Post #852140

2026-03-27 07:56 UTC

The new German #socialmedia platform wedium started it&#39;s beta access this week. It sees itself as an European alternative to the big tech social media platforms, specifically since the Trump administration took over last year, and stands against hate speech. To secure that, you have to identify with your passport. Ah, and they are closed source. Why not federate? Because Trump used Mastodon&#39;s code for Truth Social. So it&#39;s a walled-garden with ID check. What a joke. #wedium

Replies (9)

@82mhz@mastodon.bsd.cafe 2026-03-27 07:58

@sturmsucht "...make the platform attractive to a wide range of stakeholders". I notice they didn't say "users"...

Open ##1307657
@fringemagnet@sunny.garden 2026-03-27 08:59

@sturmsucht So basically they want to create competition, not an alternative. And make monetisation the primary incentive of being there, which is one of the main reasons ragebait, misinformation, and content curated to induce negative reactions are currently thriving. Yeah, "standing up to the big tech companies" alright. 🙃

Open ##1307658
@alexraffa@mastodon.uno 2026-04-20 04:26

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social so it I understand correctly, they (wedium) want to replace american data abusers with european data abusers... Don't see much of an improvement (I am european)

Open ##2254590
@ueeu@social.vivaldi.net 2026-04-29 19:31

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social "The Fediverse offers no way to monetize" He would rather build a new platform from scratch than fork existing open-source software, build a monetization and advertising module for his platform, and connect it to the entire Fediverse. While no creator is required to love open source, strategically, connecting to the Fediverse is a smart move because millions of people already use it, providing an existing audience instead of starting a new platform with zero users.

Open ##2254592
@madsenandersc@social.vivaldi.net 2026-04-29 19:40

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social Someon has to explain this to me: "No one can make money there, which makes it unattractive to media outlets, brands and creators. That's why it can't scale." Exactly what does those two things have to do with each other? Why is the earnings of media creators tied to whether a platform can scale or not? That said, extremely few make real, serious money on YouTube FROM YouTube - they make money from all other kinds of partnerships and sponsorships and promotions and a host of other arrangements that pays the bill and keeps the light on. So yeah - "ethical data abusers" indeed. Can't wait for Fedibook to go full throttle and lay these asshats to rest...

Open ##2254593
@juliette@mastodon.green 2026-04-29 20:27

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social I don’t want to replace American Big Tech with European Big Tech. I want to replace it with global-local small tech.

Open ##2254594
@chewie@mammut.gogreenit.net 2026-04-30 06:07

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social stupid name, stupid reason not to be open source, I'll pass....

Open ##2254595
@m1k3y@troet.cafe 2026-04-30 07:41

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social > The mandatory verification for all active users sets us apart from all other social networks and makes wedium a significantly safer place where netiquette can actually be enforced. And it’s not that unusual, really: in the real world, adults are always required to carry their ID with them. Doesn't that sound inviting...

Open ##2254596
@MrGR@mastodon.social 2026-05-05 12:10

@sturmsucht@mastodon.social In der Tat: Das Argument, Trump habe den Code von Mastodon für Truth Social missbraucht, als Vorwand zu nehmen, eine geschlossene Plattform mit proprietärer Software zu entwickeln, ist wirklich ein Witz.

Open ##2254598