• Even_Adder@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think I can see why your side, but correct me if I misunderstood.

      I don’t think we need primary ownership here. This site doesn’t have primary ownership in the social media market, yet it benefits users. Having our own spaces and tools is always something worth fighting for. Implying we need “primary ownership” is a straw man and emotional language like “massively”, “ridiculous”, and “left holding the bag” can harm this conversation. This is a false dilemma between two extremes: either individuals have primary ownership, or we have no control.

      You also downplay the work of the vibrant community of researchers, developers, activists, and artists who are working on FOSS software and models for anyone to use. It isn’t individuals merely participating, it’s a worldwide network working for the public, often times leading research and development, for free.

      One thing I’m certain of is that no that one can put a lid on this. What we can do is make it available, effective, and affordable to the public. Mega-corps will have their own models, no matter the cost. Just like the web, personal computers, and smartphones were made by big corporations or governments, we were the ones who turned them into something that enables social mobility, creativity, communication, and collaboration. It got to the point they tried jumping on our trends.