Abe Katz
@abekatz.bsky.social
Life: stand outdoors and play music
Job: fight epistemic crises at a computer
Former Discord; Meta
Teaching at Duke; Middlebury
Job: fight epistemic crises at a computer
Former Discord; Meta
Teaching at Duke; Middlebury
I think Zentropi's new offering is good, but with one wonky nuance. This 2020 article by @evelyndouek.bsky.social raises concerns about too much conformity in moderating speech, and is an important read. knightcolumbia.org/content/the-...
Still, the openness of Zentropi's approach is its strength.
Still, the openness of Zentropi's approach is its strength.
November 11, 2025 at 2:52 AM
I think Zentropi's new offering is good, but with one wonky nuance. This 2020 article by @evelyndouek.bsky.social raises concerns about too much conformity in moderating speech, and is an important read. knightcolumbia.org/content/the-...
Still, the openness of Zentropi's approach is its strength.
Still, the openness of Zentropi's approach is its strength.
I wrote some thoughts about how content distribution works in social tech, and why it's always more important to think about that than about specific content (e.g. AI Slop). With apologies, as usual, to McLuhan: www.abekatz.com/substance-an...
Substance and Substrate — Abe Katz
www.abekatz.com
November 1, 2025 at 6:32 PM
I wrote some thoughts about how content distribution works in social tech, and why it's always more important to think about that than about specific content (e.g. AI Slop). With apologies, as usual, to McLuhan: www.abekatz.com/substance-an...
Reposted by Abe Katz
Pluriverse! Pluriverse! Yes!
We're getting really close to interop, and I think that's so good. I joined the @anew.social board because @quillmatiq.com and @snarfed.org think about this work so carefully at the social and culture levels as well as the tech ones. A delight to see the work blossom.
We're getting really close to interop, and I think that's so good. I joined the @anew.social board because @quillmatiq.com and @snarfed.org think about this work so carefully at the social and culture levels as well as the tech ones. A delight to see the work blossom.
Introducing Bounce: a new tool that uses Bridgy Fed to migrate your social graph b/w ActivityPub and ATProto.
Yup, we built a service that moves your social graph *across* protocols.
And the best part? You get to keep *all* of your followers, along with many of your follows.
Yup, we built a service that moves your social graph *across* protocols.
And the best part? You get to keep *all* of your followers, along with many of your follows.
Bounce: A Cross-Protocol Migration Tool
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Introducing: Bounce
Today at FediForum, we previewed Bounce: a new tool that uses Bridgy Fed to help migrate your social graph between Mastodon and Bluesky.
You re...
blog.anew.social
June 5, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Pluriverse! Pluriverse! Yes!
We're getting really close to interop, and I think that's so good. I joined the @anew.social board because @quillmatiq.com and @snarfed.org think about this work so carefully at the social and culture levels as well as the tech ones. A delight to see the work blossom.
We're getting really close to interop, and I think that's so good. I joined the @anew.social board because @quillmatiq.com and @snarfed.org think about this work so carefully at the social and culture levels as well as the tech ones. A delight to see the work blossom.
This piece is a beautiful model of the libertarian view of social tech- strongly recommend reading. Inserra argues for a discrete “free speech” team in the content policy org, as if the very firm’s raison d’etre isn’t already to maximize sessions and engagement.
"Even as the politics of the moment will inexorably change, if Meta wants to embrace expression in a more lasting, fundamental, and apolitical way, then substantial institutional changes are needed,” writes the CATO Institute’s Fellow, David Inserra.
Embracing Expression at Meta Requires Changes that Transcend Politics | TechPolicy.Press
CATO Institute Fellow, David Inserra proposes recommendations to cement the importance of free expression within Meta.
buff.ly
February 13, 2025 at 2:49 PM
This piece is a beautiful model of the libertarian view of social tech- strongly recommend reading. Inserra argues for a discrete “free speech” team in the content policy org, as if the very firm’s raison d’etre isn’t already to maximize sessions and engagement.
Reposted by Abe Katz
AND WE'RE HATCHED!
ROOST launches at the #ParisAIActionSummit, bringing together tech companies and philanthropies to deliver free, open-source safety tools. Join us 👉 roost.tools
ROOST launches at the #ParisAIActionSummit, bringing together tech companies and philanthropies to deliver free, open-source safety tools. Join us 👉 roost.tools
February 10, 2025 at 1:00 PM
AND WE'RE HATCHED!
ROOST launches at the #ParisAIActionSummit, bringing together tech companies and philanthropies to deliver free, open-source safety tools. Join us 👉 roost.tools
ROOST launches at the #ParisAIActionSummit, bringing together tech companies and philanthropies to deliver free, open-source safety tools. Join us 👉 roost.tools
Reposted by Abe Katz
In my self-defense classes I focus on how most people are socially conditioned to follow the norms of a civilized, polite society — and there is a MENTAL SHIFT required to use violence to defend from violence.
