Welcome to the SocialHub, @SeriousFun01 
I agree with the gist of this. It is understandable that with an open standard in hand the early adopters tested the waters creating better alternatives to existing walled gardens. They did and still do represent a valid approach that makes perfect sense, especially when looking at it from the perspective of each individual app. If as a developer you see a need, want to scratch an itch, then go for it even if your app is a copycat-done-better. That is fine, and there’s no need for scale or anything. That is optional, a nice-to-have maybe.
Where you are talking about a fully fledged scalable alternative, we come to the Fediverse as a whole. The untapped potential and opportunities it holds. And I think here (and you address that too in your second paragraph) the notion of “fully fledged alternative” is a dangerous one, as it points our minds in the wrong direction. We don’t need such alternative.
Or stated differently, the Fediverse is about much more than just-an-alternative. It constitutes a complete paradigm shift, and that insight is vital. It relates to the “unique selling point” with which we should be able to attract the right people to evolve the technology landscape.
What Fediverse could provide is not some bolted-on digital experience that distracts you away from real life, and lure you into some poorly modeled social interactions (well, modeled for different purposes: monetization). No, instead it could provide seamless abstractions to the social networks we participate in in real life on a day-to-day basis. And: Social is everywhere!
I don’t think we need a “viral implementation”, at least not in the way I understand this concept. What we need is an adoption model where new domains are continuously being explored by people, and where their projects manage to get from invention and early adoption stages into more mature stages of the technology lifecycle. And crucially, in the process of getting there, retain the ability to interoperate broadly with other initiatives.
In all this we should entirely forget about the traditional social media platforms. They are irrelevant, and old-fashioned. The bad way of doing things. When we say “social networking” we should think of social-cultural phenomena that exist in the real world, and how we might support them with online technology. This is what is meant with the slogan “Social Networking Reimagined”.
With this mindset we should also create a clear distinction between all the technical work that is required to implement things, and the sociological aspects of the domains we model. I feel the biggest pitfall is that we always dive deeply into tech very quickly and then stay there. It is understandable, but does not lead to best outcomes. On both levels there’s tremendous complexity, and at sociological level there always will be, just like in real life.
Yes, I agree with this. I have adopted a slogan for myself that goes: Fediverse: Peopleverse!".
The exclamation mark is at Peopleverse, as that represents the ultimate goal: a fediverse for People. The Fediverse itself is just the technical stratum that makes this possible. Everyone hooking up their own work into this highly interoperable network will gradually shape a “social fabric”, the abstraction layer on top of which social interactions are modeled. That is the Peopleverse.
(Note that Peopleverse is entirely independent and should not be confused with Metaverse. That venture went off-the-track with the mere choice of the name given to it. No surprise here, as it is based on the same exploitative models we abhor so much)
I agree. Ultimately this is inevitable, unless the current fedi stalls and dies (which is the other scenario, but less likely outcome I think).
But however, this hasn’t happened yet. And right now we - the commons, free cultures, people with the right mindset - are still in control. We can still have influence on the conditions and environment in which this corporate takeover takes place. For instance we could ensure we are in a stronger position when this happens. Right now our position is weak, and we will be blasted out of the picture pretty soon.
Just like we came to resent what the corporate web has become, we might come to resent the Fediverse. And have wistful talks among a small group of people that still remember how things used to be and the promise it held. Just like with bulletin boards and the early blogosphere when someone says “I wished we still had the old Fediverse” then someone else would chime in and say “It still exists”, followed by a should shrug by the others present. The old fedi will exist. In the fringes. Where a few holdouts still enjoy it. The rest will eat Metaverse for breakfast 