https://mastodon.social/@trwnh/110329802576726213

services aren't communities

the gmail community

imo the biggest mistake of fedi is tying together the social and technical layers. local timelines should have been group chats all along

it's a huge misunderstanding because some people want services and some people want communities and they are not the same thing. some people can run a community but offer bad service. some people offer great service but can't run a community

instances shouldn't exist as the only model. the service layer and the community layer should be separate. combining the two makes both of them worse -- as can be seen if you violate the rules of your community, you lose access not just to the community, but to the service entirely. and if the community cannot continue to provide service, you again lose both.

i do think there is some value in being both, because then people feel more likely to donate as they are personally invested. but you could have incentives to donate even while keeping them separate.