hey guys from Twitter.

we are glad to see you here but please understand that the fact that fediverse is anti-viral, anti-hierarchy and anti-capitalist is the point of it

please also understand that CWs, alt text and other stuff here is not there to "silence you" — it is to allow users greater agency over their feeds for their mental benefit, and to support disabled people.

this network was built by marginalized people. who disliked Twitter for the same reasons you do.

don't bring it back.

please. respect this place and be a honored guest to it.

don't spread hate or toxicity. avoid the kinds of things that made twitter, twitter.

let your arrival be an occasion to celebrate and not to fear.

and most importantly, stay kind.

have a good day.

I feel like I need to clarify that this message doesn't come from a place of anger. if it strikes you as arrogant or salty, this was not my intent, I am sorry.

it is just that we have built this culture and etiquette here, and we want them to be respected. we have no ill will towards you.

thank you.

alright I'm getting flooded by notifications and my phone is turning into a nuclear reactor so i am muting this thread

if you have questions don't be afraid to ask other people! we all want and are glad to help you there! 💜

adios ✌

@tillianisafox thank you for answering so many questions. I hope you are okay (I read some conversation which seem quite exhausting from the outside). Take care 
@tillianisafox Fully support your message, though having ACAB in your profile name kind of undermines it for me.
@vinknie @tillianisafox no no it doesn't mean Assigned Cop At Birth. I make that mistake all the time.
@vinknie I have a disgust for the oppressive system that used to jail people like me less than two decades ago, and in some countries, still does.
@tillianisafox Thank you. Slowly reassembling my network of reasonably decent Birbsite Refugees and quietly sorting through the technical and cultural nuances. Everything has been easier and smoother than I expected. Not missing the algorithmic enragement and toxicity I left behind. Mistakes will be made and learned from so yeah, be kind if you can. And again, thank you for the welcome; I'll try not to track mud all over the carpet.
@tillianisafox I need to get better about alt text. I’ve got the habit of CWs in place at least.
@tillianisafox @warren I found that I couldn’t do alt text from the Mastodon app, but Metatext makes it very easy to do. Also, on Metatext I can edit my toots, and link them into a thread. Hope this helps 🙂
@tillianisafox that’s the most effective version of this message I have seen yet.
@tillianisafox Hi, there's a lot there that assumes knowledge. For example not sure about fediverse, CWs,alt text. Just getting to grips with Mastodon.

@Tormid it's okay, I understand you. this toot is mostly targeted at those who protest against those important things even though they are a part of local informational ecosystem

by the way if you have any questions, you can ask other people or ask me, I can gladly help!

@tillianisafox @Tormid Me too...having difficulty grasping the acronyms and tech speak. What is CWs and alt text pls? Assume fediverse is the combination of Mastodon servers?

@SiegePerilous @Tormid fediverse in general are all the services and websites that are structured federally just like mastodon is. we have open-source federated analogs for YouTube, spotify, tumblr, and many many more services.

CWs are Content Warnings, you apply them to your posts to warn the reader that the contents might be uncomfortable, not safe for work or unappealing. though it can also be used as a headline to summarize what the post is about (1/2)

@SiegePerilous @Tormid alt text are image descriptions that you can apply to the images you attach to a post. they are designed to be helpful for users who have visual impairment or disabilities, so that their screenreaders can read out the descriptions even if they are blind.

if you have any other questions, ask other people or me, we at mastodon are eager to help!

@tillianisafox @SiegePerilous @Tormid thank you for the explanations. For the alt text do we just use words to describe or is there any kind of specific thing that we do? Sorry if this seems dumb. Just want to make sure I’m doing this right. 🙏🏻

@scotslass @tillianisafox @SiegePerilous @Tormid

I've had similar discussions when explaining to staff members at my #library about alt text and other features for improving #accessibility to our patrons. This page goes into the why's and how's quite nicely: https://www.perkins.org/resource/how-write-alt-text-and-image-descriptions-visually-impaired/

Thanks. Info like that is always helpful to better understanding @awfulhorrid @scotslass @tillianisafox @Tormid
@tillianisafox @SiegePerilous @Tormid thanks for this explanation re CW and Alt text. I'd been wondering about both. 😎👍
@SiegePerilous @Tormid also: CWs are very useful because they allow readers to have their own control over what they want to see on their feed in case they don't feel comfortable engaging with certain topics or themes
Thx. @tillianisafox @Tormid. All understood. Other than the structure of federated sites being the same, is there any operational benefit to the user?

@SiegePerilous @Tormid insofar I haven't been active on other services other than mastodon yet, so if you're interested in learning more about them, I am not really the qualified person here, haha

but I have to say though that the open-source model provides transparency over how the services use your data since the code is public

Thanks so much 👏 @tillianisafox @[email protected] technical knowledge is clearly at basement level but you've really helped, thanks😁

@SiegePerilous don't worry, I was glad to help!

if you ever feel confused or have questions, just ask! people are very friendly and will try to help the newbies in need!

have an amazing day 💜

Aw...I'm liking this place more and more with every passing minute...that's so kind of you..thank you @tillianisafox

@SiegePerilous @tillianisafox @Tormid

I might have the knowledge to answer this, but I'm not entirely sure what your question is asking. Do you mean how Mastodon-likes interact other types of instances, like Peertube and Owncast, and you can use your account on one to interact with the others directly?

