BBC is starting its own Mastodon instance. The CBC should do the same.
As it says in the title, the BBC is starting its own Mastodon instance. I think the CBC (and other news networks) should do similar. Particularly with the recent passing of Bill C-18 it seems like a world where the links we share are crossposts to news organization's own content is the perfect resolution to that whole issue.
I think that this is an important part of the future of the fediverse. News sites and the like have shitty poorly moderated comment sections that serve almost no purpose. They have the resources to sustain a large instance and like you said it lets them more easily monetize their work. It seems like wins all around if enough news outlets adopt it.
I think it would be pretty cool if I could subscribe to different CBC sections, and have it show up in my normal feeds, I think this would mitigate the biases that relying on news going viral creates without having to go to the cbc itself and scrape through it myself.
This is so much better than relying on tweeter assuming it can be medium for some sort of commons!
For sure. Reading through the entire cbc.ca site feels so unfeasible and exhausting. Having it actually categorized and browsable without all the attention-grabbing mega headlines would make it much more readable.
@SlikPikker Would using an RSS reader help with navigation? Allows you to follow CBC News without having to dig through their website.
You can find the RSS list here: https://www.cbc.ca/rss/
Don't click on a CBC app video link either, you will have to watch 30 seconds of ads before the article...EVERY TIME.
Yes, I think this is really the future. I remember there was a country that was also planning to make their own instance in the fediverse as well.
This is the start of the use cases I wanted to see take off with Mastodon/Lemmy/Kbin. Much like the previous era of distributed content with user-hosted voice servers and forums, having larger communities/organizations run their own instances and avoid trying to treat the space as one big pool of content is the real use case here. The fact that you can cross-instance subscribe and post makes it viable long-term.
It also gives "free" verification of information's sources based on the domain, the same way that (modern) email gives you an extra layer of confidence when you see a verified domain. I would love the see the Government of Canada, CBC, Universities, all starting their own instances and utilizing them in unique and interesting ways. With enough adoption, official provincial/municipality instances could pop up to make organized communities easier.
It feels to me like a starting move away from the autocracy that the platform economy has created. It's not universal, but I absolutely push back against too many instances trying to be "general purpose Reddit replacements" because that seems like a fleeting use case for what it can eventually become, and it just confuses the whole abstraction of what these decentralized socials afford.
I love the idea of verified domains, that is such a great concept! One of the really worrisome things with the insanity in social media is where can people get valid emergency information.
This is very intriguing.... I actually work in CBC (nowhere near content or with the social media people who'd make these kinds of decisions), but as a developer I get 20% time to dabble with anything I think might be useful. I haven't used it in a while, but a CBC ActivityPub instance may be just the right project, especially if it can auto-publish our content from the same feeds that power our site.
Also, you might want to take a look at https://zdf.social/@ZDF and https://ard.social/
ZDF and ARD are the two biggest broadcasters in Germany, and they both have their own ActivityPub (Mastodon) server.
In case you needed some extra convincing that other large mainstream news organisations also have realised that this is actually a good idea that makes sense ;)
A big news org from France is also on Mastodon with like 50k followers, but I cannot remember the name right now
The actual Dutch government now also run their own instance.
Evan Prodromou (@evan@cosocial.ca) , one of the co-authors of ActivityPub is super interest in getting Canadian news organisations on board the fediverse. He gave a talk about that last night actually: https://cosocial.ca/@evan/110809723914430376
If you're serious about this, you could totally reach out to him, I'm sure he would love to hear from people in CBC
@wisdomchicken @Hazzard absolutely! Hazzard, I'd love to discuss!
Yes, this can actually be done. There's a tool called #MastoFeed that allows you to post RSS content to the fediverse. Some publications like #DarkReading are exploring using MastoFeed to publish their articles.
Their account can be found here: https://infosec.town/@darkreading
That being said, not sure if a bot account is what people are hoping for if #CBC decides to join the fediverse...
