On the fediverse, posts rarely go viral. But at times, they will go "fungal", like mycelium quietly working its way through the substrate, popping up again like mushrooms every few months to make another quick round before going dormant again.

I think there's a lot more to this phenomenon than a quick quip. The fact that a good post can have an extended shelf life in a context that rarely produces flashy virality is a function of both the technological infrastructure and the much more human and real social norms here.

This is one of those things that I meant a couple days ago when I said to newcomers that a lot of the good parts of Mastodon/fediverse take some time to notice and appreciate.

@Mikal sporespondence is not just pretty mushroom pictures