Paul Jacobson

Life and its many opportunities

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Enthusiast, writer, Happiness Engineer at Automattic. I take photos too. Passionate about my wife, Gina and #proudDad.
  • Butterflies and Elephants: More Thoughts About Mastodon and Bluesky

    Butterflies and Elephants: More Thoughts About Mastodon and Bluesky

    At the risk of climbing on the “Bluesky vs Mastodon” bandwagon that seems to be making the rounds, I had a couple thoughts about the relative merits of both, at least from my perspective as someone who isn’t particularly dogmatic about either option.

    Mastodon

    I feel like Mastodon’s big advantage is that it is already very much a distributed network. This is the only truly federated option in the mix. This makes Mastodon/ActivityPub-based networks pretty resilient with no single point of failure.

    If a major Mastodon server goes down, the rest of them just keep going and they just lose contact with the server that failed. No need for a flock of hybrid bird-butterflies to keep the mythical whale swimming.

    A big, potential boost for the ActivityPub ecosystem is the very gradual (and voluntary) move by Threads with its 275+ million users to federate using ActivityPub. This is theoretically going to be a huge boost for the ActivityPub network because it would enable true interoperability between Mastodon, Threads and other ActivityPub-based networks.

    The challenge here is that Threads actually needs to roll out more complete ActivityPub support and, ideally, encourage users to federate. Currently, even though is is possible to enable federation for your Threads profile, it is not that intuitive to find, not obvious why this is something a Threads user would want to do, and I noticed that the reminders that you are already federating have the hint of a warning.

    So, essentially, until federation becomes commonplace on Threads, the audience for Mastodon and other ActivityPub-based networks will probably remain relatively small. This is fine if you are comfortable navigating the slightly more technical sign-up process and you can find your community there. For “mainstream” social network users, it still seems to be too intimidating or not interesting because you don’t have all the sorts of people you’d want to follow on Mastodon.

    Certainly this is something I’ve noticed. While there are loads of interesting people who I am happy following on Mastodon, the prospect of adding all the “mainstream” people I’d like to follow from Threads is a big draw for me. That isn’t happening quite as quickly as I had hoped.

    Bluesky

    Bluesky is very much like Twitter from a couple years ago. It is much easier to sign-up and get started with Bluesky. Leaving aside how interesting the customizable approach to moderation there is (and this will probably only become more interesting over time), features like starter packs make it really easy to follow a bunch of people who interest you.

    Add to that a range of curated lists based on topics of interest and it’s pretty easy to just fall into Bluesky and find people who interest you. Moderation tools like blocking and muting accounts are also really effective, too, so trolling has a pretty short shelf life in Bluesky.

    It’s not surprising that Bluesky has been growing so quickly lately. The last few days it has basically grown by about 1 million users a day. It’s really impressive. If this continues then network effects kick in and we’ll see even more “mainstream” people joining.

    The big challenge with Bluesky at the moment is that while it is designed to federate, there only really is one server for now. This makes this one server pretty vulnerable to failure for some or other reason. It also doesn’t seem to be quite as “easy” to set up your own server (to the extent setting up a Mastodon server is easy).

    You can use both

    I switch between Mastodon and Bluesky. I follow a lot of really interesting people on both services so I don’t mind. I also find that there are differences between the people I follow on both networks that appeal to me for different reasons, and I like that too.

    Having seen how Mastodon federates and how I can follow Threads profiles that are federated, I really like the idea of having one profile in the Fediverse that I can use to follow anyone, wherever they are. To an extent this is possible with Bridgy Fed that enables me to follow Bluesky people from Mastodon and vice versa. So we may even see more coherent and simpler bridges between Mastodon and Bluesky in the future, at which point the dream of a federated social experience becomes much more of a reality.

    Even now, seeing how Mastodon and Bluesky have grown is really encouraging. Bluesky is growing rapidly at the moment, sure. At the same time, I wouldn’t write Mastodon and ActivityPub-based networks off as losers. In the long run, this is where we should, and will hopefully, go with our social networks.

