Mastodawn

Ro Apr 29, 2023

So there's been a Bluesky vs. Masto convo in my mentions for the last couple of days, and it's made something very clear.

White men have this strange loyalty to Mastodon but not a better fedi itself. And they project this loyalty onto anyone that even considers Bluesky, no matter what cultural background they come from.

I have my own reasons for not considering Bluesky, but there's this nasty implication that Black and Brown people should be grateful for Masto despite the fact people loyal to that project have repeatedly run us off with no remorse.

This massive cultural gulf is at the core of why the fedi can't get out of its way and be the next evolution on public social media.

There's enough room here for everyone to have their communities, but the willful ignorance that often leads this discussion and projects in the fedi has us running in circles.

Ro Apr 29, 2023

By and large, the fedi has not been a safe and better experience for Black and Brown, which is why BlueSky is getting traction.

If you are serious about the fedi becoming the defacto experience for social media on they web, you need to take this seriously instead of trying to lecture people based on myopic quasi-leftist principles based on an anecdotal perspective.

BlueSky may not be a viable option but many Black and Brown folks know Masto and by extension, the fedi isn't for them, so they are open to giving it a try.

The fedi has repeatedly shown it does not want to change, so I can't and won't blame anyone for giving BlueSky a hard look.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h I had never heard of BlueSky before, but if I see it correctly, they also are portable/network agnostic, build on open standards and fully interoperable - so if this is true, I see no technical reason to prefer one over the other.

Is there any good places of entry for someone ignorant to learn about the problems with the Fediverse for people of color? Perhaps naively, I cling on to hope that this can change but obviously, the onus is not on the prospective Black/Brown users to fix.

Ro Apr 30, 2023

@thriveth You mean other than following and listening to Black and Brown? Ha, not there is no big book of grievances that can be perused at your leisure.

Just follow some people, read their stories, and listen.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h Or you could just not mock me for not already knowing what you know but OK, you do you.

Ro Apr 30, 2023

@thriveth Which is why suggested following some people.

Do it or don't. That's up to you.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

If it were obvious to me who to follow, I wouldn't have asked. But you were clearly not the right place to ask for a pointer. Good day and goodbye.

Ro Apr 30, 2023

@thriveth You didn't take for people to follow. You asked where you could learn about ‘people of color’ like there's some zoo exhibit I could point you to.

When you get over your temper tantrum, I'll be here.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h I didn't ask for any "zoo exhibit", I asked for entry points to learn about the problems people of color have experienced here.

But let's just agree to part ways here, this is clearly not productive.

Ro Apr 30, 2023

@thriveth And I told you how to get that information.

No one is keeping you here.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h Technically speaking, I guess you did.

Ro Apr 30, 2023

@thriveth I get my tone is sarcastic but it's not malicious.

People ask me for info all the time but I'm skeptical of their motivations, which is why I usually tell people to actually go listen to people.

The problems on here are nuanced and complex and cannot be easily summarized.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h I get that, and I actually also understand your skepticism. The hitch is, when I am asking, it's because I barely even know whom to follow and where to find them. Not every POC concern themselves with these questions or want to spend their energy on them, and following people just because they are Black, expecting them to be resources for this, feels awfully like tokenization. Which was why I was hoping perhaps there were some quick recommendations of good places to start...

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h ...Recommendations which could ideally be valuable starting points for me, while not requiring an awful lot of mental clock cycles for someone like yourself who look like you have them at the front of your mind anyway.

Ro Apr 30, 2023

@thriveth Don't make assumptions about what occupies my mind. You are sure to be wrong.

T. Emil Rivera-Thorsen Apr 30, 2023

@Are0h That's what the words "look like" are there to mark. Is it unreasonable to think that someone who writes confidently about a topic, *might* have some good pointers to entry points to beginners?

@thriveth @Are0h have you perhaps thought of going into listen-only mode with Black folks on mastodon. Try it. For the next 30 days, actively seek and find Black people to follow on mastodon, but don’t reply.

Just listen. Just read. Take in what they are saying for 30 days.

Might help.