I contend the success of DataFarming platforms is due to the stickiness and frictionlessness of their commercial design, not because they are better for music and musicians. We knowingly and unknowingly choose stuff that’s bad for us in daily life. Like when I want a cookie. I eat the cookie and it tastes good, even though I know it’s bad for me. If I eat a dozen cookies everyday, I acknowledge that my health may be negatively impacted. In terms of culture and community, choices are more complex and their potential effects are harder to foresee.
Feed or not, what I’m trying to do is shed light on the choices in front of us and get us thinking about why we might or might not want them. And you’re right, it doesn’t have to be either/or.
Great idea. As a federation noob, I have some questions. Is there a separate website for searching or could you search across servers from any place that supports federation? Do servers manually declare which servers they can search? I don’t use Mastodon, curious how it works there.