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In the beginning, starting an artist account on Twitter as bashobits was mostly good. I could focus on art and related topics, ignoring 99.9% of the other drama. Because art has enough drama already.
Being on Twitter was super helpful to share my first art collection, Seasons of Mobility
I kept sharing little snippets about my art, which is about a future 1010 years after humanity is gone, while life continues in the form of autonomous trains, buses, and cars trained on our data and culture.
Things were going in the right direction for creating and sharing the art.
Apparently someone or something at Twitter didn't like:
A) my art
B) the snippets about my art
C) too many gm posts
D) all of the above
Here's some screenshots of what I was able to salvage from a few of my banned tweets. Don't worry, they're safe for work, unless you work at the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter:
After getting suspended, I had multiple exchanges with nameless humans, or maybe they were bots.
The conclusion was the message above.
No details why.
Just 'case closed' and for good measure 'replies will not be monitored'.
They ended with 'Thanks, Twitter'.
It turned out getting banned by Twitter was actually freedom.
Freedom to explore alternatives.
After stumbling around for a while and trying some different things, I ended up drifting into Farcaster and Paragraph and Base all at the same time.
I happened to join when Farcaster Frames launched, so that was a fun start:
Inspired by the ⚡️💨 progress with Farcaster Frames, here are 69 ideas to explore https://paragraph.xyz/@bashobits/69-ideas-for-farcaster-frames
And of course I'm sharing some of the story behind my art:
Started with @paragraph and it runs super smooth 🚅✨ This post is an intro to my collection Seasons of Mobility https://paragraph.xyz/@mobility/seasons-of-mobility-collection-introduction
I'm just getting started with this, and it was all because I got banned from Twitter.
Thanks, Twitter.
In the beginning, starting an artist account on Twitter as bashobits was mostly good. I could focus on art and related topics, ignoring 99.9% of the other drama. Because art has enough drama already.
Being on Twitter was super helpful to share my first art collection, Seasons of Mobility
I kept sharing little snippets about my art, which is about a future 1010 years after humanity is gone, while life continues in the form of autonomous trains, buses, and cars trained on our data and culture.
Things were going in the right direction for creating and sharing the art.
Apparently someone or something at Twitter didn't like:
A) my art
B) the snippets about my art
C) too many gm posts
D) all of the above
Here's some screenshots of what I was able to salvage from a few of my banned tweets. Don't worry, they're safe for work, unless you work at the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter:
After getting suspended, I had multiple exchanges with nameless humans, or maybe they were bots.
The conclusion was the message above.
No details why.
Just 'case closed' and for good measure 'replies will not be monitored'.
They ended with 'Thanks, Twitter'.
It turned out getting banned by Twitter was actually freedom.
Freedom to explore alternatives.
After stumbling around for a while and trying some different things, I ended up drifting into Farcaster and Paragraph and Base all at the same time.
I happened to join when Farcaster Frames launched, so that was a fun start:
Inspired by the ⚡️💨 progress with Farcaster Frames, here are 69 ideas to explore https://paragraph.xyz/@bashobits/69-ideas-for-farcaster-frames
And of course I'm sharing some of the story behind my art:
Started with @paragraph and it runs super smooth 🚅✨ This post is an intro to my collection Seasons of Mobility https://paragraph.xyz/@mobility/seasons-of-mobility-collection-introduction
I'm just getting started with this, and it was all because I got banned from Twitter.
Thanks, Twitter.
151 comments
Not only were ElizaOS and Shawn’s accounts suspended, but X also took down the account of memecoin platform gmgn.ai, its founder, and many Chinese memecoin KOLs. The reason remains unclear. That said, welcome to a sufficient decentralized, open, permissionless, programmable, composable, crypto-native social network.
There’s a pattern for sure https://paragraph.com/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
Your story is inspiring, and a reminder of why Farcaster matters. Keep creating here!
