Kathy ManelisNov 18, 2022
dag

I joined this site a fortnight ago today.

I did not have a clue how it worked, or about its lore and culture.

Now, it seems intuitive - though not because I am adept but because networks and protocols are familiar and practical things.

We use them all the time: www, mobiles, emails, etc.

And this place is structured to encourage calm civility.

It was Twitter which was strange and, in many ways, inhumane - rewarding clicks and rage and vileness.

We just got used to it.

And now we are out.

Nov 18, 2022 at 3:15pmWeb
Show threadGwildar of GridlockNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I hope it continues in the same manner.
Show threadLyn6HNov 18, 2022
@gwildar @davidallengreen
I've only just got here and am totally lost 😅😅
Show threadMs A PintoNov 18, 2022
@lynandrea @gwildar @davidallengreen
The feeling is mutual!😂
Show threadMaxiedeeartNov 19, 2022

@lynandrea It's good to start with the little intro post about yourself. Use hashtags that interest you too and things will start happening.

Everyone is helpful here if you need an answer - just post your question - someone will reply, usually! Have fun!

Show threadzhiviNov 19, 2022
@lynandrea @davidallengreen @gwildar I have some post that could help, but start at the bottom of my account. Follow @feditips.
Show threadGiselle's very old accountNov 19, 2022
@lynandrea
Do you want any help? Mastodon can feel a bit strange when you first open an account, I remember it well. Let me know if you have any specific questions, happy to help.
Show threadJohn SamuelDec 30, 2022
@gwildar @davidallengreen This is also my wish that it stays like this. I guess the same for many who have joined here
Show threadHadley BeemanNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I’m feeling this sense of relief. Twitter is (was?) powerful, and informative — but stressful. There is a side of the experience I definitely won’t miss.
Show threadGail ParentiNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Isn’t it grand?
Show threadDaveRedwineNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen
I'm quietly sitting here pontificating and the fog is slowly clearing, although i find the Federated tab a little overwhelming TBH
Show threadLouise LocockNov 18, 2022
@daveredwine @davidallengreen Yes, I feel quite content with the people I follow, and discovering new people and content they boost. No need to go wider right now.
Show threadSebastiaan HekmanNov 18, 2022
@daveredwine @davidallengreen Totally understandable. I recommend to use the #hashtags to find other users with similar interests. In the client you use, go to the search function, and type a # followed by a term.
Show threadSebastiaan HekmanNov 18, 2022
@daveredwine @davidallengreen And one more thing for now: try different apps. I have two installed: #mastodon and #ŧusky I like the latter better.
Show threadTRiGNov 18, 2022
@daveredwine @davidallengreen There's an option in your preferences to put the feed into slow mode, which I found helpful. Makes it readable.
Show threadGiselle's very old accountNov 19, 2022
@daveredwine @davidallengreen
Oh yes, quite a few people have only one piece of advice about the federated TL, and it goes something like: "avoid at all costs". I'm lucky in finding it not that bad (my server seems to have defederated the really awful stuff) but most of the time there's only irrelevant, incomprehensible or incredibly boring stuff there. It likely moves pretty darn fast right now I would imagine. Local TL and my own feed is what I like best.
Show threadThe SecretbatcaveNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen like tears in rain
Show threadZack HeydornNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen This is a great point.
Show threadSueNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen
Agree
Show threadKdemariniNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Agreed. I like flitting around in this huge beast with the tusks.
Show threadHappymargyNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen 👏👏👏
Show threadBremain in SpainNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Twitter is a space where divisiveness flourishes in part because people give oxygen and highlight divisive tweets with our comments ie Nigel Farage (we are guilty of it too). Can you imagine how little traction people like him would get if that wasn’t the case. People like him will hate Mastodon
Show threadMaggie721Nov 19, 2022
@BremainInSpain @davidallengreen Farage has like Johnson done souch damage to GB.
Show threadTim the Monkey Nov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I can relate! On here, I haven’t had a single urge to suggest that someone engage in sexual congress with their mother.
Show threadBrandyNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I’m excited for the civility and calm this platform encourages. I’m so mentally exhausted over the last 6 years!
Show threadJanette Thomson LightbodyNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen such a good way of putting it! 👍🏻
Show threadWillshomeNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Please boost some posts from people worth following so we can rebuild. Thank you.
Show threadCarolNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I always found I could be on Twitter for about 5 minutes until I saw something that made me annoyed. :)
Show threadJDSNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I have grown tired and no longer trust those who see compromise or compassion as a weakness.
Show threadDusty_the_nurseNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen this was how Twitter was at the beginning. I think it grew too big to stay calm. The structure of #Mastodon means it should always stay as small(ish) groups that also talk to each other.
Show threadFrancis ☑️Nov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen what about #birdsite do you think encouraged vileness? The algorithm that selects tweets to show you probably based on how likely you are to react to them? Rather than the more passive (and preferable) home/local/federated feeds? Is there a chance that as more people join mastodon the standard of discourse could decrease?
Show threadAlan StainerNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen We're all moving on from Twitter. It's like the estranged abusive partner that just won't change and doesn't realise it's all over.
Show threadBrian R. King, MSWNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Like walking from a smoke filled room into fresh air.
Show threadLilMsMallyNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen returning to bird place is now distinctly odd, adverts, sniping, general incivility… yuck!
Show threadAileen HarrisonNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen
Show threadGamiac (inactive)Nov 18, 2022

@davidallengreen Yeah, it took me a hot minute to adjust, but I'm really liking it here after spending only a couple hours figuring out how interacting with the greater Fediverse works. It gives so much control to the end user, which is really refreshing.

