Although I really LOVE seeing the #
Fediverse grow explosively, it also brings changes that I don't like so much.
I've been here for more than 3 years now, but this week was the first time I found a "please give me money" message in my TL. Not once, no, several times.
Sure, I understand how small hosters suddenly need to buy extra hardware to keep their stuff running, and I've boosted all those requests. I'd hate to see servers go belly up because everybody wants a free ride.
But I've also seen requests for money for completely unrelated purposes. And ads, I've seen ads! Sure, not the banners that commercial sites push down your throat if you're silly enough not to use a decent ad blocker, but still: "buy my stuff now, and get a discount!"
I get it, I really do. With the massive influx of new users -the vast majority of them used to how things work on the birdsite- we're bound to get a change in culture.
Those of you who know me, know that I'm not very quick to block. If you keep harassing me, or say really despicable stuff, you'll end up on my blocklist. But otherwise, no. I hope I won't have to reconsider that policy because of spam becoming a serious problem. Or extremists.
Oh the positive side: the Fediverse is growing, which is fantastic. Let's hope all those new users will appreciate the freedom they get here. No ads (well, ok...), no trackers, no algorithms pushing you to fake news. And let us show them that the rest of the Internet can be like that too: free, without censorship or spying.
Do any of you use #
Instagram? Or #
WhatsApp? Time to realise that those are the same kind of non-free platforms that are used to monetize the heck out of you. And yes, there are free alternatives for those too, have a look here:
https://opensource.com/alternativesMind you, when I say "free" with regards to Open Source Software, I mean free as in "free speech", not so much "free beer". And although the software is free, someone has to invest time in it to program it, and others probably invest actual money in the hardware and bandwidth needed to run it. There's no such thing as a free breakfast, so donate to the projects you use.
May I recommend #
Matrix as an alternative for WhatsApp? Sure, you can't talk to people on WhatsApp from Matrix (yet, but just wait a while; the EU is working on that), but you can't communicate with #
Twitter from the Fediverse and you made that switch too. Curious to the next step after migrating to the Fediverse? Check out Matrix!
Download the client:
https://element.io/And if you want to know a bit more, read some background info about it:
https://matrix.org/Enjoy your freedom!
QRator
