity could control all those products. the key of course is the protocol and maintaining ActivityPub as functional, standardized service.

I don’t think you’re dramatic.

For me it’s about reclaiming my right to participate in online discourse on my own terms. In a way the fediverse is freedom.

I plan on trying to self host a mastodon instance for myself and rebuild my blogs.

I don’t think I’d ever want to self host a lemmy, I like being anonymous to a reasonable degree. But I like that lemmy lets me have a voice without acquiescence to reddits enshittification.

Also the community is largely great. I love the memes, I love the comments and discussions, and I like that I learn things from fellow internet users again.

For me it does. I'm really enjoying Lemmy, and have curated a bunch of communities that I follow and participate in in a way that feels helpful, hopeful, and not toxic.

It seems like the only semi-viable alternative to oligarch run social networks.

I am not American, but behaviour exhibited by oligarchs such as Zuckerberg/Musk (and these are just the ones that get in the news) is not at all surprising.

…abd this goes on anticorporate. Thank you very much. And yes, I think it does and we do make a difference. Keep it up. Organize and search for people like yourself. Instead of turning the naysayers one by one and burning out, find your allies and spread the word efficiently. Think of the ideal situation and make it happen. I‘m here, lets fucking go (same mission, different continent)!

We don't have control of our world, we never did. Just distance yourself from the madness and embrace the good in the world. Focus on those things and it becomes your reality.

Fediverse? Maybe. It will stay small and not monetized. For some that's good.

Lemmy? No hope. Lemmy and the pessimistic world views here give ME no hope for anything on this planet. I want to leave, but keep finding myself back here doom scrolling. Some communities seems good though. The platform is good though and seems to be picking up.

Yep. I think that we're on the precipice of what's to come.

set up a monthly contribution even if it’s just $2/month

~~I remember somewhere on the fedi, some instance admin saying that on average it cost $2/month per user. So, if you are relatively active on the server, $2 monthly recurring donation might cover your share of expenses.~~ maybe not a very good idea

how I can make a difference

https://blog.elenarossini.com/supporting-the-fediverse-one-small-act-at-a-time/

Not particularly. History is long. And history tells us people don't have any self-respect. Even when doing something as simple as NOT doing something, like using an abusive platform.

Numbers are going up, yet I don't know a single person who has made the switch. I made an appeal on Facebook and several dozen people liked and commented and agreed and expressed interest, but not one of them switched.

I have, however, seen dozens of people firing up accounts on the VC-backed centralized platform that is BlueSky, and hundreds of millions of people switching to Meta-owned Threads, proving that they've learned absolutely nothing.

Absolutely.

It gives me memes and that’s close enough

Hopeful that some parts of the population won't be giving all their data away. There will always be bootlickers (apple fanboys, google lovers, reddit aficionados, Musk-worshippers, ...) , people who just don't know better (too old, uninterested, ignorant, unexposed, ...), and people who can't join due to things like censorship, internet speed, or whatever else.

I feel safe, definitely. No one has ever insulted, harassed or trolled me here, compared to reddit, where even safe spaces are overrun with trolls.

Its nice as a place to talk to mostly like-minded people and avoid the increasingly common AI bot slop, but it is too spread out internationally to be a useful communication tool for organizing local activities, which is a bit sad.

Fediverse as a technology yes but the userbase here does the opposite. By definition someone commenting on a message board is not a normal person because normal people don't do that, but to be commenting on a niche platform like this makes you hyper not-normal, and yes, that applies to me as well and I'm well aware of that.

The Fediverse is a sewer of antisemitism, and antisemitic censorship