@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.

@Michael_Spencer

Linkedin is social networking for capitalism. It's the place you go to connect with your employer and your colleagues. It's the place where you research that new CEO.

It's not a place for heartfelt personal interaction, or for developing a community, from everything I've seen.

If you are an expert on LinkedIn, that's an interesting way of looking at it. Of course, that hasn't been my experience.

Of course it's all a matter of perception and how creatively you use a medium and how you choose to interact with individuals.

@Michael_Spencer I wouldn't say "expert" by any stretch. I'm a user, for sure, but in a passive way.

Professional Networking doesn't hold much of an appeal for me, unless I'm job-hunting, or looking for information on potential freelance clients.

Those activities come with a certain desperate/needy, negative emotional connotation that also, unfortunately, infects the platform.

@ajroach42 Well your assumptions of what LinkedIn is used for certainly are mainstream, but not really related to where I come from.

LinkedIn also is an oasis of user generated content and bloggers, not unlike what you write on your blog.