mcneely @mcneely@librem.one

Since Mastodon saw its initial popularity circa 2017, I've noticed that most users and those reporting on it either don't think about the Fediverse as anything more than Mastodon, or treat its history as beginning with Eugen Rochko and the beginning of Mastodon. In fact, Mastodon is the latest in a long line of federated social networks going at least back to Identi.ca, and though I wasn't around for all of it, I find this history pretty interesting. (Thread; boosts welcome!)

It’s a stupid little thing, but I just wish the people still using that platform would at least ask people to sign up for their newsletter or their emails instead of incessantly promoting the platform of a publishing service run by known bar actors who fund anti-trans propaganda.

Dentist: So, do you floss?
Me: Do you use a unique password for every account?

Any #fediverse blogging / longform recommendations for #WriteFreely vs #Plume? Starting to think about how to migrate writings into that space.

If I add some Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs to my home, is there anything special I have to do to get them to play nice with the existing Nest Thread network? Or will they magically join it and expand it as border routers?

#SmartHome #Nest #Nanoleaf #Thread #Matter

I want the influx of new Black users to the fediverse to be a wake-up call for the white folks who've been oblivious to the racism that's inherent to this space. It's not okay to have to play server Russian roulette. It's not okay to drive away users because of racist moderation policies.

You cannot stop at "No racism" in your fucking server rules and leave it at that. Tell us why we should trust you and what you're actually doing to curb racism on the Fedi. And act like you fucking mean it.

#blackmastodon #blackfediverse

It’s easy for a bunch of people to sit around and theorize about growing pains when you’re not the one who has to wonder about what that noise is outside your house

A cryptobro DMed me to ask if I wanted to join his mailing list.

I spent slightly too long making this to send in reply.

Micro.blog supports ActivityPub. Tumblr is adding it. It’s nice to be reminded that Mastodon is just part of the wider fediverse.

Doing a bit of an experiment. Boost if you agree!

Trans rights are human rights.

Black lives matter.

No human is illegal.

Love is love.

Her body is her choice.

Science is real.

Kindness is everything.

In a sense, I'm almost glad that EM seems set on speedrunning the site into the ground so everyone knows where he stands on things, but it's still sad to see such a resource to so many being ruined by the whims of a single man.

I know there's a big #Histodons community on here...any recommendations for folks to follow sharing content on Italian history? My interests are in 20th and 21st century Italy...but I'm not limited to that. Thanks!!

#History #Italy #ModernHistory #ContemporaryHistory #ItalianHistory #Italia #Storia

we're at another point in the history of the fediverse where things are hard and complicated. the explosive growth that's resulted from the upheaval at twitter has brought new issues to the forefront while we're still trying to come to terms with the old, unresolved issues.

I'm talking with the "we" word again, and that's going to make writing this harder this time, rather than easier.

for a long while, some folk have spoken about the "fediverse community" or the "fediverse culture" and while it glossed over some of the finer points it was a useful framing for discussing issues that cut across the concerns of individual people in the fediverse or individual instances in the fediverse.

but we (see? hard) have known that we were intentionally limiting the scope of that conversation in order to not have to call out every exception, complication, and contradiction involved in what we were trying to say.

it got us here.

but now, as the population of this former void grows to millions of people instead of thousands, I'm pretty sure the concept of a singular "fediverse" is no longer helpful to the conversations that need to be had.

it was never truly a single fediverse. it's always been a messy venn diagram of fediverses.

the fact is that this virtual space is occupied by innumerable individual people who self-connect as part of one or more of the innumerable individual communities that make this exist.

uncomfortably, the needs and wants of these people and communities are often in opposition.

people who have the need to feel safe and protected by agents of oppressive governmental and/or institutional organizations are not going to be placated by statements about those orgs' representatives being "some of the good ones". that does nothing to address a history of violent confrontation and criminalization of those people's very existence.

there's not middle ground to be had there, folks - you cannot compromise away an existential threat, even if you think that threat is being blown out of proportion.

choices will need to be made. sometimes uncomfortable choices. and sometimes the choices one person or community group makes will seem extreme, an outsized reaction to the input provided. those same choices will be seen by some others as a strong and clear message about what is or is not acceptable to that person/community.

and ultimately it's all about trust. trust that one will be safe.

please listen to people when they have concerns about being able to trust. rarely is trust removed without there being a long history of events that eroded or destroyed the trust that may have previously held sway. it's almost impossible to rebuild trust in meaningful ways across large numbers of people once it has been violated, and the more violent the violation the less likely it is that the trust can be repaired.

at the same time, I would ask that each of us take the time to remember that communities are made up of individual whole people, each of whom brings their very own complexities to any situation. we are all at different places in our lives. some people have not learned the lessons you may have. some people have learned entirely different lessons that seem contradictory to your learnings.

we're complicated.

take the actions you need to take to keep you and your communities safe and well. maybe also consider that communities who make choices other than yours are doing likewise and have different needs in terms of safety. the human condition is a spectrum of spectrums and it defies easy reduction into simpler terms.

maybe we all need to get more comfortable with being uncomfortable sometimes.

I don't have a lot else to say on the topic du jour. my personal feelings about the issue and any action I feel I need to take is my responsibility. I hope each of you and your communities find a stance that you feel good about in relation to your needs.

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Mastodon admins, are you tired of searching through the fediblock hashtag? Is checking each individual instance a chore? Fear not! Now you can view the top blocked instances and the reasons why.

https://mastodon-bad-instances.vercel.app

Much thanks to @raed for creating this tool!

#mastoadmin

Oh by the way, if you find an instance that seems pretty toxic (my troll was from a "libertarian" instance) there is a way to block the entire instance, even if your own doesn't block it. Go to a user of that instance's profile and in the three-dot menu, there's the option to block the domain.

#moderation #trolls

Very interesting paper that finds immersion in gaming culture, rather than in games per se, can lead to toxic outcomes

https://gnet-research.org/2022/11/11/extremist-action-in-digital-gaming-spaces-the-role-of-identity-fusion/

Friends! The cat is finally out of the bag!

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#PracticalA11y

I've put together a small, but incomplete, list of instances/communities with POC moderators. Mastodon.social, and Mastodon online, are not it.

weirder.earth, rage.love, scholar.social, blacktwitter.io, Mastodon.art, queer.garden, writeout.ink.

#BlackMastodon #BlackTwitter #BlackFedi #FediTips #TwitterMigration