Chris TrottierPRO TIP: Before replying to a post, be sure to check if it's part of a larger thread.
Often, what is said on Mastodon requires more context.
Every day, I have someone in my mentions who's upset because they read *one* post in a thread, and make big conclusions.
Then I ask them, "Have you read the whole thread?"
Well, have you?
Why I write Mastodon threads instead of blog posts:
1. It's how my brain thinks -- not everything comes to me at once
2. It allows me to make individual points in a larger conversation
3. I find myself adding to threads as commenters bring up additional points
4. In my real life, I talk to myself
I've tried to write really long posts on my Pleroma instance. But it instead ends up like a Mastodon thread anyway. 5,000 characters, and I only use 300 of them in the initial post.
And then I think about something else, and so I add to the initial post.
Kind of like what I'm doing right now.
The other thing is, I've spent 3 years on Mastodon literally talking to myself and then responding to myself.
Think I'm going to stop that now that I have 9,400 accounts who are seeing me talk to myself? Nope.
I am my biggest fan on Mastodon.
It took an entire year of me posting on Mastodon before anyone replied to anything that I wrote.
And the first person who actually replied to me was a camgirl who was fishing for clients.
(Not saying being a camgirl is "bad" -- just explaining what it was like on Mastodon back in 2018.)
On my first year on Mastodon, I didn't go out of my way to talk to anyone because it seemed like I was completely different from everyone else.
For example, I never put my pronouns in my bio because I hate being defined by gender.
And no, I'm not non-binary either—I really don't like being defined.
Also: I don't mind if other people define me. For example, my daughter calls me "dad".
It's important to her that I be "dad".
I'm not going to take "dad" away from her.
I just don't like internally defining myself.
Anyway, back in 2018, it seemed everyone on Mastodon was super into defining everyone and anything.
As wordy as I tend to get, I simply don't think words should have the ultimate power of providing definition.
I think there's a case for expression beyond text.
Ha. Someone asked me what my gender is.
I give you a non-answer.
And again, a non-answer does not mean non-binary: it means a non-answer.
I'm not going to give you the license to define me.
Instead, you're going to have to get comfortable with the notion that I, a consciousness, inhabit this space.
By the way, same goes for race.
I can definitely "pass" as white.
But I reject whiteness as a self-label.
My family is not white. My ancestors were not white. My community is not white.
I fully understand that others bestow the privilege of whiteness upon me, but I take no pride in the privilege of whiteness.
You may perceive me as white. I don't perceive myself as white.
Here's the thing: every time you reveal an aspect of your identity, governments and corporations try to claim ownership over you.
And if they can't own you, they'll attempt to build a Frankenstein version of you—than claim that is the "real" you.
You can't avoid this—but you can claim true ownership over yourself.
Just because I don't self-identify with a race or gender doesn't mean I deny others the right to self-identify with a race or gender.
I respect everyone's right to self-identify—though there are limits on this too.
(Please don't ask me—it's Friday, and I'm not going down that rabbit hole.)
There's one term I use regularly about myself and that's "autism".
The reason: it saves me lots of grief.
tolortslubor@atomicpoet Please explain; how does this save on grief?
@tolortslubor It saves *me* grief.
sub_o@atomicpoet assigning labels to others is inherently damaging because it projects expectations onto others, and those expectations are often shaped by stereotypes, prejudices, etc. All while disregarding the fact that individual are shaped by their experiences, their environment, their upbringing, their struggles, what are they exposed to, etc.
@sub_o Very true!
Kitsy...and they should be free to change before your very eyes. Labels and expectations are chains and zipties.
Let's keep ourselves and others free to ... whatever...
aido@atomicpoet what do you mean by building a Frankenstein version?
@aidenbenton Just that. The likes of Google and Facebook build profiles on you, even if you don't have an account on their platforms.
Are these profiles "you"?
Or are they just something cobbled together from spare parts?
Bob CollinsIt's not just governments and corporations that pidgeon-hole you. People in general are forever assessing whether you are an us or a them.
ScaleOvenStove@atomicpoet good NoFx song about that
John Spounias 
@atomicpoet like that NOFX song?
creatinglake@atomicpoet I appreciate you as an example and tend to think we would all be better off if everyone loosened up on the labels. We are all truly unique, the categories can be a kind of separation.
Irongeek (he/him)@atomicpoet I respect your position - but can I ask what pronouns you prefer ? Not to pry, but because I can imagine wanting to refer to your posts and would like to know how to do so respectfully
@Irongeek Please don't ask me about pronouns. You're just going to have to be comfortable with a non-answer.