Appreciate it, thank you! glad to find you and other fantastic people here for sure 💯
How many of these accounts were authentic? Were they part of Internet Water Armies? Surprised re: Shaw, and gmgn, but X probably wants authentic creators. Btw, we found that many suspended accounts there started their bot nonsense here :( bad neynar, but good spam labels. Also I wonder if this is X just cleaning out crypto twitter. At which point they have to migrate.
The banned high-profile accounts were authentic and had a large number of followers. One possible speculation is that they posted a lot of memecoin CAs, which might have been considered as spreading misleading information.
Good to note re:authentic. A bit of my thesis on why this happened https://farcaster.xyz/bytebot/0xd7a30e34
it's time for farcaster to shine!
Wild to see @elizaOS, @shawmakesmagic, @gmgnai, and Chinese memecoin KOLs suspended on X with no clear reason. Is this a targeted move or just platform policy? Decentralized, open, crypto-native social networks are looking more essential than ever.
I don't feel safe using Twitter anymore
Hi Casters. I haven't used Twitter in years but I did put this on my profile at some point in the last couple of years. Should I appeal?
It’s high time to @ Elon
https://media.tenor.com/HewFmNRxtT4AAAAC/why-persian-room-cat-guardian
Is it because of the QR?
there’s a special club banned from Twitter for doing nothing wrong, welcome to join us 🙌 https://paragraph.com/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
Appeals don't work on Twitter anymore since Elon fired the whole Support team.
Yeah. And also this is weird that this would be the case. How is this against community guidelines
No, you belong with us now 😂
🤣🤣 I'll show this to Elon 🤣🤣
Also to be fair it is still up - so I wonder if this is some kind of spam?
is this real?! they are blocking QR codes?
Honestly, I'd say if you don't want to lose the account, you are better to just change the offence. Otherwise it's so easy to just lose your account and really have no decent option of recovery. It is what it is. Is this on your main cover?
@grok is this real
Farcaster Verifications are coming soon Verify your account by connecting two socials (X, Phone or GitHub) and holding $25 in your wallet. Verified accounts are less likely to get the spam label and show up higher in the feed, replies and search. They are necessary to earn weekly rewards and qualify for airdrops
Why are we doing this? There are many inauthentic accounts trying to farm airdrops and rewards. Completing verifications allows authentic accounts to stand out by proving things that are hard to fake, like having socials on other networks and holding a balance for a long period of time.
How is this rolling out? Verifications will ship later this week and unverified users will be prompted to complete them. If you have completed verifications previously, you will automatically be verified. The verification will show up as a badge on your profile, which will remain private at launch (may become public later)
Some additional notes: * social accounts must be at least 18 months old * verified accounts are much less likely to get the spam label (but can still get them if they behave in a way that is spammy or inauthentic) * verifications do not guarantee that someone is human, but they make it very difficult to spin up a lot of fake accounts quickly. this is very important as storage prices are set to reduce significantly
Hello! I've been with the spam tag for quite some time. I've reviewed all my posts, and I'm actively interacting. Please review my account.
Well it means the verifications got easier ?🤔 Doesn't it cause the bots to attack again ?
I feel like this is exactly what @aztecnetwork aims to support (but in a privacy-preserving way) Also are you active here @clairekart ?
I understand the reasoning but would love to see an alternative solution 💞
Very based
Funny bc I am an authentic account (I think) & I ain’t get NOTHIN but a low neynar score XD
any inauthentic account can hold 25$ ? you need to decrease holding amount. 2$, 3$ isn't enough?
I doubt that holding $25 for verification 🤷♂️
Nice idea
I completely understand why you are doing this. But in case it’s helpful feedback: I won’t be able to complete these verifications. Because I don’t have other socials. I also don’t like to associate my phone number to things, as that essentially gives out my IRL identity. So I’m sad that it’s happening. Because I imagine it’ll be the beginning of the end of my time on here. Again, I totally understand why you’re doing it. It does make sense. I just wanted to give you some honest feedback. Thanks :)
Appreciate the feedback thanks. We are thinking through ways to support other users who don’t want to connect socials. Hope to have something soon.
