Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This criticism of Mastodon - which, full disclosure, I use regularly - is odd. Here it is: "Japanese users had been looking for a Twitter-like platform where they could share lolicon writing and imagery for some time." For those unfamiliar with lolicon (as I was", it "includes animated cartoons and 2D drawings of young men and women in a way that is undeniably sexualized." As Zuckerman says, "some advocates for distributed publishing will be disappointed that Mastodon's growth is so closely tied to controversial content."

But where's the problem? I don't see one. In Japan lolicon "is legal, widespread and significantly accepted." As Zuckerman himself notes, the rest of the world has to live with "the hypersexualization of tween girls in Americal popular culture," not to mention some more objectionable manifestations of 'free speech' that we find in cesspools like 4chan and Reddit. The big difference between Mastodon and, say, Twitter, is that that culture-specific content isn't blasted all over the internet and into our homes. The difference is that one country can't impose its values on the rest of us. I call that a win. I've been enjoying my time on Mastodon, far away from spam messages, fascists, Disney child princesses, and yes, lolicon. It's the internet before it became ewwww and I prefer it that way.

Today: 1057 Total: 1063 [Direct link] [Share]


Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 6:49 p.m.

Canadian Flag Creative Commons License.

Force:yes