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An evidence-based and critical analysis of the Fediverse decentralization promises (arxiv.org)

submitted 2 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://links.hackliberty.org/post/2559706

Abstract

This paper examines the potential of the Fediverse, a federated network of social media and content platforms, to counter the centralization and dominance of commercial platforms on the social Web. We gather evidence from the technology powering the Fediverse (especially the ActivityPub protocol), current statistical data regarding Fediverse user distribution over instances, and the status of two older, similar, decentralized technologies: e-mail and the Web. Our findings suggest that Fediverse will face significant challenges in fulfilling its decentralization promises, potentially hindering its ability to positively impact the social Web on a large scale.

Some challenges mentioned in the paper:

Discoverability as there is no central or unified index

Complicated moderation efforts due to its decentralized nature

Interoperability between instances of different types (e.g., Lemmy and Funkwhale)

Concentration on a small number of large instances

The risk of commercial capture by Big Tech

What are your thoughts on this? And how could we make the Fediverse a better place for all to stay?

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

I did not read the link, but two of my biggest concerns do not appear in the summary you provided :

the burden of hosting an ActivityPub enabled service is often duplicated for each instance instead of being split between them (for example, my Lemmy instance has a large picture folder and database because it is replicating all posts from communities I'm subscribed to)
it's a privacy nightmare. All instance admins now have as much spying power as the single centralized service it is replacing

(Edit: typo)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

The privacy point is mitigated by the unfettered ability to create anonymous accounts. Unless the admins are able to ID personal IP addresses, everyone who didn't use their real name is anonymous for all intents and purposes.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

If you admin your own instance then you can control any IP Fingerprinting related to your use.