Bean ThinkingMay 31, 2023

I’ve been considering letting my Mastodon account lapse as home.social closes. But then, I get reminded why I have enjoyed Mastodon.

Yesterday a toot on an interesting #physics story directly linked to a thought-train I’ve been following about a recent cafe - really good to learn something.

And also, a toot-boost a few months ago alerted me to the Woodcutter’s exhibition.

Such a diversity of interesting posts without the ‘noise’.

So, back to the dilemma. To migrate or not to migrate.

Show threadV. West

@BeanThinking I went through this debate as well. In the end, I decided to go ahead and just do the moving work; I could make up my mind about continuing once I had an actual choice.

Also might/might not matter: all old home.social posts will be vanishing along with the server. (There isn't any way to transfer Mastodon post archives at this time.) Waiting until the last minute will mean losing everything.

Jun 1, 2023 at 12:15amWeb
Show threadBobReflectedJun 1, 2023
@anotherwest @BeanThinking an interesting perspective. If I understand correctly, migration takes over your profile and the list of 'followed' people, but little else. Thus, it's a step or two beyond starting afresh, but no more.
I'm still debating with myself: I've not enjoyed my account as much as I had hoped and I am not sure I want to make an effort to continue.
Show threadBean ThinkingJun 1, 2023
@BobReflected I’ll let you know… I have taken what @anotherwest said on-board and have decided to make a choice once I have the freedom to do so. I’m in the process of moving now. So far it doesn’t seem to be as much effort as it has been made out to be (much like joining Mastodon in the first place). Maybe that’s because I’ve not done too much so far though ;-)
Show threadBean ThinkingJun 3, 2023

@BobReflected As a ps. the actual move was easy. There is perhaps an annoyance about losing old posts, but at the same time I think it may be seen as part of the different nature of mastodon compared with other types of social media.

I’m still not quite decided - particularly about my other 2 social media accounts - it is very tempting to leave. But I have learned things from mastodon - not just science - and while that’s true of Twitter too, both that and FB come with, ahem, ‘complications’.

Show threadBobReflectedJun 3, 2023
@BeanThinking thank you.
As I understand the process, one must open a new account and then follow a multi-step process to effect the 'migration'.
To be honest, I'm questioning the entirety of social media in my life. (I use FB only for a small number of interest groups; Tw is fading in appeal. I've no interest at all in others.)
If I do migrate I shall certainly avoid the smaller instances this time as it's evidently 'risky'.
Show threadBean ThinkingJun 3, 2023
@BobReflected Yes. Open a new account & then follow a few steps. It seemed fairly self-explanatory once I created the new account. As I remember I had to create an alias with mastodon.social. I then backed up what I wanted on home.social. Imported those I was following to my new mastodon.social acct (as a csv file - under the import/export preferences tab), ensured I had my new profile set up & then went over to home.social and hit move. Once you hit move though, that’s it - you’re on the new.
Show threadBean ThinkingJun 3, 2023

@BobReflected I do empathise with the possibility of quitting. With mastodon I have found some interesting exhibitions/info which I think would have got lost in the noise of the bird site.

I also think it less of a contributor to the problems we have with ‘rapidification’ and some other ethical issues ;-)

I hope you don’t quit entirely, it’s good to see what you’re reading/writing/learning about sometimes - I have learned from your social media accounts! At least give me warning if you do!

Show threadBobReflectedJun 4, 2023
@BeanThinking thank you. Your word 'rapidification' has lodged in my mind; it is an issue. I wonder whether it is perhaps a symptom of our generic loss of patience, of civility/kindness/compassion. Whether or not there is an underlying drift, your word does add to my current inner debate.
Show threadBean ThinkingJun 5, 2023
@BobReflected Thanks, but it’s not my word, I pinched it from “Laudato Si” (the environmentally themed encyclical of Pope Francis). I thought it summed up a lot of what is happening and what we are doing as human beings.
Show threadV. WestJun 1, 2023

@BobReflected @BeanThinking Sorry I'm late! Yes, you're correct -- you can download your post archive, but Mastodon doesn't have any means of uploading it to another server yet.

You can take your following + blocking/muting info with you.

*In theory,* you can boost old posts into your new acct (how-to is posted at my place). We'll see how successful this is for preserving them after home.social goes down.

Show threadBean ThinkingJun 3, 2023

@anotherwest @BobReflected Exactly - I downloaded my post archive (and favourites list) but really only took the followers/following lists (I’m not muting or blocking anyone yet!)

I’ve just boosted a toot from @racoon that helped me in my move.

Backing up your followers etc. as csv files means that they can easily be moved to the new account.

What I wish I’d done is look through any old convo’s I’d had to see if there was anything I wanted to follow up - once you hit ‘move’, that’s it.

Show threadBean ThinkingJun 1, 2023
@anotherwest Thanks. That is a good point. To some extent allowing it to lapse could be to avoid the choice while giving myself the illusion of having decided. Fair point.