Jeff Perry

  • Is this the end of fun online?

    Is this the end of fun online?

    The Death of Internet Communities 1.0

    First it was Twitter and now Reddit. There are more and more fun places online seemingly ruining things for their own short-term gain.

    If you aren’t aware here is a very brief explanation and places you can go to learn more about it, because this Substack post isn’t going to rehash the news, this is a funeral for internet fun.

    Twitter

    After the acquisition of Twitter from Elon Musk it quickly became a right-wing playhouse as well as completely open for hate-speech on the platform. Furthermore, Twitter completely closed off their API to third-party apps making many of the people creating amazing apps like Twitterrific and Tweetbot close up shop overnight.

    It has become a safe-haven for the “anti-woke” crowd and by Elon’s recently liked tweets it seems he has similar views as them too. Instead of being a place for discourse it is instead a Truth Social lite.

    Further Reading: Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network by Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic

    Reddit

    Reddit has taken a page out of Twitter’s book and decided to charge for their API, which isn’t all that uncommon. The problem with this is that Reddit is charging over 2000% more than the average Reddit user costs for server expenses. Christian Selig, the developer of the popular iOS Reddit app Apollo, did some basic envelope math on this after being told that he would have to spend $20 million a year to keep Apollo active.

    Shortly after Selig’s post, Reddit users decided to protest the API changes and “go dark” on June 12th. However, just yesterday Selig came out and explained that Apollo will be shut down after June 30 due to the upcoming API costs and some false allegations of threats. After Selig’s announcement came more developers of Reddit apps and services announcing they too were closing up shop. Among those are Reddit is Fun and Sync.

    Finally, as the discourse on Reddit has gone fully berserk over the consequences of the API changes, Reddit announced an AMA (Ask Me Anything) with Reddit’s CEO, Steve Huffman, today at 1:30 Eastern time.

    Further Information:

    The Death of Fun

    Like a lot of people, Twitter and Reddit were some of the few places I frequented that felt like my home online. I met a lot of really awesome people on both platforms, gained perspectives I wouldn’t otherwise have, learned about memes and other internet culture, and even started a podcast because of a bond I made on Twitter with Christopher Lawley.

    Sadly, those platforms are a shell of their former selves and continues to choose dollars over longevity. It’s a true “emperor has no clothes” kind of situation.

    Aside from the fun I had online and the people I met, places like Reddit and Twitter are important to those online. It was a place where you could find people into the same niche as you. If you were an Apple enthusiast maybe you frequented r/Apple or followed #WWDC on Twitter. You were able to engage with people excited about the latest from Silicon Valley. The same can be said about nearly every kind of internet culture, including r/HydroHomies (a subreddit dedicated to sharing memes and photos about staying hydrated).

    The point is that Reddit and Twitter were two of the biggest places for people to no longer feel alone and unseen. While Reddit and Twitter aren’t the only places people can go to find those in their niche it was candidly the largest pool to dive into. It provided a place for those with common interests to meet and form bonds that last lifetimes. On top of that it provided safe-havens for those being persecuted or ostracized in their home. Many LGBTQ+ people have benefitted from online groups on Twitter and Reddit for example.

    Before you think about rebutting in the comments about how Reddit also paved the way for Donald Trump with the now banned r/The_Donald subreddit, I am aware that not everything about Twitter and Reddit was sunshine and rainbows. It had some dark spots, and I agree that with the good also comes the bad. But even with the bad we all continued to eat up the content on Twitter and Reddit. To be clear, we did it because there was still so much good to be gained from these platforms that outweighed the bad for many of us.

    Sadly, it seems that both Twitter and Reddit are no longer offering the good anymore, instead it is just bad; and it’s getting worse.

    Internet Communities 2.0: The Fediverse

    While I do believe that Twitter and Reddit losing users en masse is a good thing given the circumstances, it doesn’t come without a price. Many are being displaced from their online homes. Thankfully there is a new resurgence in federated and open-web projects online to act as an alternative to Twitter and Reddit. Sites like micro.blog and services like Mastodon are working to bring people together while still being in the open-web and a part of the federated universe.

