mekka okereke Oct 7, 2025

I gotta admit, I am loving how little of the conversation is just "BlueSky bad! Mastodon good! 🤡" and how much of it is "BlueSky is not ideal for Black users, but let's be for real, neither is Mastodon. We don't have control over BlueSky, but we do have some agency with Mastodon. How can we make Mastodon better? Where are we with improving the issues that make this place unwelcoming for Black users? Clearly, more Black users chose BlueSky than Mastodon. Have we addressed the reasons why?" ♥️🥹

Seriously, I count ~5 conversations in the improvement framing direction. I love to see it! Shame on me for having lower expectations.

I'm unapologetically backing improvements across ActivityPub and ATProto. I back Hachyderm/Mastodon and BlackSky. You can just back both teams! Nothing in the rules says you can't do that!

Show threadfrocksupremeOct 7, 2025
a place uncomfortable for black people? on the fediverse i have never been in touch with a topic related to the skin color of somebody. to me - it simply does not exist. which is nice! …while in x, insta and probably all other centralized/directed/biased social media apps it is all about armageddon… seems the techelite wants to push the world into chaos. as they consider crises as a good business model to become richer
Show threadDavid Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Oct 7, 2025

@frocksupreme

I’ve seen a lot of posts from black folks who have encountered racism here, far more than would let me dismiss it as statistical outliers (no platform will ever make everyone happy, but if the people who are unhappy are clustered in a particular demographic then it’s a symptom of bias).

The thing that confuses me is that a lot of other marginalised groups seem to constantly report either positive or less-negative-than-elsewhere experiences here. I am curious why, for example, trans people seem to have better experiences than black people here. It suggests that prejudices against different groups are manifesting in different ways and that the tools for addressing the arising problems need to be different. I’ve not yet seen anyone articulating what the differences are though, and since I tend to see these things only second or third hand, I am not able to answer the question myself.

Show threadfrocksupreme
@david_chisnall what do you mean when saying here?
Oct 7, 2025 at 9:24amWeb
Show threadDavid Chisnall (*Now with 50% more sarcasm!*)Oct 7, 2025
@frocksupreme The Fediverse.
Show threadfrocksupremeOct 7, 2025
everybody creates an ownbubble. racism is not part if mine. i bubble other topics. never met racism on mastodon. but my impression is, mastodon is less radicalized than bluesky. on bluesky there is a difference…
Show threadGunChleocOct 7, 2025

@frocksupreme Trans people have more safety in numbers here than POC.

One very easy trick to hide dogpiling from everybody else is to make a followers-only post and tag the person you're harassing.

Also, white folx like us don't always recognize racism for what it is when we see it.

For the history, https://logicmag.io/policy/blackness-in-the-fediverse-a-conversation-with-marcia-x/ is a good read

On what you can do now, https://privacy.thenexus.today/start-making-the-fediverse-less-toxic/

Blackness in the Fediverse: A Conversation with Marcia X

A conversation about the #PlayVicious Mastodon instance.

Logic(s) Magazine
Show threadfrocksupremeOct 7, 2025
@gunchleoc i never experienced racism on mastodon. and thats my point. nothing else. i am speaking out for myself not everybody. i have never been criticized as a racist ever before and which of course i am not. but i am surprised how aggressively some ppl. try to misunderstand & push it towards a wanted result. it completely misses reality & probably shows how unsuitable they are to be social on a social medium
Show threadGunChleocOct 7, 2025

@frocksupreme Most of the racism I've seen here I've only seen because I follow the fediblock hashtag. Some pretty vile stuff gets reported there.

Without that and without following any black users, I would be completely oblivious of this thing going on, because my corner of the fedi doesn't get harassed.

So, yes, what you see depends a lot on your bubble.

Show threadpunIssuerOct 7, 2025
@frocksupreme pretty surely the people complaining didn't curate racism into their bubbles, yet somehow it found them nonetheless