Growing pains...
Months in now to the great #MastodonMigration, and our community is being tested. Mastodon is not perfect. The interface needs polish, the feature set is a source of contention, and shiny new objects hold out promises to solve everything that frustrates us. But for all that, it is an amazing phenomenon. A rag-tag, people powered network threatens corporate domination of social networking. Together we can do this.
It is not easy to build an inclusive world spanning social network. There are technical challenges and there are human challenges. Listening to each other and resisting the urge to dismiss concerns, or demand quick fixes is challenging. Patience is hard, and it is particularly difficult if we don’t feel like we are being heard. So let’s listen, even if it is hard.
A good place to start listening is @kissane ‘s essay (https://erinkissane.com/blue-skies-over-mastodon). She says, “I hate it that I can’t in good conscience encourage Black friends to get on Mastodon, because I know they’re going to be continuously chided by white people if they mention race or criticize anything at all about Mastodon itself.”
And JT the Artful @jtphillipsmnr shares his journey (https://mastodon.art/@jtphillipsmnr/110290363287096605). “...by the time a Black person gets to their 2nd (or so) racist server with confusing infrastructure they might be 100% fed up and off of Mastodon for good.”
@[email protected] Might I share my Black experience of ending up on Mastodon? I was with the queer disabled BIPOC art community on Twitter. They're more internet savvy than the average internet user. So groups within groups connected to groups of people. Many were making comics online and selling at conventions since the days of Angelfire and Geocities. 1990s. When sht began to hit the fans, folks had relied on twitter. Sure they had their own sites... but... #blackmastodon #blackfedi
Wise words on moderation of targeted harassment from Vrimj @Vrimj (https://mastodon.sandwich.net/@Vrimj/110295385218297439): “...we routinely put people who don't experience a form of harassment in charge of detecting it and it is just as likely to fail.”
Hopefully you never have to make policies or moderate targeted harassment of a minority community you don't belong to, but sometimes these things happen. If you do find yourself in this position let me share an analogy I have found useful in these situations. I short cut it as you don't have the geiger counter.
Try to understand these critiques, even if it does not jive with your experience. They are not ‘wrong.’ It takes time to address technical shortcomings and resolve conflicting feature set issues. But for the future of this great experiment, we need to do so in a spirit of inclusiveness, kindness and understanding.
We are in a moment, and moments like this don’t come along often. This is a lot bigger than which UI has more bells and whistles, or what features you prefer. This is our opportunity to throw off the yoke of corporate predation. To free social media from walled gardens. We won’t get another chance. We are all in this together.
And we can promote the heck out of each other. We are stronger together. Closing from Mastodon•ART 🎨 Curato @Curator ( https://mastodon.art/@Curator/110292582287364639): “...with a thread for “BIPOC creatives, please tag yourselves! Introduce your work, provide pictures, add your shop/donation links. Everyone else: please boost the heck out of the replies!”
I had one of these threads a few months ago but didn't bookmark it and now it is lost XD BIPOC creatives, please tag yourselves! Introduce your work, provide pictures, add your shop/donation links <3 Everyone else: please boost the heck out of the replies! Use alt text if you can, but it's also fine to ask for help with it: https://mastodon.art/@Curator/109279035107793247 (For those unfamiliar or with language barriers, BIPOC is 'Black person, Indigenous person, or Person of Colour'.) #BIPOCArt
Mastodon Migration
@PublicHealthMediaNetwork
Dennis long
Jonathan Mosen