Goodbye, Fosstodon
One of the founders of Fosstodon, Kev, is leaving the organization over issues with drama and content moderation issues.
I have to say, I’m sad to see the state of affairs at Fosstodon in such disarray. For all of us who are still uninitiated into the drama, there some scant information from Corey Snipes on the issue. Though, I’m certainly not up to date on much of what he’s talking about, one thing stands out:
He shared that he has a long history as a privacy advocate and FOSS and contributor, and he feels he’s being unfairly characterized as a nazi for expressing certain political views. He also had very reassuring things to say about the neutrality and fairness of the fosstodon moderation process, essentially that all moderation decisions require concensus among mods and that all mods recuse themselves from any decisions where they have a vested interest. Basically, his politics have never been a factor in any of the moderation decisions there, nor could they be. Importantly, he also shared that he has stepped down as a mod and would also be deleting his account.
It seems like more of the political backlash and infighting that I had seen on Micro.blog earlier this year. The same stupid bullshit that made me get over the relative mental barrier to migrating to Hugo from my fully-static-html blog. Silver linings and all that. I feel like people are getting hyper-polarized and trying to find out who their real allies are, now that people are all mask-off with anti-… well, everything.
I really don’t know what was said, and who was involved, but I honestly don’t care. Drama is drama. People are full of it, and when in large social arenas, people are more likely to spill it everywhere they can. I have to stay away from those places because I know I don’t react well to it. It seems like lots of people don’t react well to it, too.
The time I had on Fosstodon, while not always great, broadened my OSS knowledge and got me in touch with several key figures in the scene. Not that I’ve done anything with those contacts, but it’s nice to know that I was able to talk to and interact with current-day luminaries. It’s nice to know they’re human, too. For that I thank Kev, Mike and the moderation team (of whom I believe my time predated any formal team) for facilitating a great place where I could connect with lots of like-minded individuals.
I wish everyone involved with the project good luck and safe travels. I hope that Fosstodon stays active and vibrant, but if it doesn’t, then I’m glad to have been there when it was. I even still have the stickers.
Be kind to one another.
Respond via email.