• Re: Usenet vs Social Media

    From ldpshddtti@21:1/5 to Simp on Wed Aug 31 00:54:08 2022
    XPost: alt.free.newsservers, alt.free.nntp

    Simp <simp@email.invalid> writes:

    It doesnt make any sense to me how people prefer a
    Socialist-controlled centralized social media network in which
    opinions are controlled and removed over a free speech network like
    Usenet in which information can flow and disseminate quickly and
    easily. I dont need Facebook. I dont need Instagram. These companies
    exist to control America through brainwashing and fake news.


    I agree. But I think what these platforms have over USENET is the sheer convenience of getting and using one. Social media websites have perfected the low-effort, addictive UX design to the point that it's so seamless and effortless to use it instead of other platforms.

    If you dont like a specific news server, you can just go on another
    one and interact with the Usenet network. If you dont like Facebook,
    you cant communicate with the Facebook network without having a FB
    account.

    While other networks come and go, Usenet survives.

    I agree, this is one of USENET's greatest strengths. Its design is very resilient. Discussions are hard to censor and there's little to no moderation. Inevitably, this led to low-effort spamming, but I don't
    think it takes that much effort to remove these spam.


    Its a shame (or a pleasure) that Usenet isnt more popular. Just think
    about it - the instant dissemination of information to servers all
    across the world. There is no need to look hard for censored posts and content -its all right here. Over 100,000 connection points to the
    Usenet network exist. Usenet remains the best social media network out
    there. That simple.

    And there exist Usenet/Facebook like platforms like Mastodon and
    Diaspora in which people can get Facebook-like and Twitter-like
    functionality while still maintaining the decentralized properties of
    Usenet. So there is no excuse for people not to try these platforms.

    While Mastodon and Diaspora are "federated" it still not as resilient as USENET. For example, it is impossible to "carry over" user data, history
    and nyms on Mastodon without explicit action on the part of the sysadmin. This can be an issue in cases where users are banned in an instance for "undesirable speech".

    In USENET, since there's no "user data", you can either be an anonymous
    joe or use PGP to create a sort-of persistent nym that can exist outside
    a service provider's control. That way, even if your service provider
    cuts you off for undesirable speech, you can still verifably prove to
    other people that you are who you claim to be.

    --

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)