Mastodawn

When you listen to The Verge's podcast and they're legitimately saying Mastodon is a "no girls allowed" club? And we don't want Facebook here because Instagram will bring women here?!

What the fuck is wrong with these American tech pundits? Mastodon is the gayest, transest, most feminine social network I've ever seen. There are so many more outspoken, smart, odd, and downright weird women here than I've ever seen on any other social network. It's fucking great.

Thom Holwerda Jun 27, 2023

I'd rather follow one weird interesting Mastodon woman than a million vapid women influencers on Instagram peddling garbage in skimpy outfits on Photoshopped bodies.

I have never joined Instagram, and I'm insanely happy I never did. Instagram is downright dangerous to (especially) women's mental health and physical wellbeing by promoting fake, Photoshopped "beauty" standards no real person can possibly measure up to.

Fuck that shit right into the goddamn sun.

@[email protected]Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I'm on instagram for the artists, but the glimpses I get of the "influencer" culture are downright scary.

onion Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda unfortunately there are huge communities on instagram that have next to zero representation here. Even with all the shadow banning bs.

🐾 ⎇Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Maybe that's the part they're hinting at, maybe they are in fact looking to get hooked on the heavily distorted images of influencers.

Neeledgam Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Guess you're in the wrong bubble on Insta. But never mind, wouldn't want to take away from your insane happiness.

🔥 Mireille Sillander 🔥Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I mean it's pretty great there if you have the patience to curate your experience to just the arts and weird looking architecture (and fiber crafts). But yeah the out-of-the-box default experience is very bad

C. R. Collins 🌳 🐸Jun 27, 2023

@Mimesatwork @thomholwerda

My Insta feed is all writers, artists, nature, & cooking videos. I use it to promote my books & post my amateur nature photos which fit my books' theme. It's quieter there, by which I mean I don't get the wonderful discussions I get here, but it suits my purpose

Adara Astin Jun 27, 2023

> Instagram is downright dangerous to (especially) women's mental health

Chiming in to second you and point out that there are studies that support this. It's literally #ProvenByScience.™️

MagicLike 🏳️‍🌈Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda A little "correction" from my side: Instagram is bad for the mental health of enveryone.

cutefeesh Aug 1, 2023

@thomholwerda Weird post. You kind of support The Verge’s claim by “othering” a group of women and putting forward a set of qualities women should have in your view to deserve respect.

Shauna GM Aug 1, 2023

@cutefeesh @thomholwerda this. Like, I see the positive intent here, but it's a kind of reductive take

Thom Holwerda Aug 1, 2023

@cutefeesh I'm confused by this reply. Not every person is an interesting follow, right? But because Mastodon seems like a friendlier place to women than other social media, you bump into far more women that are interesting follows here than anywhere else. Is it "othering" to say some people are interesting, and some aren't?

That seems silly.

cutefeesh Aug 1, 2023

@thomholwerda What’s with the jab about skimpy outfits then? Anyways, I know better than to continue this conversation with the vibes I’m getting from that reply.

natriumchloride Aug 1, 2023

@thomholwerda sounds like you too don't want instagram women here lol. I don't really understand this post

cultdev Sep 22, 2023

@thomholwerda there’s a time and a place to broach the destructive influence instagram has had on mainstream beauty standards (for men as well as women), but this discussion isn’t right for it. seriously please delete this second post because your OP is a great point and this second one just muddles it, regardless of intent

@thomholwerda i hate that i *instantly* thought "oh, so they think it's too technical and difficult for women to understand" and that there's probably a decent chance that i was correct to think that

Thom Holwerda Jun 27, 2023

@nuz Oh that undercurrent was definitely there. How could women *possibly* be on Mastodon, isn't that way too technical for their pretty little heads to understand?!

Ugh.

@thomholwerda @nuz also #TheVerge is factually proven trash!
https://mstdn.social/@kkarhan/110616400599927946

Kevin Karhan :verified: (@[email protected])

@[email protected] #TheVerge is just cringe... I mean, how else did we get their glorious PC Build? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lmfF0k2UcU

Mastodon 🐘

Phil Knall Jun 27, 2023

@kkarhan @thomholwerda @nuz except for Becca, she is a treasure.

Darwin Woodka Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda @nuz How could women possibly computer when only 25% of the software industry is girl

Elias Mårtenson Jun 27, 2023

@nuz @thomholwerda It was a weird show to listen to. If it had been a complete Fediverse hate-fest I'd just have turned it off right then and there, but there was just enough relevant information there to make me stay, and then there were a lot of that garbage sprinkled on top.

I kept thinking to myself when those things were brought up that "surely someone else will point out how ridiculous that statement is?", but it never happened. It was like they had a stated rule to never disagree with another panelist.

Rebecca Jun 27, 2023

@nuz @thomholwerda I saw that PC building guide they did once. They've got some balls to cast that kind of shade...

Miia Mustang Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Transphobia, that's what's with these American tech pundits.

@thomholwerda Total crap. I’m a woman. I am much more comfortable here than I have been on any other social media platform.

Thom Holwerda Jun 27, 2023

@Yup_Its_Holly Doesn't surprise me, and good to hear! I'm sure women still experience problems on Mastodon, but from everything I've heard, it definitely seems substantially less than on other networks.