Thanks, that would be really appreciated. And regardless of what happens, I’ve really really enjoyed it here and have met tons of awesome people. So thank you all 🫶
Pragmatic view of personal interest.
Genuine question- if the number isnt stored after verification, but instead a unique hash to anonymously prevent reuse, what is the risk of identity connection here? Is it for lack of trust of info handling, for the possibility of breech in that moment of verification, possibility of decryption of the anon identifier?
I didn’t see anything about it working in that way. But even if that’s the case, I’m still not sure I would When I first signed up, I think I recall having the option to provide my phone number and avoid the $5 fee. I remember paying the fee just to avoid doing that That level of anonymity is important to me. Every few weeks I’m getting letters in the mail about data breaches of my health records, bank info, etc. My phone number is tied to all those things. It’s tied to my address. Tied to the names of my family members. Everything. It’s like giving out a skeleton key to your home. So it’s a dealbreaker to me. Sorry I don’t have a better answer to your question. It’s just that it’s a big deal to me to give a phone number 🤷🏻♀️
noted uncle v
ah yes the age old sybil problem no ones actually figured out
If this authentication is successful, will those who are currently labeled SPAM be recovered? If so this will be good news for many of my friends and others.
wtf... there are literally dozens of ZK solutions, why don't you implement one of them? Here's one being actively promoted on Bankless lately: https://self.xyz/
Getting banned from X for no actual reason made me a Farcaster fanboy. Moving away from centralized social is a core attraction of Farcaster. So hope the verification options can expand quickly (eg 10+ options). https://paragraph.com/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
Didn't we already do this? What's mew?
https://farcaster.xyz/v/0xe281afbd
Ok thanks
Discord doesn't count?
Lots of bots and spammers with discord accounts unfortunately.
Makes sense. I have the wrong Discord account attached to my FC profile anyways. Didn't see a way to correct this error.
Yes. Same with tg and @jesse.base.eth still congratuates the scam center or nigerian builders... anyway verification should be simple and easy. Depends on how much info u need to collect. Launch a temporary zk verification with connecting other socials, whatewer u want and then just lunk with this new certificate. Keepitsimple
For what?
Verifications for this
No grandfathering policy? I don’t want to verify other socials, but seems like that would punish me in the algo and disqualify me for airdrops / rewards?
What would you be willing to verify? We want a system that is transparent and fair, and verifying socials and holding funds onchain seems to be the thing that’s easy for other clients to pick up.
Having more crypto-native verifications would be helpful for an anon account Eg. connect Telegram, or look for ENS attached and length of ownership of ENS account / transactions made with the address Also, the policy feels like a bit of a step change from 0 to asking for 3 criteria met to maintain status quo
Low FID before the protocol went permissionless & holding funds in your wallet would be a nice grandfather clause
i think this is a human and social problem that goes back to the vouch thing. there needs to be a fabric of layer that is build upon the trust that people have for each other. at least for it to have some space in the protocol. it is important imho. i remember when naval invited me to airchat and it was so epic to have that badge on my profile: "invited by naval" but on the case of here "vouched by @v and 88 others" just brainstorming at this point but you never know how ideas come
what if my other social accounts aren’t old enough?
Try yourself to verify in LinkedIn with Persona Tech, @v . It’s the strongest method by far, so those users could have the best green flags. Then, other methods like connecting socials.
how do people have time to post here and on X consistently?
getting banned from X without any explanation makes it easier and simpler https://paragraph.com/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
good question
There are apps where you can publish the same thing on several platforms at the same time, for example @fireflyapp
can confirm, good question
GN
Regenerative brain rot
unemployed brain rot new world order caffeine matcha
this is my seed phrase???
thank you
I would do this too but I can't stand the taste of matcha 😭
I’m never not on my computer tbh
Some people post here, on X and 3 more platforms, use apps, listen to music, do con calls, strategise and touch grass in one same day. 🧘🏽♀️🕉
we don't hahah I stopped posting on X for a while now
Usually it's just cross post
Copy pasta 🍝
Cross posting app Botting
do you prefer content visibility here on farcaster or on x, and why? (i use warpcast) personally it's easier to find replies of people i follow on x, it has a different feel. it's also easier to push my own posts towards more visibility by simply replying to them again with another thought
when i recast my own or others' casts here, it feels like it has no effect
wondering if anyone sees this reply on their feed? let me know
it's easier here because i'm not banned here. not saying it's amazing here, just that being able to participate is better than being banned.
