Mastodawn

I think it's time for some #FollowFriday action once again. Today, let's focus on computational/algorithmic/generative art/design practitioners (not AI art :)

An entirely incomplete list, in A-Z order:

@andreasgysin
@bit101
@daeinc
@eikun_0903
@frederic
@guidoschmidt
@hamoid
@jack
@jeffpalmer
@Joanie
@kandid
@kristinHenry
@lh
@loosenut
@nclslbrn
@nervous_jessica / @nervous_jesse
@Nonfigurativ
@ojack
@Paolo_Curtoni
@paulrickards
@piterpasma
@robertoranon
@ronikaufman
@scdollins
@schwittlick
@SniffCoffee
@tca
@tgfrerer
@tweegeemee
@twilliability
@ylegall

(Next week I will focus on landscape photographers...)

#AlgorithmicArt #ComputationalArt #GenerativeArt #NoAI

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Nicolas Lebrun Jan 23

@toxi @andreasgysin @bit101 @daeinc @eikun_0903 @frederic @guidoschmidt @hamoid @jeffpalmer @Joanie @kandid @jack @kristinHenry @lh @loosenut @nervous_jessica @nervous_jesse @Nonfigurativ @ojack @Paolo_Curtoni @paulrickards @piterpasma @robertoranon @ronikaufman @scdollins @schwittlick @SniffCoffee @tca @tgfrerer @tweegeemee @twilliability @ylegall I'm not here very often anymore, but your message encourages me to be here more often. Thank you for giving visibility to all these accounts.

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Karsten Schmidt Jan 23

@nclslbrn My pleasure! I was actually surprise how many (mostly active) people there are here... I've got probably another two dozen of dormant accounts in my related lists.

Also, may I ask where did you go or did you stop with social media in general?

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Nicolas Lebrun Jan 23

@toxi I would have liked to tell you that I'm using social media less, but the truth is that I've been using Farcaster, Bluesky, and Instagram more lately. I feel like it's not a choice I've made, but rather my perception of their algorithms and my own visibility, but I'm not really sure anymore.

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Karsten Schmidt Jan 23

@nclslbrn So is this is where the cool kids hang out then these days? ;) I'm being told I should (must!) go to Insta too, but alone the thought to engage with that platform (NOT the people!) gives me visceral reactions. Still have an ancient account, though...

It's really sad that the fediverse has been pretty much ignored (or rather never been given a proper go) by so many artists/creatives and former peers. The network effects of these larger platforms are truly like event horizons of black holes by now: nothing & nobody manages to leave (or even desires so, not in the larger context) and instead everyone chases after the same engagement/audiences/collectors/customers and peers in the eternal IG rat race with its constantly shapeshifting unpredictable logic, dealing out or confiscating algorithmic favor, regardless of one's social connections...

My Mastodon experience so far reminded me a lot of the old blogosphere, in that you have to put some work in to actually find your people and build/curate your network and feeds (tip: start using lists & subscribe to hashtags). Though, what I've come to like the most here over time is the lack of pressure to perform the extreme self-censoring (and conversely the focus on only single-topic accounts) which has become such a deeply ingrained learned behavior for many people, enforced daily by the extremely picky & punishing recommendation engines of the commercial platforms. I also like the lack of character limits (thanks to own instance) which allows me to write the occasional longer post and generally avoids so much of the miscommunications so common back then on Twitter). Losing all these aspects has been so good for me (but I feel also for others)...

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Nicolas Lebrun Jan 24

@toxi You're right, Mastodon has nothing to envy commercial platforms in terms of features (long messages, editing posts after publication, etc.). However, I think people (including me) feel captive to the big platforms, but that's probably irrational because without our content and interactions, they would be nothing.

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Karsten Schmidt Jan 24

@nclslbrn I don't think it's that irrational at all, the scale of these platforms and the number of people _potentially_ interested in your creative outlets is incomparable, and I'd think is the main consideration for staying there. But I too think the word "potentially" does _a lot_ of heavy lifting here...

I'm not talking about yourself here, but I think people could at least show a little more self-interest and at least start trying to own more control over the fruits of their own labor and their own audiences, rather than relying purely on these platforms, the power dynamics they enforce and the behaviors they create... I don't just mean fediverse here, but also own websites/blogs/newsletters etc.

