Now that I have it up and running, my feed is entirely people just hating on LLMs. I have a hard time finding technical content that I enjoy on there these days.
And, I would rather talk to an AI Luddite that's extraordinarily technically competent without AI assistance than someone who vibe-coded a startup with no idea how it works, and the former is far more common on the fediverse than the latter. I think it's unfortunate there's such a strong emotional component to talking about LLMs, as it's the most interesting technical innovation since the internet, but I understand it and I'm sympathetic to it (the AI companies have done a good job giving people reasons to hate and/or fear them).
It's likely just my bubble on there, but man it's relentless. I don't want to just hear everything about what you hate. I want to hear what you love!
But the problem with all of these Twitter clones is the political schism of Musk's acquisition has largely polarized the offshoots. You aren't just on alt-Twitter, you're on a specific polarized chunk of it.
I follow many people who use infosec.exchange and hachyderm.io and they seem to be nerd-oriented instances. But it doesn't matter all that much, since you can follow and interact across the whole federation. I'd say just pick one that's reasonably large and old enough to have proven it is run by people who know how to run a reliable service and are in it for the long haul. It's possible to move to a new instance with only a little inconvenience, so don't agonize too much over it.
Before that I just had an account on multiple (mostly gamedev) instances.
Mastodon has its issues but one benefit of decentralization is you don't really have to commit to anything.
Having identities tied to a domain and an instance is one of the biggest flaws with the fediverse IMO.
I'd much prefer something like Solid or Nostr where your identity is owned by you and described by a single file. Maybe involving PGP keys or some kind of cryptographic hash, although that might be too much of a barrier to be viable. It's a hard problem and the way the fediverse handles it is awkward at best.
That sucks. I'm not exactly looking forward to joining another community with "strict" moderation.
Every mastodon instance I look up seems to be like this... Guess I'm stuck on X.
And, you might like to look into what that actually means. In the case of mas.to, the controversial decisions include defederation of instances that have a history of bigotry, usually anti-trans bigotry (the kind of bigotry lots of mainstream social sites allow and even protect).
Defederation is a large hammer, so some folks think mas.to is too strict. But, I personally prefer no slurs or child porn in my feed (adults posting nudes of themselves with a content warning is fine, both by my reckoning and the policy of mas.to), so I've never had reason to complain, nor have I ever had an interaction with moderators.
X is far more censorious than Mastodon of the kinds of free speech that are actually politically meaningful, so I'm surprised you call it out specifically as your free speech safe space. But, if you mean the same thing Musk means when you say "free speech", the right to punch down with impunity, perhaps X is the right place. Punching down is exactly the kind of thing that gets you banned on many Mastodon instances. It is a place that is by and large extremely intolerant of intolerance, but accepting of most everything else.
Haven't seen anyone get censored on X without a court order yet, but I haven't been there that long. Who knows.
I know. It isn't a mystery or a secret. It is easy for anyone, including you, to know.
https://www.advocate.com/media/alejandra-caraballo-banned-x
https://observer.com/2022/12/elon-musk-suspend-twitter-accou...
https://www.wired.com/story/x-twitter-ban-critics/
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-x-twitter-account-...
It's pretty apparent neo-Nazis were welcomed back after Musk's purchase of the site and they've been paid for their engagement ragebait, while anyone who criticizes Musk or disagrees with his genocidal white nationalist views gets suspended or shadow-banned. Criticizing billionaires won't get you suspended on Mastodon, while hate speech against minorities will. I prefer that kind of moderation.
I've resigned to the fact people are always going to identify some outgroup to shun. It sucks when you're that outgroup, and the intolerance is not at all limited to literal neonazism. Just being an AI user is enough to turn up the heat these days. So I'd rather nobody have that censorship privilege.
Basically, I don't like it when neonazis get a pass while those calling them out get banned. I don't like it when minorities get a pass either. It's the inconsistency that makes me lose all respect for the community.
HN is absolutely not such a place, unfortunately, the local censorship policy is very strong.
You might also get banned from some instances if you post AI-generated content without clearly labeling it as such; misinformation and disinformation is often something people report, and generative AI is often used for that.
It is misleading to say Mastodon is the same as X just "the other side". The policies on the most popular Mastodon instances can be summed up as "don't be a bigot" (i.e. don't use slurs, don't demean people for who they are...anti-semitism, anti-LGBTQ, racism, religious intolerance, will get you banned).
And, it would be misleading to say that users not wanting to look at what you post is censorship. Mastodon.social or mas.to or any of the other big instances are not going to ban you for talking about AI. But, you might catch some blocks and a few insults from individuals if you post AI in a deceptive or annoying way. You're not owed engagement. But, if you're polite about it, you'll find people who like to talk about the same things. Even including AI.
