Mekka  💉💉💉🎉Nov 22, 2022

@BlackAzizAnansi

Still feels early, but I'm used to early. I would like to see more Black faces. I would also like to see more creatives, athletes, entertainers, and other non-tech/non-academics on here. I see some big name authors, but that's about it.

We're losing a lot of Black folk who get a bad First Time User Experience.

Moderation is still in it's infancy here, but seems like they're willing to learn?

I feel like we're only the 2nd wave of a beach landing team.

Show threadDavid HarlanNov 22, 2022

@mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi

need black-moderated servers badly

Show threadjust adrienneNov 22, 2022
@DavidMHarlan @mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi People keep being encouraged to join the big, poorly-moderated instances like .online and .social and those instances are TERRIBLE. If you're still tweeting, encourage folks to join smaller instances!
Show threadNarfingerNov 22, 2022
@adrienne @DavidMHarlan @mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi
Honestly, picking a server is really cumbersome. Once you know that you might end up on the "wrong server" you just have no idea what infighting happened 5 years ago between X and Y. But unless you belong to a very specific group that has a very specific instance it just seems very daunting.
Show threadjust adrienneNov 22, 2022
@Narfinger @DavidMHarlan @mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi Here's my absolute top advice, just in general:
The absolute most important criteria for picking a server are
a) do you vibe with their policies?
b) do they have enough moderators?
c) do they have enough capacity? (pick a small-to-medium size instance, not a giant one!)
Show threadNarfingerNov 22, 2022
@adrienne @DavidMHarlan @mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi I think this is completely unrealistic. Yeah I can check their policies, but how many moderators do you need per users? How would I know that? How much capacity it has is also completely unknowable. Let me pick a random instance. hachyderm.io. I see they have 24k users, no knowledge about how many moderators, and their blocked instances are mostly having not a reason given. Yes, for many I can figure it out but not for all.
Show threadjust adrienneNov 22, 2022

@Narfinger @DavidMHarlan @mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi servers have an /about page which has the policies, and often lists the moderators. As to capacity, "does the /about page load quickly, and does it have less than 50k users?" is a decent proxy.

There is, unfortunately, no substitute for personal recommendations, which is why my offer is always open to anyone who is interested in picking a server. Word of mouth does scale, to some extent, though -- if i tell you about a great server, you can then tell folks you know about it, etc.

Show threadDiligence Jones

@adrienne @Narfinger @DavidMHarlan @mekkaokereke @BlackAzizAnansi

Word of mouth helps. When I began to plan to move off TW to here, a friend who was already here gave a rec to join his instance which is local based. Chill vibe, good politics, well moderated. Then I started following hashtags like #BlackTwitter #BlackAcademics #BlackMastodon.

Over time, I'm sure I'll find more of my people. I'm just giving it time.

Nov 22, 2022 at 5:42pmWeb
Show threadDebra AdamsNov 22, 2022
@DeliaChristina The other thing I've done is when I find people I want to follow, I look at who they follow and then follow them too if they look interesting. Also, some groups share lists of interesting people to follow. Once you build up your followings, things get much more interesting. I've branched out into way more topics than I ever saw on Twitter. Enjoy!
Show threadDiligence JonesNov 22, 2022

@teco22222 Exactly. That's how we did it in the old days of the blogosphere and that's how it works here.

In a way, the Fediverse is very much like the old days of blogging. I dig it, actually.

Show threadDebra AdamsNov 22, 2022
@DeliaChristina Am very much starting to enjoy it myself! Yes, it’s like the blogosphere, but it’s easier to find people to follow.
Show threadDiligence JonesNov 22, 2022

@teco22222 It's sort of like hanging out at your neighborhood pub.

Random people coming in, overhearing different conversations, joining in when you want, dipping out if not.

Just hanging out.

Show threadDebra AdamsNov 22, 2022
@DeliaChristina yes!! Love it.
Show threadcpsaskNov 22, 2022
@teco22222 @DeliaChristina this is what I’m doing as well. It took a few days to build an interesting feed. I love how it suits my interests, not what an algorithm thinks I’m interested in.