I'm reminded of this while watching our elected officials dithering and delaying. 1/
I'm reminded of this while watching our elected officials dithering and delaying. 1/
February 1, 2025 at 8:09 AM
In my self-defense classes I focus on how most people are socially conditioned to follow the norms of a civilized, polite society — and there is a MENTAL SHIFT required to use violence to defend from violence.
I'm reminded of this while watching our elected officials dithering and delaying. 1/
I'm reminded of this while watching our elected officials dithering and delaying. 1/
Is there a good, non-proprietary alternative for web indexing other than Google Search?
January 28, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Is there a good, non-proprietary alternative for web indexing other than Google Search?
Is there a ATproto server and client not owned by Bluesky yet? Or are we still just going on faith that that this social tech will be the good guy this time?
January 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Is there a ATproto server and client not owned by Bluesky yet? Or are we still just going on faith that that this social tech will be the good guy this time?
Excellent piece synthesizing a lot of the key structural problems (and opportunities!) in our field.
I was going to post something else this week, but the structural inability of global corporations to govern platforms seems inescapably relevant.
www.wrecka.ge/bad-shape/
www.wrecka.ge/bad-shape/
Bad shape
The idea I keep coming back to is that the big platforms, like Dickens' Marley, were dead to begin with, and are now something particularly bad, which is dead on their feet.
www.wrecka.ge
January 15, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Excellent piece synthesizing a lot of the key structural problems (and opportunities!) in our field.
I like @mmasnick.bsky.social writing on the fediverse, especially in the last ~1.5 years. But the ActivityPub (Mastodon) v AT Protocol (BlueSky) gap: can inter-operating these happen, or are we fragmenting the social web such that the Big Incumbent Walled Gardens will always win the network effects?
January 14, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I like @mmasnick.bsky.social writing on the fediverse, especially in the last ~1.5 years. But the ActivityPub (Mastodon) v AT Protocol (BlueSky) gap: can inter-operating these happen, or are we fragmenting the social web such that the Big Incumbent Walled Gardens will always win the network effects?
I first came across Hank Green while I worked on the FB misinfo team, maybe 2019. I immediately admired his knack: using the medium (short funny video “remixing” on someone else’s hoax or genuine question) so effectively to 1. debunk misinfo; 2. teach science; 3. teach digital literacy. 1/3
Before going to bed last night I fired off a tweet about Joe a Rogan and Mel Gibson being very weird about ivermectin and fenbendazole as cancer treatments, and also how I don’t like rational, smart people going over the top attacking those drugs when the problem is Joe Rogan and Mel Gibson.
January 12, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I first came across Hank Green while I worked on the FB misinfo team, maybe 2019. I immediately admired his knack: using the medium (short funny video “remixing” on someone else’s hoax or genuine question) so effectively to 1. debunk misinfo; 2. teach science; 3. teach digital literacy. 1/3
Brilliant and important.
Will Meta's retreat from proactive/automated enforcement of its community standards lead to Instagram and Facebook becoming deeper cess pools? Well, it's complicated and the devil will be in the details. Let's look at the data and see what questions we should be asking... 🧵 1/12
January 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Brilliant and important.
This is comedy gold!
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Details: cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025...
Details: cpsc.gov/Recalls/2025...
January 8, 2025 at 2:41 PM
This is comedy gold!
As of today, this website lists Meta's Third-Party Fact-Checking (3PFC) partners: www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp...
It's hard to parse and it may disappear. So here's a spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
I hope it helps someone assess how "biased" the corpus of work since 2016 has been.
It's hard to parse and it may disappear. So here's a spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
I hope it helps someone assess how "biased" the corpus of work since 2016 has been.
January 7, 2025 at 5:21 PM
As of today, this website lists Meta's Third-Party Fact-Checking (3PFC) partners: www.facebook.com/formedia/mjp...
It's hard to parse and it may disappear. So here's a spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
I hope it helps someone assess how "biased" the corpus of work since 2016 has been.
It's hard to parse and it may disappear. So here's a spreadsheet: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
I hope it helps someone assess how "biased" the corpus of work since 2016 has been.
Headlines like NYTimes and WaPo that focus on “Meta ends fact checking” are missing the far more impactful piece of Zuck’s announcement: proactive enforcement is being reduced, and classifier thresholds are being raised. 1/2
January 7, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Headlines like NYTimes and WaPo that focus on “Meta ends fact checking” are missing the far more impactful piece of Zuck’s announcement: proactive enforcement is being reduced, and classifier thresholds are being raised. 1/2
Deleted Threads today. Meta’s announcements about their changes to content moderation have really bothered me. I have so little power, but I do have a marginal contribution to MAU that I can delete. Have done so. We’ll see if I can make it happen on IG as well this year.
January 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Deleted Threads today. Meta’s announcements about their changes to content moderation have really bothered me. I have so little power, but I do have a marginal contribution to MAU that I can delete. Have done so. We’ll see if I can make it happen on IG as well this year.