TL;DR
A long-form blog argues that modern social platforms and Fediverse clients prioritise content delivery over reliable person-to-person messaging, turning communication into entertainment. The post frames a debate around Pixelfed’s design choices as symptomatic of a wider shift away from dependable asynchronous communication like email and RSS.
What happened
A writer published a contentious piece critiquing Pixelfed for deliberately dropping certain messages, arguing this behavior undermines trust across the Fediverse. The post drew polarized responses that the author groups into two camps: people who treat ActivityPub as a human-to-human communication protocol and those who use it primarily for content consumption. The author cites the ActivityPub/W3C framing of the spec as oriented toward building social platforms to deliver content, and says that many Fediverse users accept or even expect message loss because they are accustomed to algorithmic feeds. The essay contrasts this entertainment-oriented model with older, reliable tools — email, RSS, XMPP, and offline workflows — and notes Pixelfed plans an optional setting to stop dropping text posts. The author reports shifting personal practice back toward mailing lists, Gemini, RSS, and offline reading tools.
Why it matters
- Dropping messages erodes expectations of reliable, asynchronous communication across federated networks.
- When protocols are used primarily for content distribution, user behavior and platform design prioritize engagement over trust.
- The shift from communication to entertainment affects which tools and standards survive or gain adoption.
- Loss of dependable channels can push users toward smaller, niche systems or offline workflows, fragmenting audiences.
Key facts
- The author posted a critique arguing Pixelfed harms the Fediverse by intentionally dropping messages.
- Reactions split into two perspectives: treating ActivityPub as a communication protocol versus a content-consumption protocol.
- The W3C ActivityPub description emphasizes building social platforms to deliver content, not guaranteed message delivery.
- Many Pixelfed defenders reportedly use Mastodon accounts and accept multiple accounts for different media types.
- Some Fediverse tools such as PeerTube, WriteFreely, and Mobilizon are described as publish-only and do not surface inbound messages the same way.
- The author says people accustomed to algorithmic feeds tolerate dropped messages and often do not retain what they see while doomscrolling.
- Pixelfed is reported to plan an optional feature allowing users to avoid dropping text messages.
- The author prefers asynchronous, reliable tools — email, mailing lists, RSS, Gemini, and offline readers like Offpunk — and has returned to those workflows.
What to watch next
- Pixelfed’s rollout and uptake of its optional setting to preserve text messages, and whether it changes interoperability assumptions.
- not confirmed in the source
- not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- ActivityPub: A W3C protocol that provides APIs for client-server and server-to-server exchange to build federated social platforms and deliver content.
- Fediverse: A loosely connected ecosystem of federated services and implementations that interoperate using protocols such as ActivityPub.
- RSS: A standardized web feed format for publishing frequently updated information in a way that can be read by feed readers.
- Asynchronous communication: Exchanging messages where participants do not need to be simultaneously present; examples include email and mailing lists.
Reader FAQ
Did Pixelfed intentionally drop messages?
According to the author, Pixelfed’s design deliberately dropped certain messages; the author framed this as a choice aligned with content-consumption use cases.
Is ActivityPub a communication protocol?
The source cites the W3C framing that ActivityPub is aimed at building social platforms to deliver content, suggesting it is not primarily a guaranteed message-delivery protocol.
Will reliable email and older protocols disappear?
not confirmed in the source
Did the author change how they communicate?
Yes; the author reports reverting to mailing lists, RSS, Gemini, and offline-first tools to preserve reliable, asynchronous exchanges.
How We Lost Communication to Entertainment by Ploum on 2025-12-15 All our communication channels are morphed into content distribution networks. We are more and more entertained but less and less…
Sources
- We Lost Communication to Entertainment
- Does the rise of the Internet bring erosion of strong ties? …
- How trust in info from news outlets and social media has …
- Social media trust: Fighting misinformation in the time of crisis
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