When I stopped being active at Twitter, I had more than 45,000 followers and a moderate amount of engagement (replies, retweets, etc.).

I have a third fewer followers here, and at least 10 times the genuine engagement. Sure, some bots, but most of it is genuine -- and useful.

I no longer see what (some) people I respect are saying publicly. I miss their thoughts, and wish they'd recognize that by staying active there they are supporting a dangerous extremist.

They feel trapped. They're not.

@dangillmor

Hi Dan,

I only hooked up with Mastodon today. Still trying to get to grips with it all. New stuff always difficult when you are in your 70's. Read your piece on leaving Twitter and the danger Musk poses at the moment in the USA, by getting into bed with the monster that is Trump,

Best Regards,
Sami.

@Sami1958 Welcome :-)
I’m happy to be your first follower from a different instance. That means that your posts will be visible to me, because I’m following you, and to other people on my instance in this instances’ global feed.
I removed Dan’s name to avoid spamming him with my reply.
I hope you’ll enjoy this new network!
Here’s a link to one of the many guides to it:
https://fedi.tips/
Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse