On the Notion of Shutting the Fuck up

Things are always greener and simpler as they seem from the other side. I'm working on my own project that I decided to get way more serious — namely around Livtet, now a part of my software lab and a lot of things that I used to chide a lot of folks about. From running companies to handling software, I am learning — in my big age of 33, that a lot of shit is more complicated than it seems and hiding this complexity is 80% of the job. The rest 20% is making sure the intended work and objectives are aligned. I regret some of the dogpiling I (willingly!) participated in when it came to the Fediverse and Atmosphere alike. Layfolk who haven't spent time working on things only see the finished results and complain instead of producing feedback that can be constructive.

I recently bemoaned the stress of wanting to run the social network that I plan to launch with Livtet^[1] because if I do it the way I want to - a healthy, safe and productive ecosystem - I have to have durable moderation. I did a bit of it when working with PlayVicious, a nascent Black-owned and -run Mastodon instance. I hated the work and I was barely doing it. It's important work but it wasn't the kind of work that was the best use of my skills^[2]. I am a software developer by trade and hobby and deeply, I'm a tinkerer. I have experience with government, enterprise and retail software systems but I still want to run around a Framedeck that collects data that I can query when I go about my day instead of pulling out my laptop — I have a small rig at home.

This isn't necessarily a full-on apology for my actions because what's done is done and those bridges look slightly burned and I much rather leave them alone but this blog post is a bit of a reminder and call-in-to-myself to shut the fuck up and see what's actually going on versus jumping on reactionary critique. I've read way too much to be moving the way I do — I'm getting back to it anyhow.