But, finally, what the hell does this even mean, "I don't like it when minorities get a pass either"? A pass for being a minority? If someone posts abusively, they get blocked, maybe reported and maybe catch a ban. But, simply posting while black is not getting a pass.
> don't demean people for who they are
Unless they are acceptable targets of some enemy outgroup.
People already have numerous slurs for AIs and their users, and they aren't shy about using them.
> A pass for being a minority?
A pass for the very same behavior they claim to be against.
I expect people who are offended by slurs not to level any slurs at others.
I expect people who object to racism not to be racist towards others.
I expect people who object to sexism not to be sexist towards others.
I expect people who object to doxxing not to do it to others.
I expect anti-fascists not to display overtly fascist behavior.
And so on, and so forth. Many have failed these simple consistency tests.
> maybe catch a ban
Doubt. It's far more likely that I'm the one who will get banned if I dare to bring any of this up.
I suppose that's the reason people like me end up on X.
Brother, someone saying something about your hobby that hurts your feelings is not a slur.
As I mentioned above, there are folks on Mastodon with reactionary anti-AI views, but it's the only place I've ever been where most images have alt text written with care and the intention to include folks with visual impairments. It is also where a lot of people with disabilities have fled after abuse on other platforms.
You're not a victim if you post shitty AI "art" and get insulted for it. It is because of the pervasive use of it for disinformation and predatory purposes that it has such a bad reputation, not because people call it out. There are folks who are being assholes about it (acknowledged above), but I'll take that over genocidal white nationalism and child porn.
But, honestly, it sounds like maybe you're in the right place. If your instinct is to jump to "both sides" arguments when one "side" is literally supporting ethnic cleansing and the other is kind of rude about AI art, maybe X is your hole. Maybe it was made for you. I won't be joining you there, and I'm unwilling to pretend the choice you're making doesn't support an international white supremacist agenda.
Overtly genocidal speech isn't exactly exclusive to white supremacists. "Kill all men" used to be a meme among progressives, and I collected quite a few examples of its use over the years. As a man, I didn't find it amusing at all. There is actual feminist literature backing it.
People in general are not immune to any of these extremist impulses. I refuse to give any particular group license to act with impunity.
If X happened to be aligned with those views, then it certainly would be the place for me. Unfortunately, you just demonstrated that X is just as biased towards the other side. I don't want that either.
It's clear that we have different, possibly irreconcilable values, so I don't intend to prolong this discussion any further.
What kind of nonsense are you talking about, show me at least one example of statements that can be interpreted in the way that you described? Leftists have gone completely berserk with their conspiracy theories.
He has tweeted many times, spanning many years, in support of ethnic cleansing by a variety of means. He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone in support of political parties that are implementing violent deportation regimes that include concentration camps and stripping black and brown folks of due process. In the US, his money is supporting people who want to de-naturalize US citizens and deport them. These are the policies of genocide, and he loudly and materially supports them.
He has boosted literal neo-Nazis into his feed that reaches millions. He regularly re-posts disinformation in support of genocidal political parties worldwide. His entire platform promotes neo-Nazis, while suppressing criticism of him and the white nationalist project he has embarked upon.
You can pretend none of that happened, but I'm not going to pretend along with you.
There is not a single tweet of this kind, it is a lie.
>He has spent hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone in support of political parties that are implementing violent deportation regimes that include concentration camps and stripping black and brown folks
This is also a lie, he spends money to support conservative parties that advocate the expulsion of criminals, murderers, drug dealers and other bad people.
>In the US, his money is supporting people who want to de-naturalize US citizens and deport them. These are the policies of genocide, and he loudly and materially supports them.
It's funny that this is exactly what leftist NPOs and the Democratic party are doing, sponsoring the genocide of whites, the destruction of cultural optimism, and especially harsh attacks on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Anglo-Saxon_Protestants they also sponsor riots (all kinds of organizations like the BLM are a bunch of mobs for riots)
>He regularly re-posts disinformation in support of genocidal political parties worldwide
This is what leftists and leftist NPOs are doing. They constantly publish disinformation through mass media, from which you probably get information and brainwash yourself, attract Muslim terrorists and other bad things to the country.
>You can pretend none of that happened, but I'm not going to pretend along with you.
You are very much brainwashed by the leftists and you are their typical victim, you are their instrument of culture wars that bring them power and money.
It's pretty wild. I have no idea what shenanigans Trump and Musk are up to in American lands, but I do owe them at least some gratitude for killing USAID.
The restriction just went away at some point.