By no means am I a computer expert or a coder. But I do have grey hair and have used computers since Windows 3.1. As a video editor I have even dabbled at the higher end of hardware, had to deal with codec issues etc. and generally learned my way around the world of bits and bytes. As a user - never really looking under the hood though.
A few years back, it must have been around the Snowden revelations, I installed a Linux distro. But at the time video editing software for Linux was scarce, I never got it to run properly. Too quickly, with the benefit of hindsight, all privacy concerns went overboard.
Today I am guilty as charged: facebook, whatsapp, gmail, instagram, skype, youtube channel - I use them all and until very recently had no problem with the privacy price we pay for these services. They are convenient, I am pretty immune against advertising - even if it is targeted - and obviously the providers of these services have to earn money somehow.
This view has fundamentally changed over the last few months, with centralized platforms using their near-monopolies to censor and deplatform dissenting opinions.
As if they also had a monopoly on universal truth...
The basis of my education was, that there can be no objectivity in communication. Every message one receives has a sender and this sender will be biased. Every news outlet has a more or less pronounced political agenda. It is my right and responsability to inform myself from varied sources and form my own opinion.
I consider this freedom of information one of the greatest achievements of mankind, the basis of scientific progress and a fundamental democratic right.
In other words, I am allergic to censorship. My family remembers the books burning, the last time totalitarians took complete ownership of public discourse in our part of the world. Never again! Even if nowadays it is "just" online-deletion, deplatforming at the touch of a button.
I wholeheartedly wish to continue making up my own mind: by reading, watching and listening to a multitude of diverse opinions without censorship. Science is by definition never settled and relies on open discourse. Censoring professors and other scientists, because their views don´t fit in with the political agenda is a no go.
In shorter words: I am looking for alternatives to the centralized networks. Convenience, ease of entry and use are suddenly not top priorities anymore.
Welcoming expert contributors - please contact me:
@jamesschwartz@mastodon.online
jamesschwartz@tutanota.com
https://t.me/thewayofdog
Support the project with BTC:
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