It's truly messed how the number of one's social followers (on these commercial platforms) has become this status symbol for personal worth and a filter to be even considered for various opportunities. Everything just becomes about marketing. Opt out from Twitter/IG and you have to find alternative avenues because various people/orgs will show no longer interest. Likewise, stay on there and you have to fully embrace the platform to stay visible/relevant: Post daily/regularly, but not too often, not too many posts in one go, don't edit too soon after posting or your post will be suppressed, post something slighty off-topic from your usual content which causes maybe less "engagement" and for a while your future posts will be seen by fewer people, write a long thread and only some messages from halfway in will be amplified (out of context)... I don't know how people manage to stay sane with all these (undocumented) ever changing "rules". It's like stochastic terrorism, leading to some very weird/sh*t behaviors on the receiving end... Every aspect and micro-decision is measured, second-guessed, optimized, maybe not consciously...

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Jack Rusher Jan 23

@toxi @andreasgysin @bit101 @daeinc @eikun_0903 @frederic @guidoschmidt @hamoid @jeffpalmer @Joanie @kandid @kristinHenry @lh @loosenut @nclslbrn @nervous_jessica @nervous_jesse @Nonfigurativ @ojack @Paolo_Curtoni @paulrickards @piterpasma @robertoranon @ronikaufman @scdollins @schwittlick @SniffCoffee @tca @tgfrerer @tweegeemee @twilliability @ylegall Definitely a compliment to be mentioned, both by you and in this good company 🫂

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bit101 Jan 23

@toxi Nice. I was following about half of those maybe, just started following most of the rest.

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Jeff Palmer Jan 24

@toxi Hey thanks for the mention! 🎉

This is by far my favorite social media platform these days, but I also wish more folks would give it a chance. Interactions here seem much better than other places, but it's a lot more work to get to that point.

For me, my overall use of social media is decreasing, which is a good thing I suppose. That said, I still feel a bit of FOMO when I haven't posted in a while. Like I'm letting people down or something.

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Karsten Schmidt Jan 24

@jeffpalmer I don't have much to compare anymore these days, since I feel I only have limited time for even just this place here, but as I wrote in my other reply last night[1], one definitely has to do little bit more groundwork in terms of building/curating one's feed(s), but also due to the very different dynamics here (lack of algorithm, more focus on human interactions/conversations/topics etc.) the actual format, content and posting patterns are all a bit different. I think people (esp. artists) who're used to just posting an image/piece without context and then relying on the algorithm (of other platforms) to propagate it are having a hard time here, since content propagation here is entirely social. So in order for content to be boosted ("likes" are only a hat tip and form of acknowledgement to the OP here), some people first have to follow you and vice versa: One also has to boost content of others,, engage with them, at least occasionally. You also have to be more aware of the timezone differences and it's quite common for people to boost (some of) their own content with a 8-12h delay to accommodate people on the other side of the planet. I'm pretty introverted most of the time, so I likely don't do enough of all of these things myself, but I'm trying to make more of an effort, helping these islands of (mostly) sanity to succeed...

[1] https://mastodon.thi.ng/@toxi/115947082592306250

#Mastodon

Karsten Schmidt (@[email protected])

@[email protected] So is this is where the cool kids hang out then these days? ;) I'm being told I should (must!) go to Insta too, but alone the thought to engage with that platform (NOT the people!) gives me visceral reactions. Still have an ancient account, though... It's really sad that the fediverse has been pretty much ignored (or rather never been given a proper go) by so many artists/creatives and former peers. The network effects of these larger platforms are truly like event horizons of black holes by now: nothing & nobody manages to leave (or even desires so, not in the larger context) and instead everyone chases after the same engagement/audiences/collectors/customers and peers in the eternal IG rat race with its constantly shapeshifting unpredictable logic, dealing out or confiscating algorithmic favor, regardless of one's social connections... My Mastodon experience so far reminded me a lot of the old blogosphere, in that you have to put some work in to actually find your people and build/curate your network and feeds (tip: start using lists & subscribe to hashtags). Though, what I've come to like the most here over time is the lack of pressure to perform the extreme self-censoring (and conversely the focus on only single-topic accounts) which has become such a deeply ingrained learned behavior for many people, enforced daily by the extremely picky & punishing recommendation engines of the commercial platforms. I also like the lack of character limits (thanks to own instance) which allows me to write the occasional longer post and generally avoids so much of the miscommunications so common back then on Twitter). Losing all these aspects has been so good for me (but I feel also for others)...

Mastodon Glitch Edition

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Daeinc Jan 24

@toxi Thank you for the mention! (almost missed this post. don't know why I don't get most notifications)

I use mastodon and bluesky mostly these days. I still post on instagram but only via my automated scheduler app so I don't have to interact with their website directly.

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