- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.ml
This is a pretty great, long form post about the structure of Bluesky, and how it’s largely kinda pretending to be decentralized at the moment. I’m not trying to make a dig at it. I’ve enjoyed the platform myself for a while, but it’s good to learn more about how it actually works.
This article was shared on Mastodon via its author here.
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It’s not.
I’m not even sure it can, unless they want to pay server operators. Who would do that for free for a for-profit company? And if they’re ultimately supported by the top, they’re still centralized.
Not that it’s super expensive to run a server, but it ain’t free; at least in a place like the Fediverse, every transaction is voluntary all the way down to the financial support, because any part may choose to participate or leave as they see fit.
I don’t see how BlueSky can replicate that and still chase profit.
I thought I read something that said one of the servers or services or something was already like 4.8 terabytes and growing by the day.
but even if you wanted to run that, you cant because they wont release the software or interact with foreign relays.
they dont even let you choose to grab the 4.8tb which is <10% of my home storage
What? It’s just a clone of X that is anti-X. It’s not decentralized at all, it’s Twitter for the original blue check people only, and they’re already eating each other alive in there.
That’s a really interesting read (and worth much more attention than the pithy one-liners of people who just want to read the title).
On reflection, I think my take away is that Bluesky will always by necessity of its design be hosted and controlled by a single centralised company. But what their architectural model does allow is the possibility of a wholesale migration from one centralised provider to another. That is, it would be possible for a suitably resourced and motivated company to host its own mirror Relay and other components and have essentially a fully functional Bluesky clone. In the event that Bluesky ever “does a Twitter” and go into terminal decline, in theory this might mean that a successor/competitor could emerge and take on the network without loss of existing content.
I’m not sure that’ll ever actually happen, but it’s an interesting thought.
Interesting point, and shows that most likely, any instance of Bkuesky will eventually go Twitter
No decentralization atm.
What’s funny is that the only shit people get from DeCeNtRaLiZaTioN is inconvenience and dying engagement.
If you want a decentralize Twitter clone. Mastodon is the only pick.
Let’s be real, most instances suck. Can’t search, can’t see how many interactions a post had. It’s not the same experience
the shit doesn’t even work for me half the time. the app just spins. super great 👍
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if there is, I haven’t seen any. ive been using it quite a bit. its probably like most social media where if you don’t engage with that kind of content, it doesn’t show it to you.
People have been saying
Ok, Trump. Thanks for the story.
But the best people - all the best people - and these really are good people, you know? They’re good, the best, just wonderful people, and they say - I didn’t ask, they told me!
I tried to look this up but I couldn’t find much. The “worst” I found was this:
Some users have expressed concerns about the platform’s moderation practices, suggesting that the community’s emphasis on inclusivity and respect may lead to over-sensitivity, where even minor disagreements or differing opinions are met with significant backlash. This environment can create a perception of excessive policing of content, potentially discouraging open dialogue.
Where are you reading that people are saying that it’s worse than twitter? Is it right wing people that are saying that because they put emphasis on inclusivity and respect?
That’s exactly what it is. The trolls and bot runners and MAGA chuds are pissed that we can completely prevent them from interacting with us there. And with curated blocklists it doesn’t even require work for the average user.
They can come to bsky but they’ll just be screaming at each other while the rest of us talk about cool stuff.
It’s one of the best features of bsky!
Lists, feeds, starter packs, and moderation tools that work, have all led to a very vibrant and engaging social media experience!
The user base isn’t afraid of quickly dealing with antisocial behavior.
You can tell which way your media outlets position themselves by how they report on this aspect of bsky. Egalitarians will cast it in a positive light, while Elitists will cast it in a negative light.
IMO it is THE killer feature, and it’s why Bluesky is going to win this round of the internet wars.
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Thats not really what happens, unless you’re so toxic that old-twitter would actually ban you.
Bsky has a “nuclear block”, that essentially removes you and the target from even existing on the version of the site each other see. If you’re ok with just talking to folk who are on your side of a “no, shutup” line, like “trans women are women” or “trans is a mental disorder” you’ll be fine.
The issue is that a bunch of folk who abscribe to the second apparently just want to troll the first, so they get blocked by their targets, have no fun, and then complain to reporters still on twitter.
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“They” don’t have that. Most labellers are user made and people can subscribe to them or not.
The implementation details matter less than how it affects the culture.
I do think it matters a lot whether it’s a thing the app offers natively to everybody or something certain users have implemented on their own and that other users can choose to use or not. You don’t blame the contents of a mod on the game itself, do you?
If there’s a widely used mod that makes the game worse, that’s a good reason to not play the game. It doesn’t matter who made the mod. Using the mod (e.g. an aim bot in a shooter game) is toxic user behavior and if the game ops tolerate it, they deserve blame too.
Is it “widely used”? An aim bot directly affects everybody else, actively making the game worse. This only affects a small number of people who choose to opt-in and trust the labeller’s opinion. I can’t even find that labeller and I learnt about it from you. And again, it’s not BSky that offers the labeller - that IS an important distinction.
The way some moderation lists (ban/labeling) work is algorithmic.
You can actually host one of these services yourself!
A bit of a counterpoint: https://whtwnd.com/alexia.bsky.cyrneko.eu/3l727v7zlis2i
More than Twitter. Less than Mastodon. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Presently? Hardly at all. It is interesting that a private Corp is even seriously playing with building a decentralized platform, I guess.
The files are out there to host your own server but from the short look I took it’s pretty involved. Most people with the knowledge and interest to host their own twitter-like server have probably already started a mastodon instance.
It reminds me of what Google tried to do initially with Google+. They copied Diaspora’s concept of aspects, calling them “circles”. Over time, though, using the circles became more and more janky until they removed them entirely. Then, of course, Google+ got shuttered completely over security issues.
Likewise, “federation” and “decentralization” are the new hotness in social networks, so here’s a big corporation looking to cash in on that. Of course, real decentralization would take too much power away from the corporation, so they have to half-ass it somehow.
I’m staying on Lemmy and off Bluesky.
I seek and spread knowledge from/to helpful lemmings and not interested in another Twitter wannabe gossip app, hopping on the “decentralized” train to grain traction.
This gossip app is meant for artists and other internet celebrities that think they are cool making their opinions to be fact. Extreme left is insufferable right now as a moderate. They have tripled down in all the worst ways which makes it annoying and frustrating to ignore.
I always liked reddit better since people actually discussed real things. Since I jumped ship to lemmy I feel even less inclined to bother with anything else. However reddit was way better for certain stuff like artists or creators.
I take it you tried out bsky and had a bad experience…
Yes Ive been on bsky since early this year and really enjoyed it until everyone on the platform started kicking up dust over the election completely overreacting and spazzing out spewing the most idiotic things about identity politics, third party voters, trump being hitler, fascists it just lost all meaning. I used to be democrat and now consider myself moderate at this point and I just cant stomach following those kind of people anymore.
Not to mention childish adding labels on everyone and blocklists to decent people just completely power tripping cancel culture x10. Then all of a sudden I feel like its twitter all over again and I become incredibly annoyed at myself thinking it would ever change. Microblogging is so fucking stupid.
I’m probably not going to read the article. But there’s currently just one bluesky instance, so it’s 100% centralized, not decentralized at all.
Jack was talking about the “protocol” at one point… I don’t think that matters at all right now. It’s just another social media site!
Apparently the instances are connected to a central hub.
Instances plural? Are there other instances?
I assume so. There’s a download and setup instructions here.
