criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeplyThe primary reason #bluesky will never be decentralized is because the resource requirements are way too high. Yes, you can host a #PDS (personal data server) if you like, and that will provide you control of your own personal data. However, you're still dependant on someone else to host a relay, in order for your PDS to become part of the network. Hosting a relay seems to need upwards of 3 TB of SSD storage, and a ton of memory. And once you get that done, you need to host an app view, in order to make use of all of the data on the relay. While that's not quite ready for primetime yet, when it is, it ain't gonna be cheap. Based on what I can understand, an app view needs to index all data on the bluesky network, in realtime. This is the kind of architecture that only our VC funded #capitalist big tech masters could actually afford to deploy. So if, when you say "decentralized", you mean that Google, Microsoft, and Apple could each afford to run a shard of the network, sure it's decentralized. But if you mean that Joe and her homelab could run any useful portion of the network, it is in no way decentralized, and never will be. Even if compute prices come down to the point where small organizations could afford to deploy this sort of thing, you've still got the logistical nightmare that the relay hosts all of the data. From everyone. NAZI's, pedophiles, if you run a relay, all of that data is going to be passing through your server. Content labels and blocklists mean you might never see it, but if you run a bluesky relay, it still exists.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@fastfinge All true for those who wish to host, but some of us just want a social network with mass adoption to get a variety of info. I'm not saying Bluesky is the one, but there's a part of me who misses 2010 Twitter and the vibe it brought. I'm sure like many things, it'll work for awhile, then something will make it less desirable. Just like Clubhouse, Reddit, and others before it.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@Jage But on Mastodon and the fediverse, you have hundreds of servers to choose from. If someone doesn't like you or want to provide you an account, you can go elsewhere. With Bluesky, you're only ever likely to have a choice of one or two places you can go, because the expenses are so high. And those places will all be run by large corporations, with all of the attendant problems (advertising, selling your data, etc.).
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@fastfinge Yes, you write this like most people care. Also, you use Discord which is centralized, perhaps Whatsapp, Slack, etc. There's no perfect solution. Unlike others, I'm also not here to dog anyone who is going to stick to just Mastodon either. I want them all to be the best version they can be. Except for X, which can just fuck off at this point :)
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@Jage Yes, but I'd like to not use them. My issue with Bluesky is that it's pretending to be decentralized in the same way Mastodon is, when that's just not true. And I suspect a lot of people are going to get a nasty surprise when the corporations eventually sell out Bluesky for a buck. At least Discord isn't advertising itself as decentralized, or pretending that that sort of thing could never happen.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@fastfinge OK I guess I didn't see that when I signed up, all I saw is their promise to not use data for AI training and to be open with their API's.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@Jage They talk a lot about AtProto and how decentralized they are. And Twitter promised to be open with the API too, remember? That sure didn't last. Yet Bluesky has some of the same people involved with it (like Jack) as Twitter did. And they'll be just as willing and able to sell everyone out at some future date.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@Jage Personally I'd rather try to build a home and identity on something that can't be ripped out from under me like Twitter was. Moving is difficult, annoying work. Not just because you need decent apps for the new thing, but because it can take years to figure out what the new thing even is, and longer for everyone you care about to go there.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@fastfinge As I pointed out to someone the other day: I got 13 years of mostly positive community enjoyment out of Twitter before it came useless to me. That's a pretty good run for any product.
Most people aren't thinking 13 years down the line. But if Bluesky can deliver over a decade of value before it goes to shit, that will likewise be a good run.
If people are happy to stay in one place because they like it there, more power to them. But social media involves people, so it's unavoidably migratory. The choice about where to make your camp is somewhat taken out of your hands, unless your happy sleeping alone, with a very specific set of bedfellows, or shouting at everyone through a loud hailer over a bridge.
criticism of bluesky as I come to understand it more deeply@jscholes@Jage I will be surprised if Bluesky can last even ten years. The fediverse, though, will probably just plug along literally for ever. In the same way that IRC does; nobody uses it, but it all still exists. But unlike IRC, ActivityPub is flexible enough to modernize. So I doubt it'll ever have the hypergrowth that Bluesky has. But every year, a few thousand more will join. And it'll slowly eat everything else, in the same way that HTTP ate pretty much everything.