If people really wanted to, could they just literally start up their own instance like a site on Web 1.0 and have people be able to directly share the content like Web 2.0? That seems pretty huge.

Show threadGina Intheburg 🇺🇦 🌻 🥥🌴Nov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I'm not sure I'm ready to thank Elon just yet, tho... Feel like I've unexpectedly become untethered from the ISS during a space walk Yikes!
Show threadA2raeNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen i just decided to try this app out and it’s pretty great so far — just wish the art server tab wasn’t empty when i registered and now i really dont want to go through the process of changing servers, otherwise its pretty chill
Show threadBanquo's ghostNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen and all is going well
Show threadLaura KosloffNov 18, 2022

@davidallengreen I feel exactly the same!

My worry is that the new deluge is perhaps more intense than the migration has been to date. Hoping server admins are able to keep up, and that the hundreds? thousands? who have joined in the past 24 hours are willing and able to unlearn Twitter habits and relearn basic engagement. There are so many ... I better understand how the long time Fediverse residents have been feeling!

Show threadsurlyoneNov 18, 2022

@davidallengreen

Precisely, we are like domestic abuse survivors who need to relearn what ISN'T love, because on twitter bad behavior was rewarded by engagement.

Show threadPhil SmytheNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I went on a tour of Cambridge University this week and was explained the interplay between colleges, faculty and university. Oddly similar to Mastodon and operating for several hundred years.
Show threadDoughnutNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen This! I'm a dinosaur but ditching Twitter was the best thing I've done & finding & using Mastodon is not that hard for oldies!
Show threadRonanNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen agree wholeheartedly
Show threadJonathan LillyNov 18, 2022

@davidallengreen

Ditto:

The potential of Mastodon for academic social networks
http://www.jmlilly.net/mastodon

The potential of Mastodon for academic social networks

At the time of this writing, Twitter is in chaos. For those of us who are academics using Twitter primarily for a professional social network, this could be a good thing. It gives us the opportunity for a fresh start, a chance to cultivate something different and better. We can look at what is working and what is not working, consider how we would like things to be, and take steps to make that a reality.

j.m. lilly
Show threadFionaNov 18, 2022
@jmlilly @davidallengreen thank you for sharing.
Show threadVal PatenaudeNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I keep hearing my 1900 born grandmothers voice telling me "Familiarity breeds contempt" and "Don't ever pander to low tastes" and I wonder at how quickly we lost those simple wisdoms. #civility #anthropology
Show threadCaptain CatNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I was on twitter from the outset (job related) and it was a lovely little space for quite a few years. We exerimented and set up professional networks and discussed philosophy and education... it all went south when it became a must have for politicians and journalists and when *that man* with his orange hair joined. Let's keep this space for ourselves, and go back to being normal humans: mostly really friendly. x
Show threadRob WilliamsonNov 18, 2022

Dear @davidallengreen. I'm so glad you're here!

Now to find that pesky swear hose, #IanDunt.

Show threadmathsjudeNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen I've only just joined and you have summed this site up really well. So calm. I'm enjoying finding myself around & as always hearing your insightful views
Show threadFrank VehafricNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen The rage farming was the worst part of it, that, and the endless, repetitious retweeting of the tediously famous.
Show threadJeffGNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Just joined minutes ago. Looks a bit confusing at first glance. I’ll give it a go. Have a wonderfully wonderful day my friends.
Show threadLlianabirdNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen good to know…how do we search for a particular search term / phrase? X
Show threadShannonNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen That's a great way of putting it. Twitter is inhumane and harms mental health. It's not something we should actually want.
Show threadFionaNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen agree. Have been here for < 24hrs and already enjoying the calmness. Hoping more of those I followed on Twitter see the light soon. #twitterrefugee
Show threadSteve BarnesNov 18, 2022

Cheers, and greetings.

(Though it still seems nothing has ever beaten the advent of personal home on the web.)

Show threadmtdomainNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen
Excellent. It’ll be great to be away from the bitterness of The Birdsite, but we’ve just got to hope those responsible for the bitterness all go to Parler rather than Follow us to Mastadon.
Show threadCarol NelsonNov 18, 2022

@davidallengreen

I’m older and not knowledgeable about tech. But I do like the calmness and civility of Mastodon. On Twitter I felt anxious a lot of the time, especially during the election season here in the US. Since it seems that election season has started again, I jumped to Mastodon for the relief. I’m hoping some of the people I follow there will migrate here. Still trying to figure out how to work the program, and slowly learning. Grateful for any tips on how to navigate.

Show threadMick AndersonNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Hi! First post after my first read and I like the sentiment. Twitter, while fun and engaging, can be quite a lonely place. Hopefully, this is a nicer experience.
Show threadmooopingNov 18, 2022
@davidallengreen Fully agree. This is also a wonderfull moment of gradually finding your favourite people from twitter on here. Almost like losing your friend at a festival and finding them in the chill out tent. Wonderful. Nice to see you!