๐ If you can see this toot you are on the #Fediverse enjoying #BetterSocialMedia
How flippin' awesome is that!?
In one or two sentences, tell me one thing that stands out for you personally, one of the reasons you enjoy being here.
And if you're ok with me using your answer in promotional material to get more people here, add the tag #TellEveryone ๐ข
I LOVE the #Fediverse as there are no algorithms controlling what you see and no adverts telling you how to spend your money.
The #Fediverse is a much, much #BetterSocialMedia as our conversations are civilised...even when we disagree with each other, we do so politely and respectfully.
The #Fediverse is decentralised...it's owned by no one person and by everyone. Toots are moderated carefully without quashing free speech but still maintaining a safe space for us all.
#TellEveryone โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ
@jaz โค๏ธ tech.lgbt instance by @david where thereโs real inclusivity for BIPOC & LGBT+
Feel itโs more authentic to connect with real people here on the Open Web vs. enshittified Big Social
Met awesome individuals like @Em0nM4stodon (when i 1st joined) due to shared interests in privacy & safety online for women and marginalized folx
So many more reasons than what fits in a toot ๐ฅ
@jaz My feed is one I selected, and I don't see ads. I know some of my mods and I can directly support my instance, so I am not the product. I have learned about all kinds of interests and hobbies and points of view I would never have seen on other sites. It reminds me of 1990's internet blog rings, which I loved.
@jaz For me, I'm here because I can build my own platform. Even beyond hosting your own Mastodon, Akkoma, or whatever instance (which gives you a lot of control) - if you're motivated you can descend all the way down to the protocol (ActivityPub) and build exactly what you want to see exist. That's immensely powerful.
And coupled with the code generation tools that are now available, it's world-changing.
On Xitter, I felt like I was whispering in the dark. Here I feel like I'm participating in a larger conversation. I have curated followers and followees. I chose them and they chose me. It's not weird to follow a stranger here or ask to be followed. That's how it works. It's organic. It isn't an algorithm. It's human-centric.
Alt-Text is a big deal here. I'm not visually impaired but I am neurodivergent, and good Alt-Text often provides the additional context I need to understand the image or meme. I like that we are encouraged to use Alt-Text in that way, not as just an exact description or transcription.
Third thing: you can edit your Toots.
@jaz No algorithm is a big one for sure.
I also like how each instance can be tied to a geographical area, that's a neat feature.
@jaz There are so many reasons I love the #fediverse
The main one at the moment is that is gives me a safe and happy place to spend my time when I wake up at 2am with nothing to do and no one to talk to (they are all sleeping).
I can scroll away for hours and be entertained and engrossed in new and interesting topics.
I also don't have any pressure to be active until I fully wake up, which is now at 5am.
#TellEveryone โค๏ธ
@jaz
> In one or two sentences ...
No.
@jaz For me, it's the people.
There aren't algorithms, or pages that spam you, or posts from groups you don't care about; you follow those who post things you find interesting, you follow hashtags to connect you with content that's right up your street, and your home timeline is tailored to your preferences and only show people or hashtags you choose to follow.
People are helpful, kind, interesting; bad social media has lost sight of that. The #Fediverse reminds us of the good.
I love that I can favorite and comment on videos on other websites using my microblogging account. I also love that I can see new videos, photos and posts from people on different sites, all in the one place!
@jaz #TellEveryone my favourite thing about the fediverse is that it enables a social media service to be optimised for a particular community, and their specific needs. While still giving its members the opportunity to connect to a much larger pool of people.
Fediverse services don't have to try to host everyone in the world to get critical mass. So they can do a better job serving the people who choose them.
@jaz I joyscroll for a short while then I reach the end. I close the tab.
This is a weird way to compliment a system.
#Fediverse & #ActivityPub shows people are clamoring for an online town square that is not, to quote Frank Zappa, โstrictly commercialโ. Commercial entities, nonprofits, & everyday citizens all have equal power on this platform โ which has not existed on the Internet since the collapse of USENETยน.
Even if it sometimes looks like thisโฆ
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?__goaway_challenge=resource-load&__goaway_id=af0ba41560161defc498a77b9c3e6b8d&v=Oy5ybRNSkb8
โฆthat is what a Free Society looks like.
