#RandomPoll ~ Does Mastodon have more artists (including musicians) or gamers? Or gamers who are actually artists as well?

I'm just trying to get a read on the kind of ppl this place attracts....

@Michael_Spencer From what I've seen, we're mostly artists, programmers, and LGBTQ folks.
@ajroach42 Earlier I was seeing a lot of social media folk, writers and musicians as well. What other populations have you noticed? A lot of devs for sure yes...

@Michael_Spencer the "social media folks" are new, and I don't expect them to stick around.

Writers, for sure (but aren't we all?)

Musicians, I haven't seen as much of (but people are more than one thing, maybe I just haven't been talking to the musician side of them.)

Mostly, on my timeline, it's LGBTQ folk and devs.

@ajroach42 Well I'm *raises hand* new social media folk interesting in writing about Mastodon, and I'm not sure if I'll stick around.

I may or may not have a lot in common with devs, LGBTQ or wannabe musicians. I really like how you said we're all writers - that's a neat point.

@Michael_Spencer I figured you were a social media dude from the questions.

I would invite you to spend some time on the federated timeline, and strike up some conversations. So far, things have been super welcoming and friendly.

There's room here for everyone, even folks that are trying to get a story out of it. (Heck, I did: http://ajroach42.github.io/getting-started-with-mastodon/ )

Just... the community is weirder and more idiosyncratic than you probably expect.

@ajroach42 My curiosity is finding good stomping grounds for sure Andrew, and my story is already written and does favor the "authenticity" of the house.

It does seem pretty high on inclusion and witty banter, an impressive amount of interaction that borders on high quality.

What worries you about LinkedIn?

@Michael_Spencer Linkedin is, in a lot of ways, on the opposite pole from Mastodon/ostatus/GNUsocial.

This network was designed intentionally to be non-capitalist, and human scaled. ( https://medium.com/@jkriss/anti-capitalist-human-scale-software-and-why-it-matters-5936a372b9d )

Federation means that no single instance will ever be big enough for a user to actually get lost in the crowd. That makes it welcoming and comfortable, and aides in building a community.

@ajroach42 Telling me it's concerning I like to write on LinkedIn is very far from welcoming and comfortable, I can assure you.

How do you know that I don't have the same values as you do? Yet you speak to me as if you are obliged to give me a sermon about what anti-capitalism is; it's a bit much. I'm fully into the idea and ideals, but practice what you preach.

@Michael_Spencer

I don't know anything about your values, and I wasn't attempt to imply that you subscribed to any specific viewpoint.

I wasn't trying to give you a sermon about anti-capitalism. That would have been a very different conversation, and it would have involved me using the phrase "anti-capitalism" (and I'm fairly certain the phrase I used was "non-capitalist software" which I was using to mean software not designed to make money.)

@Michael_Spencer So, certainly, I am sorry for any offense caused.

I didn't realize that I had upset you. I thought we were just having a chat.