    Mastodon was where I spent my time during the WWDC announcements and after learning you can follow hashtags I simply followed #WWDC and #WWDC2023 to keep my fingers on the pulse of those watching. It was just as fun, if not more fun, than when I handled it on Twitter last year.

    I plan to leave Reddit come June 30th, and I am most likely also going to leave Twitter at that time as well. As of now, you can find me on Mastodon at @jeffperry@social.lol, over on my blog, and you can contact me.

  • Moderator Mayhem

    Today Techdirt released their second game, Moderator Mayhem. It is a “game that lets you see how good a job you would do as a front line content moderator,” Mike Masnick writes, “for a growing technology company that hosts user-generated content”.

    Not only does the game have you moderate content, but it also gives you feedback from your manager and the public.

    Are you supportive of free speech, or too oppressive in your moderation? Are you allowing too much harassment and therefore not considered safe? One thing about the public is that they’re not shy about letting you know how they feel.

    I did my first run on my lunch break at work and I absolutely plan to play more with this later.

    Techdirt has managed to, once again, provide some fantastic context to what is going on in big tech and the platforms we all know and love.

  • At this point, Elon is just toying with news and media organizations. They truly should just make the active decision to leave.

  • Inside the Hunt for the Discord Leaker, and Twitter Chaos Updates

    I was listening to a recent episode of the podcast Hard Fork, and a specific part of it really resonated with me. It was where Casey Newton was talking to his co-host, Kevin Roose, about NPR’s decision to leave Twitter after getting a “state-affiliated media” badge.

    You know what I’ve been thinking about lately, Kevin? Do you remember during the Trump campaigns, when there would be these rallies. And in the center of the rally there would be a pit for the media. And a signature moment of every rally would be Trump pointing to the people in the media so that everyone at the rally could say, boo, we don’t like the press.

    That is what Twitter has become. It is the press pit, where a bunch of people are standing around you in a circle, jeering. Adding this state-funded media badge was one of those steps. But I’m barely joking when I say that I think eventually every reporter who is still on the service will have a clown badge next to their username. And you just have to decide if you still want to be there when it happens.

    I truly think this is just a matter of time, and if Elon listens to Hard Fork then he almost certainly has at least talked about it with his overworked developer team.

    To add to this, I also read in a recent post by Pew Research that journalists on Twitter might not even be getting the views they deserve. Nearly 70% of journalists use Twitter as one of their top social media platforms. With that in mind, only about 13% of users use Twitter as their means of getting news.

    The usage of Twitter by journalists is beyond disproportionate to their actual reach.

  • Huge Upgrades to Mastodon

    People signing up for Mastodon will no longer have to worry about what server to go to. Instead, Mastodon will now be defaulting to a server they operate. Eugen Rochko, Mastodon’s Founder and CEO, explained his reasoning for this saying that “[m]aking the onboarding process as easy as possible helps new users get past the sign-up process and more quickly engage with others.”

    ZOOM OUT: The balancing act between usability and the open web is upon us. Instead of focusing on the decentralization of Mastodon, they are opting to choose something more closed.

    • This follows a more centralized platform like Facebook and Twitter. Though you can change servers.
    • Bluesky, Mastodon’s competitor, is also known to do something like this as well for new users.

    FURTHER READING:

  • Substack co-founder denounces bigotry, but has no plan

    Shortly after Substack announced their Twitter competitor Substack Notes Nilay Patel interviewed Substack’s CEO, Chris Best, to talk about it.

    In it, Patel asked Best if the statement “all brown people are animals and they shouldn’t be allowed in America” would be censored on Substack Notes. Best refused to say that it would, and when pressed further by Patel the CEO responded saying, “I’m not going to get into gotcha content moderation” because he didn’t think it’s “a useful way to talk about this stuff.”

