Remember, this platform was created by a community including queer, trans, neurodiverse and disabled people. It is designed to be more of a safe space than many social media platforms.

Be respectful and if you share an image edit it to add a caption to help people know what it is

Content Warnings (CWs) are not censorship, they are consent. Its just a way of being kind and polite.

Use CWs liberally so that people don't have to automatically see iffy things like politics, hate, violence, food etc (yes, I love food too but some people feel uncomfortable about it for various reasons).

It takes seconds to add a CW and it will make people more comfortable engaging with and boosting your post too.

You can change settings so you see all the CW content if you like

It's not about being overly cautious. It's about allowing people to have a smooth experience of their feed. It means they get to choose to engage/see the content rather than being bombarded by it. CW might not be the ideal framing, but I really appreciate the friendliness and respect of making it something people consent to see. It makes the platform a gentler place and less angry! 😊

It took me a few days to adjust to them, but now I appreciate having the choice

Being "wrong" or feeling we are unjustly accused of it triggers some unpleasant mental pathways, and can bring out defensive/attacking behavior. This is part of the problem many of us have with mainstream SM platforms.

Mastodon is being designed to better navigate these tensions, not to pretend everything is okay it the world, but to give people some agency in their SM experience