this post was submitted on 30 Sep 2023
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[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Many end up think along these lines at some point. It’s not you! Truth is activity pub is best thought of as an experiment. It’s got flaws as a system, and its recent growth is, IMO, somewhat awkward given the long term game. It would have been much nicer if the fundamental system were more solid.

Many who’ve moved platforms from big social to Fedi, especially the non tech ones, would not be so happy to move again soon. They’re used to a decade or longer on Twitter and Facebook. So any new and improved protocol would split the user base and so struggle to gain traction. Same goes for the platforms probably.

This interview from a while ago now of a developer that has made a parallel universe to the fediverse all in their own it seems is pretty eye opening on hotter tire whole thing might be under engineered: https://medium.com/we-distribute/got-zot-mike-macgirvin-45287601ff19

To me, it seems pretty dated in what it was trying to achieve and shows it’s age in the current climate of privacy, safety and moderation concerns.

[–] Spzi@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They’re used to a decade or longer on Twitter and Facebook. So any new and improved protocol would split the user base and so struggle to gain traction.

Could that be an inherent issue, no matter how you approach it? The issue might be that any social IT system which gains traction is already 10 years outdated. If true, it would mean we could start making something new now, which might be popular in 10 years, but then unable to effectively deal with whatever people deem essential in 10 years.

[–] maegul@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Yea it’s a good point.

I’d imagine there are technological foundations which can grow into new demands without breaking things or starting anew. The internet seems to have done this well. I think there are good questions of activity pub in this regard. I do hope the protocol can be updated without having to start again.