You don't have to let Mastodon become Twitter 2.0.
If you see certain people bringing bad habits, here are your options by order of severity:
1. DM them about social etiquette
2. Call out their bad behaviour
3. Block their account
4. Report bad behaviour to instance admins
5. Block their instance
6. Put their instance on Fediblock
Also remember: unlike birdsite, nobody is entitled to your attention!
Very much agree. I see this as an extension of the original point 1. Some are genuinely bad actors, of course, but for many it's simply a matter of unreflected habits and not bad intention.
If someone is known to me from the other site and I constructively point them to more cooperative ways of engaging, very often they are willing to try it out. I point them to other twitter migrants that have adopted mastodon conventions and they can see that it works.
@the_roamer @atomicpoet To tell you the truth I do not really know if I’m a good citizen or not yet. I’m just generally trying to be friendly, try to grasp the tech (ok got 20+ years of professional experience there, so cheating), and use the tools I have.
Hopefully I get better at it in time. Still haven’t made much use of lists and the likes for instance.
I arrived here 3 weeks ago and spent lots of time on absorbing the mastodon conventions, working out how they play together to form a cooperative conversation culture.
It has been such an eye-opening experience --- suddenly I can use a "micro-blogging site" in a way that feels right, rather than having to fight the system.
Reminds me of the time, decades ago, when I switched to writing in TeX/Latex, rather than MS Word. Suddenly the tool fits the way want to use it.
Yes, Lists are still to be included in my process. Essential if one wants to replace "the algorithm" by a self-controlled access to the timeline.
Without Lists, what arrives on my Home timeline is pre-sifted by my choice of Follows, but given the volume it is still rather random.
There is beauty in that randomness, too, though. A bit like querying the I Ching and getting a random answer that impacts on your life. One need not control everything. Love the unexpected.
@the_roamer @atomicpoet Maybe we need a mutation setting for the home feed. Include 1% random toots from anyone.
Then again that’s a crap shoot. Sometimes you get a an evolutionary advantage, sometimes you get sick.
Creating the right mix of order and randomness is very much my aim. Easy to insert extra randomness by a daily visit to my Local timeline, always surprising & refreshing!
Chris Trottier
Gen X-Wing
the roamer