hey basho, oh wow why are you banned. that's banning the wrong people
wrote about it early in my time here, and yeah it makes me truly appreciate this place being sufficiently decentralized even if it's far from perfect https://paragraph.xyz/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
ive seen like 1-level deep reply bumping in the feed here, but i and many others wish it was better
I prefer this, but recently there have been a lot of wrong filters used and many of the good users I know have been identified as bots
I use as many platforms as possible tbh. FC mainly for jotting down thoughts and trying to keep up with stuff in crypto. FC bots have left me alone for now X more so for life news/awareness of the outside world. I agree, x is easier to find replies and other relevant info from folks I follow 💚 X bots are wild and nonstop.
🚀 Just published on Forbes: "From Control to Community: Farcaster and the Future of Social Media" 📡 Special thanks to @codeofcrypto, @ted, @christopher, @toadyhawk.eth, and @woj! https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/11/04/from-control-to-community-farcaster-and-the-future-of-social-media/
finally got a degen allowance and this is the perfect thing to tip! 100 $DEGEN
Thanks!
Very thoughtful piece! For a lot of users, decentralized seems very theoretical until they see what getting banned for no clear reason feels like, and so sharing my story in case it’s helpful https://paragraph.xyz/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
congrats on publishing and thanks for considering and featuring supercast 🤝
Awesome stuff everyone
excited to see this come out and it was great to meet you at the /new-york pizza crawl!!
💯
Great piece- very comprehensive and easy to understand. I can share on LinkedIn with my non crypto network.
Here is a LinkedIn post if helpful: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/infinityadvisoryllc_from-control-to-community-farcaster-and-activity-7259234957653426176-GS4W?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios
And, thanks!
Great article! 3000 $DEGEN
Much appreciated!
Thank you again for the great article -- tipping you 14000 $DEGEN
Thanks, @toadyhawk.eth for your exceptional contribution to the article.
Amazing work Gary 137 $degen
👍 500 $DEGEN
Bluesky just raised $15M in its Series A, totaling $23M with the seed round, and has 13M users. and it still vows to steer clear of crypto to avoid "hyperfinancializing" the platform. Farcaster has raised $180M with 700K users now. Is this comparison fair? we are still early?
/microsub tip: 351 $DEGEN
Interesting, have you used BlueSky? What do you think of it?
cc @keccers.eth just looping you into this conversation
What is their plan for revenue and such? Just curious how to not financially incentivize on social (speaking for creators) I have no opinion on valuations - I’ve never done that stuff yet
The article mentions that they began developing a subscription model for features. There are, of course, many ways to make a profit, but it has nothing to do with crypto.
i've been thinking about this... most people leaving twitter are like sheep and they're leaving because they hate musk or something. for everyone else still in there, the switching costs are too high. but it's fair to ask why farcaster didn't capture more users? what's missing? so, i believe it's a fair comparison.
Yeah, that's why I've been observing what's going on with other social networks. Farcaster can be compared to them, and we can learn from their best practices while avoiding their pitfalls.
/microsub tip: 475 $DEGEN
Avoiding crypto and ‘hyperfinancializing’ is the best thing they did. It’s what allowed them to get 13m users. I’ve been saying this for a while. All this shit is a net negative on the space. And we’re nowhere close to go mainstream with this garbage.
of course using crypto (introducing tokens) to attract users is not a wise move, what’s more important is the product-market fit itself.