    You can find me here:

    Fediverse reactions
  • A prediction for Trump support for US Jews and Israel

    A prediction for Trump support for US Jews and Israel

    Roughly 79% of American Jews voted for Harris. Trump will regard this as disloyal to him. The Muslim vote played a pivotal role in delivering a win to Trump. He’ll remember this.

    Given how Trump is motivated by loyalty, I can see him deciding that the Jewish vote is less important, and with it I wouldn’t be surprised to see support for Israel wane. That ironclad support for Israel is going to rust a little over the next four years at the cost of greater support for the Muslim world.

  • Continuing trauma, attacks and our existential defence

    Continuing trauma, attacks and our existential defence

    I have had a jarring week with several conversations about various narratives about Palestinians in Gaza and what Israel is supposedly doing to them. At first I thought that what made these conversations jarring was that the narratives are just so distorted and callous. Then, today I read an article about the women soldiers at the Nahal Oz base who were overrun and murdered on 7 October, and their base torched.

    When I read the horrific scenes at this base, and what must have happened to these soldiers that the IDF left insufficiently protected, I realised that one of the main reasons that this week was so jarring is because for so many Israelis, we are still being traumatised by not only the attacks on 7 October, but by everything that has followed since then.

    Intellectually I know that it is now 75 days after that dark day. Emotionally, viscerally, I feel like it was last week, or perhaps two weeks ago. All these narratives about Israel committing genocide, ethnic cleansing, erasing Palestinian culture, and more are just continuations of those attacks. This doesn’t mean that we are losing our way and giving into the criticism. If anything, this draws us closer together as Israelis and as Jews (often despite our personal or political differences).

    I mentioned the following on Mastodon and Threads the other day –

    It is very difficult to have a meaningful conversation about Palestinians, whether those caught up in the war in Gaza, or elsewhere if your (you know who you are) starting point is that Israel, and the people who live in Israel (the majority of whom are Jews) don’t have a right to exist and a right to self-determination on our ancestral land. 🇮🇱

    It’s not that we are not aware of the casualties in Gaza. We are. Right now, though, we are still under attack. Not just in Gaza and in northern Israel. We are under attack globally as Jews and Israelis. So for now, we are defending ourselves because this is a fight for our survival as a nation and as a people.

  • Calling for genocide is not context-dependent

    Calling for genocide is not context-dependent

    Renny Grinshpan published a video recently that left me utterly gobsmacked. People running top-tier universities seem to describe calls for genocide of Jews (you know, “From the river to the sea …”) as only being problematic based on the context. 🤯

    RENNY GRINSHPAN (@heyitsrenny) • Instagram photos and videos

    There is no context in which calling for genocide is vaguely acceptable. None. It shouldn’t even be a debate. If you think that calls to eradicate Jews (or anyone else, for that matter) is a valid intellectual exercise, take a good look at what your words mean:

    The Liberation of Bergen-belsen Concentration Camp, April 1945 Dr Fritz Klein, the camp doctor, standing in a mass grave at Belsen. Klein, who was born in Austro-Hungary, was an early member of the Nazi Party and joined the SS in 1943. He worked in Auschwitz-Birkenau for a year from December 1943 where he assisted in the selection of prisoners to be sent to the gas chambers. After a brief period at Neungamme, Klein moved to Belsen in January 1945. Klein was subsequently convicted of two counts of war crimes and executed in December 1945.
    This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non Commercial Licence. Photographs taken, or artworks created, by a member of the forces during their active service duties are covered by Crown Copyright provisions. Faithful reproductions may be reused under that licence, which is considered expired 50 years after their creation.
    Fediverse reactions

  • Now posting from Mastodon too

    I just discovered a gem of a plugin by @alex that enables me to connect my Mastodon app to my site and post from here. 🎉

    Enable Mastodon Apps
  • Hope, Miracles and Perseverance

    Hope, Miracles and Perseverance

    This Chanukah is complicated. To me, this is a festival about hope and perseverance in the face of overwhelming danger. It is also a festival about miracles.