    On April 21st, a week after the Decoder interview went live, Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie wrote a company statement via Substack Notes:

    Last week, we caught some heat after Chris didn’t accept the terms of a question from a podcast interviewer about how Substack will handle bigoted speech on Notes. It came across poorly and some people sternly criticized us for our naivety while others wondered how we’d discourage bad behaviors and content on Notes. We wish that interview had gone better and that Chris had more clearly represented our position in that moment, and we regret causing any alarm for people who care about Substack and how the platform is evolving. We messed that up. And just in case anyone is ever in any doubt: we don’t like or condone bigotry in any form.

    Spoiler alert: McKenzie doesn’t have any actions or policies laid out to explain how Substack will combat bigotry. “Caught some heat” is about as bad as it gets from a company statement. It might as well have said “got caught being shitty.”

    The “heat” in question were from an episode of Decoder where Chris Best, CEO of Substack, refused to say that “all brown people are animals and they shouldn’t be allowed in America” would violate their content guidelines.

    It gets worse, in classic whataboutism McKenzie argues that the other social media companies aren’t doing much to fight bigotry despite their huge content moderation teams.

    Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and others have tens of thousands of engineers, lawyers, and trust & safety employees working on content moderation, and they have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into their efforts. The content moderation policies at some of those companies run to something like 150 pages. But how is it all working out? Is there less concern about misinformation? Has polarization decreased? Has fake news gone away? Is there less bigotry? It doesn’t seem so to us, despite the best efforts and good intentions of the most powerful media technology companies the world has ever known.

    Now, this doesn’t mean there should be no moderation at all, and we do of course have content guidelines with narrowly defined restrictions that we will continue to enforce. But, generally speaking, we suspect that the issue is that you can’t solve a problem (social media business models) with a problem (a content moderation apparatus that doesn’t work and burns trust). So we are taking a different path.

    That “different path,” McKenzie explains, is “changing the business model.” How will they change this business? Basically making the creator do their own content moderation. Substack decided to look at their writers, the whole reason Substack is making money, and telling them to figure it out themselves.

    Truthfully this is a bad company statement trying to walk back Chris Best’s blunder on Decoder. In fact, it made things even more rocky for Substack.

    Substack is a place where writers can write what they want to write, readers can read what they want to read, and everyone can choose who they hang out with. It’s a different game from social media as we know it.

    No it isn’t, this “game” is the same on Facebook, Twitter, and more. There can be simple and no-nonsense content moderation policies in place and people who disagree on the platform.

    Just because you are removing and disallowing someone from saying “all brown people are animals and they shouldn’t be allowed in America” doesn’t mean that everyone will suddenly be the same ideologically. You can have rules in place to prevent violence while having a healthy discourse.

    I wrote before about Substack’s poorly written content guidelines and I said, “this isn’t an endorsement to spread hate but it certainly doesn’t thwart any of that kind of behavior either.” While I still believe that, the more Substack dives in to their content moderation guidelines give me pause. It makes me believe that Substack is less making a critical error and more deliberately dog-whistling.

    Some people feel similarly, one being Mike Masnick at Techdirt. He explained the Nazi bar story on Reddit and how, with comments like Best’s on Decoder, Substack is allowing more Nazis to come in to Substack’s metaphorical bar.

    But Substack is a centralized system. And a centralized system that doesn’t do trust & safety… is the Nazi bar. And if you have some other system that you think allows for “moderation but not censorship” then be fucking explicit about what it is. There are all sorts of interventions short of removing content that have been shown to work well (though, with other social media, they still get accused of “censorship” for literally expressing more speech). But the details matter. A lot.

    If Substack truly wants to be a place for everyone to come and discuss things that matter to them, they cannot continue with this hands-off approach. Content moderation is messy, and it isn’t easy to handle. That being said, Substack needs to roll up their sleeves and embrace the mess. Otherwise they will drive more and more people off of their platform.