Forgive me...I'm on baby steps with both the tech and the terminology. But I think you have it @[email protected] these federated sites interact, and if so, how? What does the user have to do? It's a whole new world to me😖 @tillianisafox @Tormid
@tillianisafox @SiegePerilous @Tormid thanks so much for this information and what a great feature ❤ this entire thread is really helpful 👏

@SiegePerilous It hides this main text of the toot (post) behind a 'view more' button, and has a customisable message that gives users an idea what the content will be about. A bit like a subject header in an email or a newspaper headline.

A good CW will grab the attention of your intended audience whilst allowing the disinterested to skip over.

This in addition to being a useful way to warn users of content they don't have spoons for or which they find disturbing.

It's all a lot to absorb but I do appreciate the guidance...it'll settle in...eventually 😁 @toni
@SiegePerilous @tillianisafox @Tormid As Tillian noted, CW is used for uncomfortable content notice. (Don’t assume it’s a “trigger warning”. More like a TV programme stating it has mature content or such.) A challenge that newcomers, myself included, may have is “reading the room”, getting a sense what is/isn’t deserving a CW note. Yes, some are obvious. But some might not be. (I got reader suggesting that a toot abt drone tech -no gore- in war needed war content CW)
@tillianisafox @SiegePerilous @Tormid Also, some use CW to indicate that the toot has a narrow interest audience, especially regarding politics. Might indicate US politics or what-have-you.
Thanks. That'll take some calibration as some may find the content narrow but others not. Many enjoy political debates but others not so. Drone tech may be narrow but new tech can be interesting🤔 @JonAbolins @tillianisafox @Tormid
@SiegePerilous @tillianisafox @Tormid Thanks, Serge. The suggestion I received re drone tech was not the tech itself but the tooted article talked the tech in the Russian war in Ukraine. Now, it could be one’s person’s views & not a norm. Still I am recalibrating.
Well that's also a good point @JonAbolins..how to interpret precisely what it is about the toot that another person feels makes it CW🤔 @tillianisafox @Tormid

@SiegePerilous

- Alt text: description of image for example for the visually impaired
- Fediverse: Collection of Mastodon, Peertube, Lemmy, Pixelfed, and other servers that interact together. Mastodon most likely being the largest part of the Fediverse usercount wise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fediverse
- CW: Content warning, you can see the cw button when you post posts. Allows you to put text behind a warning.

Fediverse - Wikipedia

@tillianisafox I have absolutely no problem with this. I'm very grateful to everyone who has put effort into building this environment. If I have the rare pleasure of meeting any of you before I cease to exist, I will give you a big hug. And no, I am not taking the piss or being facetious. I appreciate the work that has gone into this.

@tillianisafox

Another helpful reminder - we’re coming into a space set up by other people. We need to show some respect

@rhyn @tillianisafox @LauraKT @RDHale Curious you've tagged me in this post, are you implying I'm part of the toxicity of twitter along with the others you've tagged in this? Otherwise I'm not sure why you feel we'd need to be told this.
@KernowDamo @tillianisafox @LauraKT @RDHale no Damo.. it's about content warning and politics
@KernowDamo just to explain so it's clear why I tagged you is that existing Mastadon users are concerned that Twitters political posts will not be marked content warning ..I was merely Inc you in case you weren't aware take care
@rhyn marked content warning?

@rhyn @KernowDamo I’m honestly confused here… is OP saying we need to mark “political” posts with a CW tag?

I mean, not to be dense, but what counts as political? Also, this warning is coming from someone with ACAB in their title seems… confusing.

@ambientsidewalk @KernowDamo I think it's a settling in to someone else's "house" .. I guess let's go with the flow of those who've been here a while and as we go along the waters will clear for now I'm being mindful of others unlike on Twitter where it's all reactive, accusatory egos etc

@rhyn @KernowDamo Like I said, I’m confused, partially because I’m autistic, but partially because OP seems … inconsistent in their messaging (No political speech without CW but ACAB in the name)

And when I asked for clarification on what exactly constitutes political speech, the response was, “go with the flow”

That’s problematic.

Is climate change discussion political speech?
How about minimum wage?
Abortion policy?
Trans rights?
Etc…

@KernowDamo We're all new on here and there's been a number of posts today about using CW when posting politics - if you are I apologise if you feel you don't need to know this info if you already know it - I was merely being kind to existing users who don't want Mastodon to go the way of Twitter and I know you only post politics .. ok
@rhyn OK thanks Rin. I'm not especially inclined to put warnings in my posts, it's what my bio is for isn't it?
@tillianisafox can anyone create a "new to Mastodon "welcome" post" that auto sends to new comers .. so many are going to use Mastodon as if it's Twitter 😬
@rhyn I'm afraid technological limitations can't allow us that yet
@tillianisafox I've only been here a short while and the community you describe for mastodon is exactly what I want to be part of.
Thanks for saying that
@tillianisafox
As a recent #Twittermigrant , I came here to get away from the toxicity on the bird site.
I hope all my fellow migrants are enjoying it here too and respect the values you espouse.
I'd hate for it to turn into a mirror site.
#kindness #understanding #respect
@tillianisafox
I keep getting caught in the boosts, I think?
@tillianisafox I just got here this week and I'm trying my best not too mess things up too much, as I'm very aware that I've come blundering into other people's space - thanks for your message.