    This year, Chanukah has even more meaning as the war continues, and as we continue to hope and wait for the return of our people.

    חג חנוכה שמח 🇮🇱

    This is a photograph of a banner with messages and symbols drawn in various colors. The central text, in bold letters, reads "#BRINGTHEMHOME NOW," surrounded by handwritten messages, drawings of hearts, and Star of David symbols. The text and drawings are in shades of blue, red, and orange. Below is another banner with Hebrew text, featuring large black and red letters against a white background with blue borders, indicating a message or slogan.
    This nighttime photo shows an outdoor setting with a structure that has a modern design, illuminated by linear lights. A large menorah, a traditional Jewish candelabrum, is lit with electric lights and placed prominently on top of the structure. Banners, similar to those in the first image, are displayed on the walls of the structure. The environment appears to be a public space with seating areas, trees, and paved ground.
    The image depicts a close-up of various menorahs on a reflective surface. The menorahs have candles with some lit, showing flames. In the foreground, there's a unique menorah shaped like a train with candle holders on its carriage. The candles vary in color, including a blue one that's burning. This indicates the celebration of Hanukkah, with the menorahs being the centerpiece of the tradition.
  • My blog is 19 years old

    My blog is 19 years old

    My son pointed out to me that my site just turned 19. 🎂 My first post was way back on 6 December 2004.

    A cat with white and dark brown patches is walking confidently towards the camera on a polished floor. The lighting is warm, suggesting it's indoors with sunlight coming from the side, casting a long shadow to the right of the cat. In the background, there's a large advertisement poster with an image of a perfume bottle and a woman's profile.

    19 years just creeps up on you when you least expect it!

    Fediverse reactions
  • The false equivalency of “extremists on both sides” in the Israel-Hamas war

    The false equivalency of “extremists on both sides” in the Israel-Hamas war

    I had a discussion with James on Mastodon about how both Israel and Gaza have governments that are both “unacceptably” bad. This is similar to an argument that both Israel and Gaza have extremists in government as a way to establish a sort of false equivalency. Here is my attempt to address that false equivalency.

    @paul @evan understandable. Remember that the Palestinians don’t want to be under constant threat either, and many don’t support hamas, especially those in the West Bank (where attacks from settlers and Israeli security forces have been concentrated). The Palestinians I know in Ramallah really just want to live their lives in peace, like you do, like almost anyone would.

    I don’t think peace is possible until both Israelis and Gazans recognize that their respective governments are unacceptably bad, and until both hamas and Netanyahu are out of power. You probably know that Netanyahu has favored hamas over Fatah because a two-state solution would be bad for him politically.

    Link

    To begin with, the Gazan Palestinians are under threat from two sources:

    1. Hamas itself. Hamas is a tyrannical ruling power in Gaza and doesn’t tolerate any opposition to its rule.
    2. Israeli strikes in response to Hamas attacking Israel.

    If Hamas doesn’t attack Israel, the Palestinians have nothing to fear from the IDF.

    The second issue is that while we have extremists in our government (thanks to Netanyahu who no-one else would work with), Hamas is an extremist, terrorist organisation that rules Gaza.

    Hamas terrorises its own citizens, as well as Israelis. Hamas doesn’t hold elections and its primary focus is not the wellbeing of its people.

    In Israel, we do have a far right government. Some members of that government are talking about taking over Gaza.

    They are in the minority and they lack the support of the majority of Israelis. Unlike in Gaza, we have elections (sometimes too many) and I am sure we will see a return of a more centrist government after this war.

    Our far right ministers are only good at sowing division and we don’t need that.

    Fediverse reactions