News publishers like BBC and CBC could also repurpose their RSS feeds, by creating individual accounts on their own Mastodon for each of the topics and make the same rss content available through there. This would make it easy for users to sub to news they are interested in: https://www.cbc.ca/rss/
Hope you're able to get it in front of the right eyes! Running an instance that is verifiably yours is basically the blue check mark of the fediverse (for something like a news org, at least)
The involvement of the BBC encouraged me to finally figure it out. And now I REALLY want a CBC one. They could have a feed per show, all hosted internally. It's a no-brainer.
I'd get back to listening "The Secret Life of Canada" podcast if there was an active lemmy community for it :-P
idk if I want an entire instance made up of CBC commenters.
Seriously, who are these people commenting on CBC articles? I don't usually even look at the comments anymore, simply because any time I did, they were full of the shittiest, dumbest assholes I've ever seen. I'm embarrassed to even share a country with people who comment on CBC articles.
By comparison, comments on Reddit and Lemmy are usually okay. Not good by any means (especially in the right leaning mess that was r/Canada), but miles better than CBC's comments (which I can only assume are completely unmoderated).
Maybe most of them won't figure out how to login here. Especially if they force 2fa.
There always seem to be 2. The real answer is in the comments (Reddit/Lemmy), and the comments are worth ignoring (Cbc/CTV/Facebook)
The difference here being that a CBC instance wouldn't have to follow dumb rules ... they'd make up their own so the racists, multi-phobics, etc wouldn't have much of a platform.
Yeah, tell me about it. The dumbest thing the CBC ever did was open up to comments.
When the CBC was label as propaganda on the platform formerly know as Twitter, didn't the CBC say they were going to be involved in decentralized social media?
The possessive pronoun is "its". "It's" is a contraction of "it is".
Thank you for the correction.
It's kind of ironic, because a massive reason for the enshittification of Twitter is Musk's rampant transphobia, and the BBC is famous among the trans community for platforming transphobes. I'd have thought they'd be perfectly happy to stay on Twitter.
I mean, there's a lot more wrong with Twitter than just transphobia, but you can trace it back there. It was a big part of the "free speech" argument that transphobes were getting silenced, which is what drove Musk to want to own the site, and also drove him down the right-wing-identity-politics rabbit hole that turned him into the wingnut he is today. That and anti-COVID measures hurting his bottom line.
Musk was not "turned into" a wingnut. He "always was" a wingnut. It doesn't take a lot of digging to find him being a contentious, antisocial prick from his youth onward. It's just that the richer he got the more people looked.
Also being openly asshole was not a proven model pre-Trump so most assholes showed some restraint in public
Yeah, this is such a great thing. Really hope CBC takes note and follows.
Also, hope this is a success.
I agree. Hosting a "Twitter" alternative yourself that you can control. And bringing news to people on other platforms. You need big players on the alternative platforms to make them viable for more people.
This seems very awesome! I'd love to see them go as far as having their own Lemmy instance too!
I feel this move helps legitimize Mastodon in a way that other companies follow suit to get away from the mess that twitter is now.
The Dutch government and the city of Amsterdam have their own instance too.
I sent a couple emails to them around the time Musk labelled them as state propaganda. They sent one reply back saying they'd forward it to whoever is in charge of social. No way to know whether or not is was just basically flushed down the toilet though. I don't know if there's a particular way to reach them to recommend that they set up a presence here.
I don't really see the downside for them. A private server would be relatively low cost and it could be hosted on servers they control in Canada. Beyond an official place for their work, it also means their employees and journalists wouldn't have to worry about where to sign up, plus give them instant account verification.
As much as I love the CBC, they always seem a bit too reluctant to lead.
Edit: Just wanted to add that it's important to reach out to CBC any way you can. I'm not sure about other Fediverse projects but Mastodon at least uses Rel=noreferer in the header. Traffic from Mastodon users will show up in analytics as direct traffic so they can't see how many people are originating from there.
