I obviously need to pin a post about this again which is forcing me to create a new one.

Nobody on social media owes anyone else an explanation for how and what they post. Nobody needs to roll up and tell people what and how to post.

Nobody owes anyone else an explanation for how they present themselves online, most especially anyone in a marginalized or threatened group. Nobody should have to share or be forced to share any more information about themselves than they want.

People usually come to a social media platform to meet like-minded people and relieve stress, not make new stress. Give people a break.

We have moderation rules. They’re reasonable. We stick to them.

And if you don’t like it, just don’t follow me or anyone on this instance. We don’t care. We’re fine. You don’t need to tell us.

We’re way past explaining it. We’re just going to block you.

@TonyStark Yes, I'm tired of explaining why I still post to twitter, while still being vocal about wanting more people to realize we have an opportunity to make something better than Twitter ever was. That said, I realize you're probably speaking in broader terms about something I'm unaware of that transcends the Twitter controversies.

@shoq I don’t get into the who posts where drama. People should go where they like.

Yeah, it’s something else that’s been really, really irritating lately. The “real names” thing.

I get really bored with that. Some jackass dragged in my whole list of Patreons today and I’m on last straw hour.

No need for any of that. My first Twitter friends were Captain Kirk, a horse, and HAL 9000. The judgmental crap on that is wearing.

@TonyStark @shoq For me, I started ‘getting on-line’ during the BBS days. Having a handle/anonymity seem normal. Later, when my buddies and I ran a website that could get a bit racy and I worked for a municipality, anonymity was important. Now that I have kids and volunteer with their activities, I don’t need some parent searching for me and causing drama because I called Trump a fucknuts on Twitter.

@shoq @raddude12 Same.

Nobody would want to be exposed to what’s in my DMs from 2016-present.

I have already had to change my phone number and delete other accounts. Not doing it anymore.

@TonyStark

People need to consider who benefits from being expected to use your real name. (It's corporations that want to collect our data, not us.)

Is a conversation on Mastodon any more authentic because people know our real names or not? I don't pretend to have any credentials I don't. Sure, I want to know that my senator is really my senator, but I don't care if someone is using their real name, a character from pop culture, a cartoon animal, or a picture of a plant.

I miss the BBS days when no one expected that you'd use your real name.

@shoq @raddude12

@MariaHill @TonyStark @shoq

Right. I’m a huge baseball fan. I want to know that the reporter tweeting out some trade rumor is really that reporter. I don’t need to know the real name & identity of the folks in the replies (unless it’s another reporter/player/team management/etc)

@shoq @raddude12 @MariaHill Lots of instances have a “no impersonation” policy including this one so that seems to work.

Considering that we all knew Devin’s Cow and Roy Moore’s Horse on Twitter, or at least most people following politics there did, the ability to carry conversation doesn’t have anything to do with your persona.

@MariaHill @TonyStark @shoq @raddude12 Now that I think about it, when I was on My Space, I didn’t use my real name. No one did.
@MariaHill @TonyStark @shoq @raddude12 Anonymity is so important on the internet because the corporate spyware hegemony out there has malicious intent imho.

@MariaHill @TonyStark @shoq @raddude12

Real names also benefit stalkers, especially if those stalkers are also hackers with a knack for OSINT.