Andrew LeaheyJul 9
Senator Paula Simons🇨🇦
I quit Twitter two and a half years ago, when the Nazis were still largely organic and free range. Now that X is featuring mass produced AI Nazis, I’m feeling smugly prescient. Thank you, Mastodon, for being here. https://albertaviews.ca/goodbye-to-twitter/
Goodbye to Twitter - Alberta Views

Twitter kept assuming that I was a bot, and putting me in Twitter jail. I had to beg for my verification just so I could stay online.

Alberta Views
Jul 9 at 3:04amWeb
Show threadSweet Home Alaberta 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇲🇽Jul 9
@Paulatics
Thank you for being here!
Show threadcontrolcJul 9
@Paulatics Please suggest that federal and provincial govs also abandon X and come to Mastodon. Govs can even run their own instances (though I recommend they hire experts).
Show threadforeign policy analystJul 9
@Paulatics Paula, please let me know your method. cold turkey or weaning. i am addicted to crack. & on deaths door. namaste
Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Jul 9
@bimbo Cold turkey. I had about 70,000 followers, and I Tweeted obsessively. I started my Mastodon account as a kind of social media methadone first, archived my posts, and then never ever looked back. Never. I instructed my staff never to send me links - only screen caps if absolutely necessary. I miss Twitter. But what I miss no longer exists.
Show threadPamela Barroway – Biz EditorJul 9
@Paulatics There aren’t enough upvotes for this. SO glad I nuked my posts on my way out when deleting my account.
Show threadCeleste Ryder 🐾 🐀🏳️‍🌈Jul 9
@Paulatics And thank you, senator, for being here!
Show threadNike KönigJul 9
@Paulatics Why do so many good accounts we look at for #green, #commongood leadership still mainly use #X, #Meta and #Microsoft?
With AI, fascists and fossil foes, we're looking at a massive shift in how people will use the Internet:
Past due to double-down on the Fediverse and data protection.
The future of digital comms that reach actual humans is in Open Source and Niche Community.
This is where system change happens!
@ECOnGOOD @wwf_deutschland @fff @urgewald @NABU @bsi
Show thread@iveylineJul 9
@Paulatics I can't believe how many high profile people and entities still use Twitter/X. They are giving credence to a platform that is full of hate and misinformation. Mastadon is a much better place. Let's hope it stays that way.
Show threadColin B.Jul 9
@Paulatics Thank you, Paula, for being here.
Show threadVulcanTouristJul 9

@Paulatics

A number of us saw the fluorescent block-letter writing on the Wall and GTFO (past tense). I doubt that any of us regret the decision. I had certain topical engagement that I haven't yet replicated with Mastodon, but those topics were not crucial to remaining. There should be very very little that is.

For me, Mastodon was not my first peer-to-peer rodeo: I've formerly used *Diaspora and smaller offshoot P2P social networks. Technically, I suppose my experience extends all the way back to 1980 and using the renegade $TALK program running on a CDC system at a Cal State campus and a pre-Internet WAN that linked all 19 of the campuses together; $TALK allowed students at all of them to converse in realtime in true peer-to-peer fashion....

Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Jul 9
@VulcanTourist I cannot believe so many people have stayed on X. Do I miss the reach I had with 70k followers? Absolutely. I’ve been on Masto for almost 3 years, posting and engaging regularly, and still haven’t cracked 6k followers. So I get why politicians & journalists find it hard to quit. But the opportunities for good faith engagement with real people on X have evaporated. Here, I know I’m connecting with actual humans!
Show threadLiam O'SullivanJul 9
@Paulatics ditto
Show threadAlan T Perry 🇨🇦Jul 9
@Paulatics
Good to see you here after I similarly migrated. Funny, and a bit nostalgic, to see the image of the blue bird at the bottom of your blog post.
Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Jul 10
@alantperry Love your avatar! The Veg Egg!
Show threadAlan T Perry 🇨🇦Jul 10
@Paulatics It's an iconic reminder of a decade in Alberta. Always impressed by it.
Show threadKen Walker Jul 9
@Paulatics Well said
Show threadkcpJul 9
@Paulatics yep same.
I gave up twitter about then too and now off fb as well as that's just a spy network as bad as anything out of China or North Korea
Show threadSenator Paula Simons🇨🇦Jul 9
@kcpoole I shut down my Senate FB and Instagram accounts this year. That was also a hard decision. But FB kept filling my feed with hate propaganda and porn, and trolls kept invading my comments. I couldn’t keep up with the blocking. Interestingly, my private personal FB page hasn’t been affected - but the public « fan » page had become a nightmare to maintain.