Mastodawn

Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸Jul 29, 2023

I'm gonna put this out there: If you are new to #Mastodon and have found people to be hostile, or nitpicky, and just generally unhelpful please @ me and say hi. I am happy to walk you through this place, get you comfortable, be non-judgy about helping you, and help make this place your new home. I'm gonna call this #MastoHelper If others want to help newbies, lets do it together!
We need to do more to make people feel welcome first, that's how you create a culture people want to be part of
#help

Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸Jul 29, 2023

This is inspired by @kissane investigation asking folks at Bluesky why they left Mastodon. It's pretty clear, at least in that initial November wave, that a lot of people were quickly made to feel quite unwelcome. The tech stuff is relatively easily fixed, but if Mastodon has a reputation as a place where you can expect to be told you're too dumb to figure out "the rules" then that's on us, it's a big problem, and we need to fix it.

Charlotte Walker Jul 29, 2023

@chris @kissane As a November newcomer I can definitely say that I didn’t feel all that welcome. There is so much tech talk on here and then all the unwritten cultural rules… and a sense that we were seen by some as “invaders” bringing our unsavoury ideas about how microblogging should work. It can feel very parochial here

💙 I Bleed Blue 💙Jul 29, 2023

@purplepadma
I'm a November newcomer and never intimidated or an invader. Choosing an instance was a different, but I have been happy and not changed. I followed my #hashtags, everyone was helpful and welcoming. I love it here. No plans to leave. I've built a better community than I anticipated.
@chris @kissane

Charlotte Walker Jul 29, 2023

@Ibleedblue @chris @kissane I’m happy you had that experience, but clearly a lot of people didn’t

💙 I Bleed Blue 💙Jul 29, 2023

@purplepadma
It was a much slower pace at first, especially after the X- bird. But, I was also determined to give it 6 months at least. It took effort on my part. Many lack that effort it seems.
@chris @kissane

Charlotte Walker Jul 29, 2023

@Ibleedblue @chris @kissane I too put a lot of effort in, and it’s really paid off. I remain disappointed that so many of my Twitter friends made Mastodon accounts in a panic back in November but then made no real attempt to get to know it or find people to follow. Almost all of them just drifted back to Twitter, which I was not prepared to do

isotope239 🥸💻🇺🇦😣Jul 29, 2023

@purplepadma @Ibleedblue @chris @kissane I think a lot of folks just didn't like the lack of algorithm (which does a lot of the work for you). There seems to be a sort of sweet spot in Mastodon where, once you've followed some people and hashtags, your timeline begins to kick in and get interesting. I imagine it takes some people longer to get to that sweet spot than others for all sorts of reasons.

Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸Jul 29, 2023

@isotope239 @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane for sure. Commercial social media is basically just like turning on the TV and there being shows on. You just watch. Mastodon is more like having to pick the channels you want and then explicitly pick the shows you want to watch too. You get there eventually and hopefully the latter is a little more tailored to your interests.

isotope239 🥸💻🇺🇦😣Jul 29, 2023

@chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane That's the difference in a nutshell alright. Mastodon doesn't pick anything for you, you've got to look for it yourself. I can understand the argument that the algorithm might serve you up people or interests that you wouldn't otherwise know about, but that kind of discovery has happened to me a lot from using the Explore option. I also wonder if people have more trouble getting onboard when they primarily use a mobile app rather than the desktop.

@isotope239 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane

Honestly I just use the explore option as my main feed. I’m sure one day I’ll have followed enough people to use my actual feed, but today is not that day.

Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸Jul 29, 2023

@teancom459 @isotope239 @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane 💯

jeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ Jul 29, 2023

follow hashtags, that's way more important than following people.

People are primed to be and have followers and do selfies by the other sites.

Going for hastags is going for content instead of fame.

This place was created and populated by people because of "logic and reason" in the face of monopolies and manipulation.

The people who are flooding this place now are "just consumers" wanting their previous experience back.

@isotope239 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane

isotope239 🥸💻🇺🇦😣Jul 29, 2023

@jesuisatire @teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane This is true, though I can't say that I blame them. A lot of folks carved out a useful niche for themselves on Twitter and many did a lot of good organizing on the bird site as it was before it got trashed. Mastodon just isn't going to work that way for them, so I wish them well and hope they can find another choice that comes closer to whatever it is they're looking for.

jeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ Jul 29, 2023

@isotope239
> Mastodon just isn't going to work that way for them, ..

I don't agree.
Of course they lost because of loosing access to a lot of work. But that possibility was the very reason why we started a decentralized setup in the first place. We realized the danger of the monopolies from the start or earlier, when we were betrayed.
Our setup is more important especially for them.
And if they don't realize the fundamentals now .. well ..
@teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane

isotope239 🥸💻🇺🇦😣Jul 29, 2023

@jesuisatire @teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane I hear what you're saying, but I also think that those of us who do understand how things work could probably unbend a bit and be a little less judgmental. I've been working with computers and networks for a long time. To expect everyone to understand the fundamentals right away isn't going to encourage them to make the effort without some support and perhaps some kindness.

Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸Jul 30, 2023

@isotope239 @jesuisatire @teancom459 @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane 💯 😊

jeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ Jul 30, 2023

@isotope239
> some support and perhaps some kindness.

I'm totally with you on this.
Point is that this is about language and culture.
I'm actually freaking out the whole time because people understand anything but what is said, are extremely presumptive, entitled and fully trained by BS marketing:
"This is a very good question.
Thank you!
Thank you for joining us!"

BS ..
f*** you!
Don't expect us to cheat on you or to trick you!
😮

@teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane

jeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ Jul 30, 2023

> Point is that this is about language and culture.

Have a hear on this!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVk26rurvLo

@teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane

Peter Kruse - The Network is Challenging Us_09_evaluation.mp4

Achieve evaluation on the net.

YouTube

jeSuisatire neindochohh ᘛ⁐̤ᕐᐷ Jul 30, 2023

@isotope239
> some support and perhaps some kindness.

One of the problems besides thin skinned vulnerable people, and they feel very vulnerable because they had to flee and are new here, is that those who are pissed of because of something always comment and yell around. I guess that in general we do counter them if we see them but the setup of seeing just one toot or one answer doesn't help.
It took me time to realize that claim by PoC.

@teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane

isotope239 🥸💻🇺🇦😣Jul 30, 2023

@jesuisatire @teancom459 @chris @purplepadma @Ibleedblue @kissane I kind of wonder if some folks haven't simply become acclimatized to shouting all the time on X. That probably works okay for them in that environment but it doesn't work well (if at all) on Mastodon.