Ancestors

Toot

Written by Woefdram on 2024-11-22 at 16:39

The Ulysses Pact: I had never heard of that, but I've lived by it for years.

Excellent article (as usual) by @pluralistic that explains why you should never put much effort into a platform that you can't leave without a cost. Don't get locked in, don't let the Network Effect bite you in the behind.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast

[#]UlyssesPact #NetworkEffect #Enshittification

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from hans@procolix.social

Descendants

Written by MoiraEve on 2024-11-22 at 17:06

@hans It makes sense. @pluralistic

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from MoiraEve@mastodon.world

Written by Hippasus500 aka jwn2 on 2024-11-22 at 17:19

@pluralistic @hans

Brilliant.

In a nutshell: “It's not outside capital that leads to enshittification, it's leverage that enshittifies a service.”

It’s leverage that enshittifies ^anything^.

A wrestling match is about finding leverage to defeat your opponent. Giving anyone, anything, leverage over your conscience, over your principles, opens an expressway to losing them, and everything else you value.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from Hippasus500@federate.social

Written by Woefdram on 2024-11-22 at 17:25

@Hippasus500 @pluralistic It's a subtle clarification, but it's indeed the leverage that's the danger, not so much the money itself.

But of course, those usually go hand in hand: capital usually buys leverage.

I've always tried to avoid anyone and anything getting leverage over me. Very difficult or even impossible in some cases, but not when it comes to digital services.

It "only" requires a firm "no" to a lot of stuff that others will use without thinking twice (or indeed, even once).

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from hans@procolix.social

Written by Michael T. Bacon, Ph.D. on 2024-11-22 at 17:32

@Hippasus500 @pluralistic @hans

Some dudes at Harvard put out a book like 20 years ago called Capital as Power and while a lot of it ended up really bad, one thing I appreciated about it was that they revived Thorstein Veblen's notion of capital control as the means of sabotage. When you hold the means of sabotage for something, it can be used strategically for exploitation and extraction.

I prefer "strategic sabotage" to "leverage" because it's much more specific and evocative.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from MichaelTBacon@social.coop

Written by Michael T. Bacon, Ph.D. on 2024-11-22 at 17:37

@Hippasus500 @pluralistic @hans (Yes I can write something more sophisticated than "some dudes from Harvard" and "ended up really bad" but 500 character limit on my instance and all that.)

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from MichaelTBacon@social.coop

Written by Hippasus500 aka jwn2 on 2024-11-22 at 17:41

@hans @MichaelTBacon @pluralistic

That works, too.

When I was a high school freshman we had a few weeks learning the basics of wrestling (the coach was recruiting). That’s when I first learned about leverage.

The main thing I learned is I was really bad at wrestling. The second thing I learned was don’t give away leverage. Ever.

I regularly fail at that.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from Hippasus500@federate.social

Written by Michael T. Bacon, Ph.D. on 2024-11-22 at 17:43

@Hippasus500 @hans @pluralistic

Yeah, "leverage" definitely works, but for me having never wrestled competitively it always sounds like the super-irritating verb usage of it that just means "using a thing we already have."

But in the wrestling sense, you're right, it's very evocative.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from MichaelTBacon@social.coop