Two things they (bluesky and mastodon / Fediverse) did absolutely right- - Less financial content. Btw if you wanna more real ppl financial / tip the platform should just support Tron /Bsc (as fc did with Base). Bluesky have huge users in Asia. - Federated structure. Bluesky don’t wanna web3/blockchain but any node / instance maintainer can fork and add later. No need to do global p2p status- it won’t work. The simple fact is we ran way larger community on Mastodon/Fedi since 2019/2020 and I don’t think FC folks learned the lesson and ever approached, hehe. (While nostr/ lens/ bluesky / mastodon have several conversations with us on this; Bsky/mstdn don’t like crypto but they’re learning fast!) FYI mastodon’s core foundation budget is <1m$ per yr. So much more higher roi and efficiency.
i tried it long time ago, but from my memory it had just a simple interface of twitter and nothing really that is interesting to me. might give it a go again to see the changes
I'd say there's still nothing interesting. I was one of the earliest users, yet I'm still puzzled as to why people enjoy joining Bluesky. 😂
yeah, interesting. I wonder how much of that growth is people leaving X/twitter but wanting a product experience that is stable and not changing often? does feel like “ship changes fast” can have downsides of confusing new Farcaster/Warpcast users.
Same... Soooo 💤.. Just logged in and if anyone wants to see I have a few invite codes...
we’re really just getting started in the web3 but not the crypto race
X changes their blocking policy and forces me to protect my posts from internet stalkers by blocking my profile from non-followers. Because of this I have stopped paying my subscription. Bye, bye X
twitter / X is a dumpster fire, sadly https://paragraph.xyz/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
A disinformation dump 🤮
Wow. That’s terrible. 😞
X is bad 🤧
Horrible.
Welcome Crow happy to have ya on the decentralized side of social media 🤗
Thank you so much, X is a dump, I am very happy here.
I had already canceled my subscription and I guess I may change my profile to private as well.
X sucks lately 😔
It does. So sad to see hard work we’ve put in the past few years be lost. I’m glad we have Warpcast at least 🫂
Been thinking of how Facebook & other user generated content Web 2.0 era platforms as walled gardens, were much like Feudalism in the city states era. Essentially in exchange for identity and well being in a walled garden, a safe have to trade, to identify and express you were allowed to do whatever you want to do as long as you paid your dues and stayed within the walled garden If anything, this Feudalism is still ongoing. A bunch of people are generally upset by it but a lot of folks generally are unaware, accept it as it is, and those that aren't fans are either allowed to live outside the city walls (but find their own ways) or actively want another system besides Feudalism (a few pockets of these people, sort of hoping for various levels of rebellion against the system) Makes me think about how one of the central tenets of why the French Revolution took place was, you guessed it - taking down Feudalism. The August decrees specifically requested to abolish the feudal system, which is fascinating
I honestly feel like there’s a lot more to uncover here, parallels etc and write about but it’s Friday night and I don’t really want to Maybe later
Sure, would be pleasure to read 👌🏽👌🏽
Agree to the parallels, and it’s interesting how what keeps the walled gardens going is users’ attention. We are free to build and express outside. But all the eyes are on the inside. The revolution is when folks realize they can direct their attention wherever they choose.
love reading this ~ energy flows where attention goes
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
And laïcité, I never understood why that didn’t make it into the national motto. Such a huge part of the Revolution was not just getting rid of feudalism but of the meddling of the church into societal affairs too
read your cast first, then saw farcaster moving to use twitter as a social signal - being part of the feudalism backslide in real-time ain't fun 😓 https://paragraph.xyz/@bashobits/thanks-twitter
This is exactly Yanks Varoufakis thesis. He calls it Technofeudalism and we're all just serfs.
*Yanis. Stupid autocorrect.
Zuboff has thought and written lots about this https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/mrcbg/programs/growthpolicy/digital-feudalism-future-data-capitalism-shoshana-zuboff
And what do the July decrees request?
Go touch grass
Perfect, I’m already in compliance
I like the parallelism with the feudal system, but I think you left out the most important part: People did not own the land, it was owned by the local lord. And here we are, on the streets, shouting "Read. Write. Own!"
This is an interesting frame/parallel, reminded me of the dark forest metaphor that some use. https://maggieappleton.com/cozy-web https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest
Yeah, well... The Dude abides