I emailed them today. It is clear that the "free" platforms they rely on are now openly hostile to them and their users. We need to put public services back onto public infrastructure
I sent them a note via their feedback form too. If we all do that they might start paying attention.
they always seem a bit too reluctant to lead.
It is unlikely they have the know-how. The OECD doesn't call Canada the "most educated nation" because we believe in learning how to learn. We believe that one needs to be trained before they are able to do anything. At this time, it is all but certain that nobody has gone through a Fediverse/Mastadon/Lemmy college course.
I kind of agree with your premise about education vs training. But, I know someone who just finished a PhD thesis on an aspect of social media. These people are out there & could probably establish rapport without much friction. And at the end of the day, I'd say it's better if these projects are spearheaded by people who have some wisdom about the waters that we're going out into. Though, yeah, I share your pessimism more generally.
they always seem a bit too reluctant to lead
I know it's a cliche, but I wonder if that's a 'Canadian' thing.
Maybe? I think it's also because they're constantly under attack from conservatives. Anything too progressive or new could make them stand out more as a target. "The Fediverse?! Look what the Liberal CBC is doing with taxpayer money now!" It's maybe put them in a box where they think they can only do whatever other news or media organizations are doing.
I also think they probably underestimate the amount of support they have from Canadians too.
This is good in some ways and I welcome the BBC to the fediverse as an important step to universal acceptance. It's far better than using flaky bridges from other social networks.
What is disappointing is the very small range of content provided so far, Radio 4 & 5 plus some curiosities. I'd hoped for the excellent 6 Music channel. Let's see if they keep up with the sports in particular on 5. I'm glad that it's divided by station / topic so I can follow only what interests me.
I too would like more national broadcasters to get onboard. CBC I'm sure have some interesting content to share with the world, as do ABC, RTE, NZBC, others? I'd love to have culture from across the globe, which is the real value for Mastodon for me rather than as a news feed.
Great move on the part of the BBC. Given all the issues on Twitter, hopefully the CBC will also make a move to Mastodon. I recall when Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, Governor General of Canada, closed comments on Twitter due to abusive garbage, that I wrote her office and suggested Mastodon. Alas, they did not follow through. But hopefully this move from the BBC will inspire some of our Canadian institutions (particularly the CBC) to reconsider and to make the move to the fediverse.
That article states she closed down **all **social media comments. This would include Facebook, etc. as well. I feel they see Mastodon as no different than other social media sites.
Some instances (at least mastodon.art) are already blocking them.
What's the reason to block them? Doesn't it genuinely expand the fediverse?
IIUC it's because the BBC has had some dabbling with transphobia. A few admins are inferring that their Mastodon moderation policies will be similar to their editorial practices so it's just a matter of blocking yet another instance that has a mismatch in moderation policy.
Business as usual on Mastodon, that's why it's decentralized in the first place. mastodon.art users who want to participate on the social.bbc instance can just go do so using another instance.
If you read the linked thread, it's because of the BBC's increased bigotry toward LGBT+ people over the past few years.
Honestly with this model of social networking now past its infancy and the most painful growing pains (I think), every entity of any meaningful size should be creating their own Mastodon (and Lemmy) instance. Governments, corporations, non profits, etc.
Validation, message control, etc are crucial to success, and leaving that in the hands of some for profit entity that doesn't have your interests at heart is a recipe for disaster. So many companies had to decide if they wanted to keep their access to customers on the Bird Site while dealing with people saying the N word and cheering literal Nazis. That wouldn't be a problem in federated space: just defederate.
I don't think we're gonna see anything worse than the first month where vlemmy and fmhy got nuked. I think big instances that exist now are gonna stick around for a while.
Honestly with this model of social networking now past its infancy and the most painful growing pains (I think)
The most painful growing pains for any social networking service is their Eternal September moment.
I am not so sure we're past that as we keep seeing over, and over, and over again.
