Wilfred Chan

Working on another story for The Guardian about Mastodon, a kind of update to my last one (https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/nov/01/mastodon-twitter-elon-musk-takeover).

Hoping to speak to users / admins about how your experience has been over the last few months here. Still loving it? Less excited? Something else? DM me or email [email protected]

Mastodon gained 70,000 users after Musk’s Twitter takeover. I joined them

The platform is home to a devoted base of left-leaning communities – and no one billionaire can control it

The Guardian
Apr 11, 2023 at 3:59pmWeb
Show threadShoqApr 11, 2023
@wilf Is there the smallest chance that you might remind people that Mastodon is just one application of Activity Pub, which is what really drives most development, ideas, passion and interest here. Mastodon was the biggest of them when Twitter melted down, but it's only a chunk of the overall federated vision. It's important for your readers to understand this.
Show threadJupiter RowlandApr 12, 2023
@!Wilfred Chan First of all: Mastodon is not a network.

The Fediverse is the network. Mastodon is only a part of it.

Most importantly: The Fediverse is not only Mastodon. #MastodonIsNotTheFediverse. All, literally all mass media keep preaching the exact opposite. You have the chance to break this and stop it by writing how it really is.

I know it's extremely hard for people whose digital life only consists of billion-dollar-heavy Silicon Valley gigacorporations to imagine a "service" or "platform" that is made up of thousands of big and small instances of the same thing rather than one huge centralised silo.

And I know it's even harder for them to understand that there are actually lots of different projects with their own instances, all interconnected in the same network, the Fediverse.

But please stop mollycoddling the tech-illiterate and keeping them tech-illiterate. Mention what else is out there in the Fediverse. And stop planting into the heads of millions upon millions of readers the fake news that "Fediverse = Mastodon".

If you yourself don't know what else is out there in the Fediverse, if you were absolutely certain that Mastodon was the entirety of the Fediverse right until this message, then ask me back.
Netzgemeinde/Hubzilla

Show threadMonte Paulsen, Climate Ready Buildings GroupApr 12, 2023

@wilf @c_9

I like Mastodon & will continue here. But any network is only as good as its participants, and I continue to see better local engagement on the bird site. I and many others spent years slowly cultivating thoughtful conversations about Vancouver issues there and only a handful have migrated here. So as much as I prefer the ethics & independence of Fediverse, and as deeply as I loathe Musk, the inconvenient truth is the other site still offers better local connection.

Show threadCameron MacLeodApr 12, 2023
@montepaulsen @wilf I agree, it does. For me, I chose to leave that behind. It has damaged the work I do in transit advocacy for sure. Luckily, Musk is taking away the choice for many and just burning everything down, so I am happy to see Mastodon improving on engagement by leaps and bounds every week.
Show threadCameron MacLeodApr 12, 2023
@montepaulsen @wilf Interestingly, I've had more media inquiries on transit issues in the last 3 months than I did in the previous year when I was more active on Twitter. Not data, just anecdata, but I wonder if media are rediscovering some alternate pathways to info.
Show threadAndrea LearnedApr 12, 2023
@wilf Just emailed you, in case you are still looking for comments.