his post on mastodon is here:
https://mastodon.social/@pixelfed/113849098386232034
Dear Mark, I hope this finds you well. I noticed something interesting today - it seems Instagram is blocking links to my little open-source project. You know, the one that lets people share photos without harvesting their personal data or forcing algorithmic feeds on them. I have to admit, I’m flattered. Who would’ve thought a small team of volunteers could build something that would catch your attention? We’re just trying to give people a choice in how they share their memories online. No VCs, no surveillance capitalism, just code and community. Remember when Facebook started? It was about connecting people, not maximizing engagement metrics. Our project might be tiny compared to Instagram, but we’re staying true to that original spirit of social media - giving people control over their online presence without turning them into products. You could’ve ignored us. Instead, by blocking our links, you’ve given us the best endorsement we could ask for. You’ve confirmed what we’ve been saying all along - that big tech is more interested in protecting their walled gardens than fostering genuine innovation. Every time you block a link to our platform, you remind people why we built it in the first place. Your action tells them there are alternatives worth exploring, ones that respect their privacy and agency. So thank you, Mark. You’ve turned our little project into a symbol of resistance against digital monopolies.
FYI, put two spaces and two newlines after the end of a paragraph to put whitespace between (and any platform that uses markdown).
Please edit the post
Zuck sucks but this open letter is embarrassing. Dial back the smarm and self-righteousness a couple notches. I get it’s marketing and not really an open letter but still, cringe
Yeah. Remeber Twitter blocking Mastodon links? Nobody wrote ANY letter. Cringe
The dream: releasing a scathingly cordial open letter to an oligarch that has a real chance of ruining their day.
It would probably work on Musk. I’ll bet you his ego is that fragile.
Nah, musks to much of a manly man to be bothered by it.
Adrian Dittman might lose his goddamn mind, however.
Doubt. He took away a basement dwellers check mark because the basement dweller said he’s bad at video games
Reread that comment. It went straight over your head.
You aren’t even wrong. I stopped reading when I read Elon musk is a manly man completely ignoring the Adrian line
You should look up a picture of that dweeb sometime, or listen to any of the bitchly things he says. It’ll cure you of that notion in about a third of a second.
Reread his comment. It was pretty clever.
Adrian Dittman is Musk’s alt account on Twitter.
deleted by creator
Cut the explanation back out, let the idiots seethe.
you right. done.
You might want to do a bit more research, as it seems settled that Adrian Dittman is an actual real person and not Muskrat’s sockpuppet. Maybe be less of a dick about it too.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/05/bad-news-for-adrian-dittman-elon-musk-truthers/
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/adrian-dittmann-elon-musk-1235224131/
The same richest man in the world that cosplays as an elite gamer but outs himself on stream all for the approval of the gaming community?
This is what we call a home run.
Never heard of them until this Streisand created issue.
That’s not how FaceBook started, if it were then Mark Zuckerberg would have been using it.
It started so he could creep on girls on their campus. Nerds had hard time to socialize, so they made a digital social network to help them with the cause. Dunno if it did. But his early interviews are creepy af, lol
That is one kick ass last name!
We got
Ault
Nault
Renault
And Supernault!
Now I understand why I didn’t care closing my Facebook account years ago: it was for cross posting this sort of information.
Even if my Facebook feed is a sad desert, I hope I can be censored by the guy who rejects fact checkers
Where do i download it?
“Oh hi Mark…”
I’m all for pixelfed. I have a pixelfed account. This is a fun way to talk about the project.
I was pretty surprised at how the app is essentially a complete clone of IG. like the styling and layout of every button is pixel for pixel the exact same as IG. Innovation is one thing but copying everything about a program and calling it your own I’m not so sure about.
well the the learning curve for new users is flat and adoption of the app will be more acceptable to more people.
I think it’s a smart idea - they can always make changes to the UI in time as the platform gets more people.
You believe that making the learning curve “flat” means that you have to copy the exact shape, size and style of the icons?
Yes I do.
If app A has an icon that when touched does a specific thing, and app B has the exact same icon that does the exact same thing there is nothing new to learn. The learning curve is flat.
If you are arguing about the ethical and legal aspect of one app using the exact same UI as another that is a different conversation and a good one to have.
I guess I am talking ethics. I guess I have a vague sense of hypocrisy with the ‘open letter’ taking a vague moral/ethical high ground while it’s author has ripped off the design of a different piece of software (at least the UI) pixel for pixel
I mean zuckerberg stole the whole idea of Facebook from the winkleboss twins in the first place. Bought Instagram because he doesn’t gave the ability to create new good products. Then he copied Snapchat’s short form video into Instagram. So I’ve zero sympathy for him or Meta as they just copy shit and all their own ideas are shit (ex. now introducing legs). But if it were my project I’d make sure its different enough so won’t lose it if it’s sued for that
yeah that all makes sense.
i guess i just raised an eyebrow as the author of the letter was like “its just code and community” whilst absolutely copying their design down to the order of the items on the popup menu for posts
There’s a theory that copyright can help artists make a living.
But copying a design from a corpo after they’ve already made oodles of money is more like liberating the design for use of everyone.
I’m sure he’ll read it.
Your underestimate the fragility of a lonely billionaires ego.
Any project with a countdown timer, “days till Zuckerberg blocks us” is one I can get behind.
Good-ol Streisand affect
Is this actually getting traction outside of the fediverse? If not, I don’t think it achieved Streisand effect.
for clarity he built Facebook to rate how hot women at his college were…
To be clearer he stole the whole thing because he was always an entitled sack of poo. He never created a thing, just like Elon.
This letter reads like if Zuck was an ideologically driven tech-anarchist that wanted to connect people that became old and fell for the money but that’s not really true lol