I didn't know about the BBC thing, that's a pretty big deal for the fediverse. A question though, in the linked BBC article, it seems like they're heavily relying on moderation to come from the home instance of anyone who posts a reply to a BBC post. If a self hosted troll server decides to start aggressively spamming these media accounts, or posts illegal material as replies to their posts, what could a media organization do to stop it? Is there any protection against say a wide network of troll servers working together?
Traditional social media at least theoretically has a better ability to shut this sort of activity down because they can see the whole picture of user activity and use algorithms to discover and ban bots. I worry that decentralization itself will become an attack vector for malicious activity.
Isn't this what defederation is for? If it became enough of an issue media companies could even work together to maintain a shared blacklist to reduce the individual burden.
Good point & thanks for the post.
Won't different media companies have different red lines for what gets blacklisted and what doesn't, and wouldn't that be at best confusing, and worse, a political quagmire? Let's say (after the fediverse gains some momentum) an influential politician uses a self hosted instance to exclusively communicate their policies, and as a home for their political base, but leaves the server moderated well below an acceptable level on purpose. Are media companies obligated to defederate it? Will they? Seems like there is a whole new world of trade-offs and grey areas here.
Even if we assume troll instances are easily and effectively defederated and can't be spun up faster than they can be collectively blocked. Other than volunteer moderation, what stops an ocean of trolls from flooding better-known, federated instances?
Just want to make clear - I'm 100% an advocate for the fediverse, I'm here because I think it's awesome right now. I just worry about the chances for it to get drowned in troll/malicious/corporate material as it grows in popularity, and I'm trying to think if there are any ways to stem that tide. Seems reasonable to expect that it will start coming.
Very cool! I'm hoping that other news organizations follow suit.
This is great to see. They cite moderation as a concern. Turning off replies to all posts could help reduce that burden.
Would doing this be redundant to https://mstdn.ca who has a tie-in with the CIRA?
Or maybe CBC and mstdn.ca could work together?
The BBC instance is trying to fulfill a different role than mstdn.ca fulfills. The social.bbc site (and presumably a similar CBC effort also) is not open to general membership, strictly BBC employees and content. So conceivably a CBC journalist could have a social.cbc.ca account for their work and a mstdn.ca account for their personal life.
On a cost level, yes it would make sense to leverage mstdn.ca but issue is that CBC wouldn't have the complete control & the instant brand recognition via hosting their own instance on their domain name.
It's also much better for the brand to have an account on social.cbc.ca. Something like cbcnews@social.cbc.ca looks better on a branding perspective than cbcnews@mstdn.ca. It's no different than how organizations use their own domain for emails.
I don't know. We already have mstdn.ca and it is free (as in speech) and supported by CIRA.
They would be fulfilling different roles. The social.bbc site isn't going to be open to the public but rather specific to BBC content and journalists.
Plus an account in a potential social.cbc.ca domain has the advantage that you know automatically that it's a legit CBC account.
100% agree. Now they are free of catering to a billionaire's gamed anti-democratic algorithms. There's an opportunity to get back to REAL news reporting again.
State funded is different than state controlled. BBC and CBC both have charters that focus on political and information neutrality and are meant to be backed by an oversight board to prevent any bias in reporting.
That feels like a stretch. They're hosting their own instance. The only accounts on their instance are their own verified ones. There are literally some European governments that have also done this on Mastodon. If you're worried about them over moderating comments sections, that sounds about the same as a comments section on any news website. Other instances can defederated from them. Other people can post a link to their article and have comments go off in an instance where the BBC isn't also the admin/moderator.
It's different when it's our side. Are you not familiar with irregular sentence structures?
I am keeping an orderly society. You are flirting with facism. They are authoritarians. The Chinese are alien beings Hell-bent on the obliteration of humanity.
I am keeping our citizens alive. You are eliminating democratic protections for fleeting health. They are forcing people to wear masks. The Chinese are alien being Hell-bent on the obliteration of humanity.
Just remember whenever you see inexplicable contradictions in public stances that you're likely dealing with an irregular sentence structuring.