Personally I think that if there was like a central link/front end to access everything and then have each user be able to have a recommended list of instances/hosts to access would be a more user friendly solution and a better solution for search engines. I know the fediverse is about decentralization but having a central front end and decentralized back end seems easier for new users. And then for the back ended hosting aspect each host would be able to manually pick which instances or communities to host and mirror. I’d like to hear your ideas since I have no idea what I’m talking about.
And theeeen the centralized front end starts charging for API access and picking and choosing which communities to recommend based on corporate sponsors
Hi it’s me, your centralized front end. You can trust me.
I “promise” I won’t sell you access to [rich evil corporation here].
“Want to have your PRIVACY?”
“Do you want to NOT BE TRACKED?!”
“For $5 a month you can have it all by paying upfront and to access a decentralized network of social media instances!”
Maybe the front end could also be hosted by everyone then it’s just the link that stays the same then?
You’ve just kicked the can down the road. What then when the centralized link repo charges for api access, and also drops links it doesn’t like?
When you try to go centralized, it’s turtles all the way down. Something will have control that breaks the nature of being federated.
Unless there’s multiple link aggregators to choose from… but then that’s what we already have!
Could be open source with a democratic voting system for a front end host in the community then.
Yes, but someone ultimately pays for the instance that is centralized. It’s that owner that could be susceptible to turning evil at worst, and misguided at best.
This is not infallible either. If money or power comes into it, you can bet on corruption.