The Mess We're In, and Unwanted messages

README.org

@@ -21,6 +21,10 @@ servers can interact.
 At the time of writing, ActivityPub is seeing major uptake, with
 several thousand nodes and several million registered users (with the
 caveat that registered users is not the same as active users).
+The wider network of ActivityPub-using programs is often called
+"the fediverse" (though this term predates ActivityPub, and was
+also used to describe adoption of its predecessor, OStatus).
+
 ActivityPub defines both a client-to-server and server-to-server
 protocol, but at this time the server-to-server protocol is what is
 most popular and is the primary concern of this article.
@@ -145,10 +149,75 @@ groups, and spam has been relatively minimal.
   someone else to manage posting for them, "was this post really made
   by someone who is authorized to speak on behalf of this entity".
 
-** Unwanted messages, from spam to harassment
+** The mess we're in
 
 # - "there are no nazis on the fediverse"
 
+#+BEGIN_QUOTE
+  [[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/783akg/mastodon-is-like-twitter-without-nazis-so-why-are-we-not-using-it][Mastodon Is Like Twitter Without Nazis, So Why Are We Not Using It?]]
+   -- Article by Sarah Jeong, which drove much interest in
+      adoption of Mastodon and the surrounding "fediverse"
+#+END_QUOTE
+
+At the time this article was written about Mastodon (by far the most
+popular implementation of ActivityPub, and also largely responsible
+for driving interest in the protocol amongst other projects), its
+premise was semi-true; while it wasn't that there were no neo-nazis on
+the fediverse, the primary group which had driven recent adoption were
+themselves marginalized groups who felt betrayed by ther larger
+centralized social networks.
+They decided it was time for them to make homes for themselves.
+The article participated in an ongoing narrative that (from the
+author's perspective) helped reinforce these community norms for the
+better.
+
+However, there nothing about Mastodon or the fediverse at large
+(including the core of ActivityPub) /specifically/ prevented nazis or
+other entities conveying undesirable messages (including spam) from
+entering the network; they just weren't there or were in small enough
+numbers that instance administrators could block them.
+However, the fediverse no longer has the luxury of
+[[https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/mb8y3x/the-nazi-free-alternative-to-twitter-is-now-home-to-the-biggest-far-right-social-network][claiming to be neo-nazi free]] (if it ever could).
+The risk that people from marginalized groups, which the fediverse has
+in recent history appealed to, are now at risk from targeted harassment
+from these groups.
+Even untargeted messages, such as general hate speech, may have a
+severe negative impact on one's well being.
+Spam, likewise, is an increasing topic of administrators and
+implementors (as it has historically been for other federated social
+protocols, such as email/SMTP and OStatus during its heyday).
+It appears that the same nature of decentralized social networks in
+allowing marginalized communities to make communities for themselves
+also means that harassment, hate speech, and spam are not possible
+to wholly eject from the system.
+
+Must all good things come to an end?
+
+** Unwanted messages, from spam to harassment
+
+One thing that spam and harassment have in common is that they are the
+delivery of messages that are not desired by their recipient.
+However, it would be a mistake to claim that the impact of the two are
+the same: spam is an annoyance, and mostly wastes time.
+Harassment wastes time, but may also cause trauma.
+
+Nonetheless, despite the impact of spam and harassment being very
+different, the solutions are likely very similar.
+Unwanted messages tend to come from unwanted social connections.
+If the problem is users receiving unwanted messages, perhaps the
+solution comes in making intentional social connections.
+But how can we get from here to there?
+
+** Did we borrow the wrong assumptions?
+
+#+BEGIN_QUOTE
+  "What if we're making the wrong assumptions about our social networks?
+  What if we're focusing on breadth, when we really should be focusing
+  on depth?"
+    -- from a conversation with Evan Prodromou, initial designer of
+       both ActivityPub and OStatus' protcol designs
+#+END_QUOTE
+
 # - social networks: breadth vs depth?
 #   - wholesale borrowing of surveillance capitalist assumptions