@matthew_d_green knowledge is power, you gotta be careful with that 😉
Mastodon is really having a moment in mainstream news coverage. CNN, BBC, TIME, etc.
The influx of users will continue at an alarming rate. Remember to be welcoming, and kind, and positive, and helpful.
This isn't just an opportunity to improve the idea of social media, it's an opportunity to shine a wonderful light on #opensource.
@ridt one thing I have been wondering about people's aversion to #fediverse's decentralization of online spaces is how it relates to the fact that for the last 20 years we've been mostly trained on centralized services.
We actually know how decentralized services work and as this points out we use them very frequently with no issues. The biggest break with Mastodon is shifting our mental models around social contact (he says as if that's some small barrier)
Help me find more #BIPoC Accounts, for me, for you, for everyone on #Mastodon
If you're #black #indigenous or #peopleofcolor feel free to comment, if you like you can comment who you are and/or what you do, so other people can follow you more easily
I will report everyone who dares to comment something hateful or attacks anyone here
Please boost
It just occurred to me why Mastodon works so well for social media in the public square.
It's nothing technical. It's moderation. And the incentives of the moderators.
Community moderators keep out the kinds of people that their communities don't want around.
Professional moderators keep out the kinds of people their employers (usually advertisers) don't want around.
That difference is ✨Enormous✨ !
So everyone go hug your instance moderators today. 🤗
RT @OIEAHC@twitter.com
Hey #VastEarlyAmerica, apps for the OI-Fort Ticonderoga Fellowships are open! Scholars with strong interests in early America, broadly understood to mean the Atlantic World in the years between roughly 1450 and 1820, are encouraged to apply. https://oieahc.wm.edu/fellowships/short-term/omohundro-institute-fort-ticonderoga-short-term-visiting-fellowships/
This DOJ press release is a pretty big deal. Given the alarming number of voter intimidation attempts already it's certainly the right move but it's sad that it's necessary.
#electionsus #uspol
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-monitor-polls-24-states-compliance-federal-voting-rights-laws
BREAKING NEWS: In what I believe is the most widespread election monitoring effort it has ever undertaken, the DOJ Civil Rights Division just announced that it will have officials in the field monitoring the polls in 24 STATES on Election Day. This is huge. This is the DOJ being true to its mission. You can find the list of jurisdictions that will be monitored here:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-monitor-polls-24-states-compliance-federal-voting-rights-laws
#Democracy
Kudos to the #Netherlands.
https://www.uu.nl/en/news/82-of-scientific-publications-open-access-available
"Dutch universities published 82% of their peer-reviewed scientific publications #OpenAccess in 2021. This is an increase of nine percentage points compared to 2020."
(Well-funded) Universities should run *open* #Fediverse, and currently specifically #Mastodon, instances. They have the resources (knowledge and hardware), they're non-profit, are largely independent, and to do so aligns with their educational mandate. Same for #Wikipedia, IMO.
Expect some of the following to happen in the coming weeks:
- celebrities with huge follower counts pushing tiny community-run servers to their knees
- instance admin burnout; shutting down of servers
- big new servers that don't "vibe" with common rules or culture being widely defederated
- some notable account violating an instance code of conduct and throwing a fit
- lots of people ragequitting Mastodon for one reason or another
- etc.
It'll be a rough ride. Patience and strength, all.
web stan, software engineer, sports fanatic, history lover. Thoughts are my own. Crypto stands for cryptography.