Notices by Chris Trottier (atomicpoet@mastodon.social), page 4

@Palky55 @mikka @aral VCs = venture capitalists.

I hope the Fediverse can resist their influence because I already see them present here.

@kcsorenby @aral @mikka I mean, last week I mentioned that three very large instances are run by a VC group.

The way to resist this is to ensure that whoever runs your instance is in sync with your values. Namely, that they won't sell out 😉

@aral @mikka Regarding small web, why don't you use Gemini?

@aral @mikka Hell, let's go further. Somebody could be building an entire business just on archiving Fediverse posts.

Why? Because the legal system demands it.

@Palky55 @mikka It's as @aral says. Because of how the Fediverse is engineered, you can't avoid it.

People already use the Fediverse for work. What are we going to do? Chase out the journalists, CTOs, creatives, etc.?

What we can do is think about alternatives monetization strategies that don't involve VCs.

For example, why not co-ops?

@aral @mikka Corporate capture is already happening. What I hope we do is de-centralize further—keep the infrastructure from focusing on any one thing.

Right now, these corporate folks are focusing on Mastodon.

What would be much better is if they *stopped* joining volunteer-run instances and actually ran their own instances instead. One that actually compensates people for actual work they do—instead of exploiting "free".

@aral @mikka I mean, somebody should probably be making Enterprise-grade Fediverse software.

And whoever that is could probably be charging money for support, customizations, account management, hosting, etc.

I've thought about this possibility for years, and now it's actually not just feasible, but a critical need.

@aral @mikka Sure, I'll answer that question: Mastodon shouldn't be driving the social media for Fortune 500 companies.

It's hilarious that even in comments to the above ⬆️post⬆️, people insist that quote boosting doesn't exist on the Fediverse.

So here's a link to me quote boosting:

https://vancity.social/notes/9964hvv2a2

And here's a screenshot of me quote boosting.

Also, the reason "Mastodon" is *not* a synonym for the Fediverse is precisely because other services can do things that Mastodon can't.

You absolutely need quote boosting?

Then don't use Mastodon.

Instead, use Calckey, Akkoma, Friendica—a host of services that aren't Mastodon.

"Mastodon *should* have quote boosting!"

But it doesn't. So what are you going to do about it?

Use Mastodon and not quote boost? Or use another service that does?

From my standpoint, this is an easy problem to solve.

Here's another difference between Twitter and the Fediverse:

You want a feature and Twitter doesn't have it? Tough luck—Twitter devs will tell you to shove it!

You want a feature and Mastodon doesn't have it? Maybe Friendica has it instead.

Example: Groups. You're never going to get Groups on Twitter. But you have them on the Fediverse!

Also, to people demanding features:

It's important to remember that, generally speaking, you're not customers on the Fediverse.

Don't be asking to speak to the Fediverse manager.

The people building this software are (mostly) volunteers. So please be kind.

But if you really want quote boosts in vanilla Mastodon—have you ever thought about paying @Gargron to implement that feature?

The man makes $36,000/year.

If you threw $5,000 at him, maybe he'd consider getting it done.

@mikka Mastodon has to pay other developers and perhaps moderators—Eugen doesn't make all the money.

But either case, 32K/month is a pittance for an organization that's now driving the social media for Fortune 500 companies.

@aral Thank you!

Adding to that, the features that so many journalists want (like quote boosts) can be found in other apps!

@aral Frankly, we need to socialize the notion that the Fediverse itself shouldn't centralize around one singular app or service.

Let's start using as many apps as we can!

To everyone using mastodon.cloud and mstdn.jp: remember, you're not locked into those instances.

If you want, you can migrate elsewhere.

This is not Twitter—you have a choice regarding where your home will be on the Fediverse.

A warning: there's going to be a concerted effort to re-centralize the Fediverse.

As we've just seen with the acquisition of pawoo.net, that's already happening.

What are you going to do to thwart this trend?

Like it or not, it should no longer be assumed that "volunteers" are running your instances.

The Mask Group, which now runs three large instances "has raised over US$50 million from private and institutional backers"—their words not mine.