Weirdly, in this current moment, Balaji and Cassie could not seem further apart and mutually misunderstood in terms of goals, values and execution – effective mass deplatforming on the one hand (more thoughts on this later) and longstanding public grudges from the other.
Still, I would very much like to see both projects succeed. “Win and help win” is a motto you hear at a lot@ns. I still miss the thoughtful, good-faith discussion culture that characterized Farcaster’s early years, and the curation and “cozy corners” that came with channels. On this front, AI moderation with consistent rules seems finally viable now and worth trying. On the other hand, the underlying protocol-level censorship resistance must be maintained and honored for exit to be viable.
For better or worse, Farcaster’s 37-strong userbase is splintered right now. The difference now is whether those who remain choose to interpret the merger as zero-sum or positive-sum.
https://x.com/cass_on_mars/status/2110906024232386731
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