    ,

  • Go Indie

    Nick Heer writing on Pixel Envy:

    Here are three relatively recent interactions I have had with independent software developers:

    • In November 2020, I suggested a separate display of the optional external_url property for JSON Feeds in NetNewsWire. I was not sure how to program this, but I thought it was a reasonable idea and, fortunately, Maurice Parker and Brent Simmons agreed. Within a week, it was part of the application. (Because this is open source software, I feel comfortable being precise.)
    • A reader emailed me with questions about iPhone photography. That gave me an idea, which I sent off to a developer, who responded positively to the suggestion.
    • I encountered a strange bug in a Safari extension. I emailed the developer with specific conditions and a screenshot, and received a reply mere hours later asking for more information. A busy week got in the way of my reply, so the developer emailed again several days later to follow up. I was no longer able to reproduce the bug but it was nice to be reminded.

    These are just a few of the numerous pleasant experiences I have had with independent software developers. I cannot say the same is true of big corporate developers — not even close.

    When I buy and use software from an independent developer, it feels like I am establishing a relationship with the person or small team that built it; it feels like we both have a stake in the success of the product. But when I use software made by a massive company, I can feel the power imbalance in the pit of my stomach.

    Could not agree more.

    I truly feel more connected with indie apps and services over big-name corporate brands. Do I still choose the big names over indie? Sure, but I don’t feel good about it.

    The indie apps I do use are the ones I will happily pay yearly subscriptions for because I know that the money I am paying goes to the people that put their blood sweat and tears into what they make.

  • Apple’s Newsroom Blog Debuts New ‘Quick Read’ Post

    Jarrod Blundy writing at HeyDingus:

    Tonight, I noticed something curious about Apple’s latest post to their official Newsroom, a blog of sorts where the company makes public statements and press releases. The post regarding the opening dates for their two newest retail stores is categorized as a ‘Quick Read’, complete with a lightening bolt icon and pop-up interaction from the main Newsroom feed.

    Still, it’s nice to see Apple join in on the return of personal blogging with something new, however minor it may be, on their blog.

    Jarrod also makes a list of a lot of posts from Apple with similar word counts but significantly different categories.

    It is interesting to see yet another distinction without a difference though.

  • Preserving the Wilhelm Scream

    Craig Smith wrote a very interesting post for Freesound. In it he explained how took tape with sound effects ranging from the 30’s and 80’s and restored them. The kicker is that one of those recordings was the Wilhelm Scream.

    The biggest issue he had was a lot of these tapes had sticky-shed syndrome. This is basically a breakdown in the binder that holds the magnetic tape together. A common fix for this is literally baking it for some time and then playing it again. That is exactly what Craig did, he took the newly baked tape (after some cooling) and recorded it for later restoration.

    After recording it he then went ahead and did the lengthy process of restoring it in Isotope RX 10.

    Not only is one of those pieces of tape he fixed the Wilhelm Scream but you can even listen to the recording of it as well.

  • Is Substack All Bad?

    I have been eating popcorn all weekend as I read more and more about the dispute between Substack and Twitter. If you haven’t been following the Twitter and Substack drama, you can check out a great timeline of events from The Verge.

    I’ll give you a small summary here in my own words, but truly you should look more into this if you haven’t, it’s one of the more fun bits of drama that I have seen in a while.

    Timeline:

    • Substack announces a new way to create and post short-form content called Substack Notes, which I shared my small bit of initial thoughts.
    • Twitter subsequently disabled likes, replies, and retweets if they have a Substack link in it.
    • Substack’s co-founder, Chris Best, took to Twitter to respond directly to Elon’s bullshit
    • Several big names in Substack say they are leaving Twitter because of this, including Matt Taibbi (AKA the guy who took the Twitter Files from Elon and botched the whole thing)
    • Twitter allows links to Substacks but annoyingly marks all of them as “unsafe”
    • Twitter no longer allows you to even search the word “substack” and it is instead redirected to “newsletter”
    • Twitter rolls back all of their gatekeeping to Substacks, except for search which is currently still redirecting “substack” to “newsletters”

    With all of this going on, I think this is a good time to revisit an ongoing question I have, “Is Substack bad?”