C. R. Collins 🌳 🐸Jun 27, 2023

@Yup_Its_Holly @thomholwerda

Me too. This is my absolute favorite social media site. I spend most of my time here. I don't understand when people say it's "too difficult" as I never had a problem

Briala Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda :-( I have friends on Twitter who still believe Mastodon is "anti-trans" (based on one incident years ago) and won't see otherwise when it clearly is not.

Miriam's on Medical Leave Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Women just didn't approve them to follow their accounts.

Shepherdess Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda the echo chambers are alive and well.

Wilson "Beans Clock" Scraddock Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda i listened to that episode and all i took from it was they probably tried out dot social, spent a bit of time on the local timeline and saw people getting harassed for not calling twitter the birdsite and dipped

What A Guy Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I will say that Bluesky seems to have the most trans people, just based on how the feed looks. But it's not like Masto is any slouch on that front either.

Resuna Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda @cstross It's the same thing that led them to say Google Plus was a ghost town. There's no "engagement algorithm" suggesting randos so if you don't actually go out and look for people you don't find them.

David Hull 胡大衛 Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I think they are probably just telling on themselves. After all, you see the posts of the people you follow, no?

Thom O'Connor Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda The Verge is owned by Vox Media, which is a publishing business that subsists primarily for commercial advertising purposes. Follow the money and their intent becomes clear

MostlyBlindGamer Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda my recent experience with The Verge’s reporting is that they’ll be happy to learn more and write more interesting stories. I’d drop them a line.

Charlotte Walker Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda @BlippyTheWonderSlug I so do not recognise this

Blippy the Wonder Slug (MOVED)Jun 27, 2023

@purplepadma
😜 You's one of 'em. IMO.

EDIT: I should clarify - I think you're one of the awesome women here, not one of the tech pundits.

Charlotte Walker Jun 27, 2023

@BlippyTheWonderSlug Thank you for that clarification 😹

Akatsuki Levi Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Mastodon reminds me of Tumblr golden era

David Cohen Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda They are American tech pundits. That comes loaded with a ton of diversity-ignorant blogging-not-journalism echo chamber baggage.

Pamela Ehn Jun 27, 2023

@davidbcohen @thomholwerda just edited a book on AI by one. The white male bias was *thick*. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he isn’t actually racist or sexist, just that it never occurred to him to think social issues through.

Ку 🇧🇬🇪🇺

neobear_computing

@thomholwerda there is no algorithm to suggest people. So if you're a tech bro that likes tech bros and their tech bro opinions, you need to do a bit of extra work (or get lucky in accidentally following someone who's not a stereotypical tech bro) to find anyone who's not a tech bro doing tech bro stuff.

ator robot Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I could say more about this, but I think the replies are doing a fine job and I'm too tired lol. I'm just curious, were they casting this in a negative or positive light? I'm ready to obliterate my initial perception of their podcast (seeing as I had not heard of it before this, it's already pretty low in my mind)

ator robot Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda by the way, as much as I know this is completely false, it still kind of stings and makes me feel like I'm in the wrong place. I wish I knew what led them to say that... I guess joining in a male-heavy region and never expanding their follower bubbles?

ator robot Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda also fuck them for giving "dominant" males the impression they can join here and make a masculine-only space, and making potentially interested women feel they will be unwelcome. By characterising a platform as wholly something, especially one as diverse as the fediverse/mastodon, _especially_ with cursory research, you only skew the platform further in that direction. I hope whichever males join here with that intent quickly find themselves ousted and left to fester in their own little unhealthy space.

Ubergeek Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I think it's a holdover view from the OStatus/Pump.io/GNUNet days.

Katy ✨Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda looks at my timeline which is almost exclusively women interesting, techbros. you don't say.

Daniël Franke 🏳️‍🌈Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Honestly, I've been realising that mastodon just doesn't "click" for Americans. No idea why, but the moment a billionaire endorsed a new network, they flocked to it much more so than Europeans.

Disclaimer, not all Americans, not all Europeans, etc, etc.

Nika2022 🐶🎶🌐☕️Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda but i am a woman...

LeaBug Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda I love Mastodon. It's my go zone to speak with other lesbians and women.

Ruth O’Day Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda
I thank John Mastodon for creating it!

Earthworm 🐌Jun 29, 2023

I was invited by Joane Mastodon 💜

@thomholwerda #TheVerge is just cringe...

I mean, how else did we get their glorious PC Build?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lmfF0k2UcU

The Verge's Shitty PC Build Guide REUPLOAD

YouTube

🔞Jun 27, 2023

@kkarhan @thomholwerda Oh god i remember that video, i died in side like multipule times

@rox @thomholwerda who didn't?
Maybe my #TechIlliterate mom...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-2Scfj4FZk

The Verge's $2000 PC Build Reaction Supercut

YouTube

Calamity Beast Seydlitz Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda Corp media constantly spreads lies about Mastodon because they rightfully fear what they cannot monetize.

Sphinx of Black Quartz Jun 27, 2023

It's certainly very telling, isn't it? Either The Verge only ever looked at a *very particular* slice of the Fediverse (cough), or they saw the approximately ten snoojillion trans women on Masto and said "Yeah, those are all men."

I'm not sure which way I'd bet.

Harish Narayanan Jun 27, 2023

@thomholwerda This was my exact thought.