There are a few really popular accounts here on the Fediverse that I muted some time ago. It’s not that I don’t understand why folks follow them, it’s more that I couldn’t understand why I felt like those accounts bothered me so much. I mean…it’s folks like Robert Reich and George Takei so it’s certainly not a content issue, and I love reading them under other circumstances.

It took me a while to tease it out and it ultimately comes down to the difference between the Fediverse and sites like Twitter.

When I had an account there I rarely posted anything and after a few attempts to participate in conversations, realized that I was whispering at a Throbbing Gristle concert and no one was hearing me.

So when you look at accounts like Robert Reich or George Takei, they’re not actually here, they’re just mirrors of content they write elsewhere. So even though I see people responding to those posts as if they’re writing to a specific person, they might as well be replying to a bot.

Take as a counterpoint folks like @RickiTarr or @TheBreadmonkey. Very popular accounts, thousands of followers, but they’re actually here, they’re a part of the ecosystem and will boost, reply, favorite, etc.

I love that about this wild, weird, little slice of internet. I think that’s why I muted folks like Robert Reich, they’re not actually here to interact, they’re ultimately not a part of the community. They’re just here so they can access us, not interact with us. That’s not why I’m here. If I reply to someone, I want to know there’s a high likelihood they see it, whether or not they choose to respond to it.
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ETA: A few folks have pointed out that they've gotten replies from George Takei so it seems that this is more my personal experience there and there is at least a human on the other end of the posts which I'm glad to be wrong about as I adore George Takei.