ยน USENET did have access privilege problems that Fediverse does solve.
The Fediverse is made up of individual humans. It's chaotic, some parts of it are rude, and there's a learning curve. But the path forward for Fedi is towards democracy, rather than authoritarianism.
@jaz nobody can own this. There is no CEO of this beholden to anyone and ruining it for everyone.
Iโm okay with this being used and happy about semantic edits if you check back.
@ambientspace @Em0nM4stodon that is awesome!
@jaz The diversity of software stacks that cooperate in making it all works, APIs/protocols that anyone can build on (useful/silly bots, clients, servers, alternative UIs, themes, etc).
Self-hosting is the reason I'll never leave, at this point. I found the Fediverse during the beginning of my journey down the online privacy rabbithole. My threat model has changed since those days, and continues to change, and will. The one thing the Fediverse makes possible, that no corporate social media platform can or will, is the reality of being able to host it yourself. Doing so puts your data in your own hands and no one else's.
There are lost of things that I love about Mastodon, but the thing that saves me every day is the ability to edit posts.... there is a cottage industry among my followers spotting my typos (and also occasional analytical miss-steps) & being able to edit the post is just brilliant.
Good morning lovely ๐น
I never used Social Media until I joined the #fediverse it's a welcoming friendly place.
Full of chatty silliness as well as serious discussion which is done in a sensible adult way.
I have made some strong connections with people across the world ๐ that I would never have met IRL.
THANKS to all of you, you know who you are โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ
#TellEveryone ๐ข
@jaz You only really get the "own your own data" thing by running your own server, but that's what I do, so that's what I get.
I know I can't be banned or moderated badly by the whole fediverse at once. I know where my data lives, I know where it's backed up, I know I haven't signed away wordwide reproduction rights to anyone. I know nobody will be inserting adverts or biased selection algorithms because I control what runs on my server.
@jaz
The people, of course.
Every single person in here has made the deliberate choice of stepping out of the beaten track. So pretty much everyone here is self-selected for having the ambition of finding their own path through life.
I ๐ it!
[The flip side is obvious - self-selection has costs in terms of overall numbers, entry barriers, accessibility, etc. Unfortunate, but everything comes with both pros and cons.]
#TellEveryone ๐ข
Marching to the beat of our own drums.
@jaz The sheer amount of people who take great photos and then, after uploading, seeing the positive responses of others; that's entirely unlike that Other Site where it's constant ragebait and bot activity. More cats too, which is obviously a good thing.
@teruterubozu I say tลตtiau but my Cymraeg is probably even worse than yours :o)
And if you ever feel like tooting yn Gymraeg, add the #Ymarfer hashtag so people know you're practising and open to feedback ๐
And if you follow #DysguCymraeg you might find toots from other learners. Mostly my day to day drivel! ๐
jaz 
Jayne 
Matthew 
Morgan โง๏ธ
Sun Kitty โ๏ธ
Em 
a fresh pup of coffee 
Alison
Phil Thane โ
tiny_m
Justin Thomas
Magical Cat
Tulip
J. R. DePriest 
:EA DATA. SF:
Ann K.
Ikkle Gemz Universe+
Justin Stanley
SJ
Not trying hard enough ๐ฆ
VerityFair
Cress ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ ๐ป
Blortโข ๐โ๐ฅโฃ๏ธ
Jessi
Simon Greenwood
JeniParsons
Strypey
wordsmithโฝ โ
Bradley M. Kรผhn
Ji Fu (Domestic Terrorist)
Anca
Jan Lehnardt 
cubie
Chris Mills
Jochie ๐จ๐ปโ๐ป๐ณ๏ธโ๐
Shoe Bill
AlisonW โฟ๐ณ๏ธโ๐โพ๏ธ
WhichOne'sPink ๐ซ๐ฎ
Athro Rob
Rich
David J. Atkinson
spanghero
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
DoubleTreble ๐ฅฐ๐ต๐ธ๐๐บ๐ฆ๐บ๐๐งถ๐ซ
Adam Dalliance
Sergio Graziosi
Estarriol, Terrorist Dragon
Angie Bowen
doombunny
La Guiri
Jen X. Zerofux
Sue Archer