    Hate Speech on Substack

    First off, I hate how Substack has become a safe haven for COVID deniers, antisemitic, homophobic, transphobic, and other hateful content that does real harm. I find the lack of any kind of moderation a mistake on Substack’s part.

    When I think of Substack, I always think about Medium and how that platform became the place for good writing and independent publishing. I remember going to Medium everyday to see what was new. While the platform isn’t what it used to be, it is still among one of the biggest places for independent publishing. I bring them up because I was comparing Medium’s content guidelines to Substack’s. What I found made me realize what I think Substack is missing. They don’t make a big enough stand against hate speech. Let’s compare, shall we?

    Medium’s Content Guidelines regarding hate speech:

    We do not allow content that constitutes or promotes violence, harassment, or hatred against people based on characteristics like race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, caste, disability, disease, age, sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity.

    We do not allow posts or accounts that glorify, celebrate, downplay, or trivialize violence, suffering, abuse, or deaths of individuals or groups. This includes the use of scientific or pseudoscientific claims or misleading statistics to pathologize, dehumanize, or disempower others. We do not allow calls for intolerance, exclusion, or segregation based on protected characteristics, nor do we allow the glorification of groups which do any of the above.

    We do not allow hateful text, images, symbols, or other content, including in your username, profile, or bio.

    Substack’s Content Guidelines regarding hate speech:

    Substack cannot be used to publish content or fund initiatives that incite violence based on protected classes. Offending behavior includes credible threats of physical harm to people based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability or medical condition.

    The key difference here is how Substack seems to only care about violence. There is nothing said about harassment or hatred toward someone or a group of people. To me, this isn’t an endorsement to spread hate but it certainly doesn’t thwart any of that kind of behavior either.

    Also, Substack all but admits that the ball is in your court when it comes to content moderation.

    The philosophy behind these guidelines also applies to Substack readers. We believe that writers are responsible for moderating and managing their communities, but there are some occasions when we will review reports of readers’ comments to enforce these guidelines.

    What Substack Gets Right

    Aside from the long-standing issues with content moderation and hate speech, I must admit that Substack gets a lot right for writers and journalists. Here are just a few that I have in mind.

    • Substack has allowed for independent publishing to thrive and have a second renaissance
    • Readers are able to directly support the work they support in one spot
    • Creators are able to get up and running on Substack in minutes, eliminating the laborious process of setting up a site or blog

    So, is Substack bad?

    I’ve shared my conflicted feelings about Substack, but this Twitter drama puts yet another wrinkle into it. Truthfully, I can’t help but find myself aligning more with Substack’s point of view rather than Twitter’s.

    I think Alex Cox said it best in their recent post on Patreon hoping to raise money for their cat who needs cancer treatment. By the way, if you are able to kick a few bucks to Alex you absolutely should. It was at the end in a FAQ.

    Isn’t Substack gross?

    I mean, I don’t like plenty of the people who use their platform, but that’s true of most services that focus on the “creator economy.” I see Patreon and Substack more as a way to communicate with a core group of people whose feedback I respect.

    This is something that I think rings true for me as well. I don’t love Substack as a platform but I think there is more good coming from it than bad. With them getting Twitter’s full attention I think only makes them even stronger. What they do with that added strength and power remains to be seen.

    Are you going to Substack now?

    Personally, I don’t think I have ever had a larger audience than the one I had on Substack, and I often wonder if I should return to that platform.

    Ultimately, I feel that there are too many unknowns to justify going back. Things like the volatile economics, the previously stated issues with hate speech, and my ongoing worries what the platform will do next prevent me from firing up another newsletter.

    Instead, I am doubling-down on this blog. So if you like what you’ve read please share it with a friend of yours and subscribe to the RSS feed.