a lot of this is really aggrandizing
Discussion
"But here’s the thing: all those other platforms, the ones where I unwisely allowed myself to get locked in, where today I find myself trapped by the professional, personal and political costs of leaving them, they were all started by people who swore they’d never sell out. I know those people, the old blogger mafia who started the CMSes, social media services, and publishing platforms where I find myself trapped. I considered they friends (I still consider most of them friends), and I knew them well enough to believe that they really cared about their users."
lol
"They ~did~ care about their users."
it's giving.. 'i know my girlfriend's birthday is sometime in june' energy
they cared about their users like a shitty boyfriend
which is to say
tepid at best
What about all the users who ~won’t~ be harmed by the compromise, but ~will~ have their communities and online lives SHATTERED* if you shut down the company?
*my emphasis, i made it caps
like when you suck my dick if you dont tongue my nuts it doesnt count
shattered ok
In other words, to resist enshittification, you have to impose switching costs on yourself.
correct. yes.
"There’s a name for this dynamic, from the world of behavioral economics. It’s called a “Ulysses Pact.” It’s named for the ancient hacker Ulysses, who ignored the normal protocol for sailing through the sirens’ sea. While normie sailors resisted the sirens’ song by filling their ears with wax, Ulysses instead had himself lashed to the mast, so that he could hear the sirens’ song, but could not be tempted into leaping into the sea, to be drowned by the sirens."
whisper sapiosexual sweet nothings into my ear daddy to make this sound a lot more epic and complicated and mythic than it actually is
"There is no such thing as a person who is immune to rationalization or pressure. I’m certainly not. Anyone who believes that they will never be tempted is a danger to themselves and the people who rely on them. A belief you can never be tempted or coerced is like a belief that you can never be conned — it makes you more of a mark, not less."
the author is laundering their friends and trying to sleep at night
very: there but for the grace of god go i
humble sells well
"Bluesky lacks the one federated feature that is absolutely necessary for me to trust it" ~the ability to resist temptation because it is so fun to participate in the digital genocide of palestine~
oh wait the author of this article didnt write that they chose something else?
"the ability to leave Bluesky and go to another host and continue to talk to the people I’ve entered into community with there."
oh how disappointing
"A VC that understands that they can force you to wreck your users’ lives is always in danger of doing so. A VC who understands that doing this will make your service into an empty — and thus worthless — server is far less likely to do so (and if they do, at least your users can escape)."
this is maybe the weakest argument ive read yet and it hasnt been great
"far less likely to do so" i pray, as a tiny innocent mouse oh i so do hope my vc isnt up to shit, or on one, or just loves deleting shit, or loves cruelty
i so hope my vc isnt abusive
i so hope my vc is generally pretty reasonable
all vcs are actually really nice if you take the time to get to know them and if you scratch them behind the ears and if you never have a tone or attitude
im so happy with my bitchmade life
where i did this
put myself in this situation
"I don’t know why Bluesky hasn’t added the federation systems that would enable freedom of exit to its service."
because your entire take is wrong my guy
like here is my essay on the laws of physics
i dont know why there is gravity i cant explain that hmm
is the essay just for the people at bluesky to read as an appeal to better natures thru flattery thing
maybe if i say nice things and give everyone the benefit of the doubt and i am also kinda dumb it will be charming
https://blossom.primal.net/b185fdd3b1543e0f9d62b1b58a8db6864f4afbc1f14d7ec7d322b6534a9e7356.mov