@atomicpoet fair enough! Apologies.
Karen Totten@atomicpoet Totally agree. My employer is pressuring us to use identifier pronouns in our email signatures. He’ll no. It’s nobody’s business.
John 💙💜
Ellia Ivy McLeod@atomicpoet I read the whole thread.
Rodan
Scott Matter@atomicpoet we’re all pluralities of identity categories.
Christoffer Vig@atomicpoet we are living creatures, words don't come easy. We are more than words, not easy to capture by simple definitions.
DLTQ@atomicpoet I love this insight: «Words should not have the ultimate power of providing definition». I see words as mental cages. Nest little boxes. I don’t like being defined within the domain of this or that word. Am I progressive or conservative? Am I religious or non-religious? Am I white or not? Am I wordy or not? Life is more like art, or poetry, at times. Different rhytms at different times. Greetings from insomniac Oslo.
Coach Pāṇini ®@atomicpoet how ontological 😉
Alan Langford 🇨🇦🧤🧊摏@atomicpoet I'm on "they" because I think in most cases gender is irrelevant and introduces unconscious bias.
Zach Perlman@atomicpoet I am the sky.
pamdorra@atomicpoet I don’t like labels either and would rather just know what name someone wants to be called. “They” works for everyone, really. But I added mine in case it made someone else feel more comfortable navigating the world. Maybe it’s a case of once enough people do it we won’t need it any more? 🤷🏻♀️
@pamdorra I'm an odd person. I feel like if someone needs a word to consider my existence, maybe they have no business considering it 😉
Steffen Voß@atomicpoet I find pronouns very practical, when I don't know the firstname: Is "Chris" he or she? Will she be offended, when I write, "Dear Mr. Trottier"?
If there are no wrong pronous for you, that's ok.
I ask myself: Are pronouns gender or are the just part of the name? Part of how you want to be called: He, She, They, Chris, Christian, Christine, Christoph, Christa, buddy, Mr., Mrs. Trottier, atomicpoet?
If there are no wrong pronous for you, that's ok.
I ask myself: Are pronouns gender or are the just part of the name? Part of how you want to be called: He, She, They, Chris, Christian, Christine, Christoph, Christa, buddy, Mr., Mrs. Trottier, atomicpoet?
@kaffeeringe I will leave those questions unanswered.
Alan Martello@atomicpoet I agree with you. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned (or just old) but barring other instructions I assume people want to be identified here by the “Display name” they’ve already specified in their own profile that appears next to their handle. Why does it have to be any more complicated and why can’t that just be enough for people?
@atomicpoet When discussing shutting down my account on Twitter, the only person I communicated with who had a good case for the platform was a sex worker. They need 200K+ followers there to get enough paying members on OnlyFans to survive. This platform is likely not even going to offer that kind of ratio.
Pax@atomicpoet You have given me some things to think about in my own writing and blogging here and elsewhere, Thank you!
Ed 
@atomicpoet A hyperinflated version of this type of interaction are the ones that occur on Image Boards.
Because it's almost certain that anons will antagonize and oppose anything you say, it's a good way to accelerate discussion, detect bad-faith criticism from constructive, and overall, creates a thick skin. All of that turned meaningless (in a good way) due to (opt-out) anonymity.
You would be surprised at how many people feel the way you feel, left out... Ironic
QYME@atomicpoet I'm all for having a timeline showing you the last post but mastodon probably should have a feature that show you the first message of a thread with an "updated thread" warning/signal on it if something is added to it.
A way to colate/colapse all that has been read before would be nice to (and fully controlable by the user).
Maybe there's an extension somewhere for that, i dunno.
@QYME Other Fediverse software like Pleroma and Calckey does that.
But you're using Mastodon.
So you're going to have to make additional effort until you decide to use something more suited to your needs.
Shelenn Ayres@atomicpoet @QYME Friendica and Hubzilla do not have this issue as macroblogs.
Jono Ferguson@atomicpoet dude! Next, you'll expect people to read more than the headline!
Frankie Saxx@atomicpoet
if they read the entire post before responding to what they imagined you might say, that's considered and reflective engagement for social media
if they read the entire post before responding to what they imagined you might say, that's considered and reflective engagement for social media
Pennywhether@atomicpoet I feel like this was a missed opportunity to embed a post in a larger thread. =p
@pennywhether Patience.
Fierce Luddite@atomicpoet A thoughtful thread. I am having a lot of distress over recently discovering that I’m disabled and all that that means. There is a strong movement to embrace the label of disabled, but having learned so late in life that I’m disabled, that term comes with a lot of baggage. Labels are powerful for better or worse.