Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss Federated Architecture in light of the collapse of Twitter. Federation is how most of the Internet works, and you should understand the ramifications of it before you dive into platforms like Mastodon. From XMPP (formerly Jabber) to ActivityPub, even the nature of an email address, federation is how the Internet was intended to be used.
I played a Ridge Racer Full Scale back in the day. I assume it was at the Trocadero in London, as that’s the only arcade I remember visiting that was big enough to have one.
A lot of the major platforms these days monetize by putting paywalls up against user choice. Look at the way Discord and Twitch charge money for what emojis can be used. Look at the way Reddit charges money for avatars and other cute little awards and icons. By controlling a centralized platform, they can gate functionality.
That’s impossible on a federated architecture. If you run your own web site you can post absolutely anything whatsoever. Any avatar, any emoji, nobody can stop you or charge you for it.
In fact, the only things you could realistically paywall is access to yourself. For example, charging people $5 to slide into your DMs.
