bundogi've been hesitant to throw stones because without actual demographic information to back it up i can't tell if masto is incredibly homogeneous or just my circles are, but ime we need more diversity on this site. imho.
i went to a school that was *very* white and university staff would go up to POC and be like “hey what can we do to attract more minorities to campus” and their response would always be like. dude. why would i, a person of color, want to go to a college and be surrounded by white people all the time. why would i want to go to a college where i don't have a voice or decent representation.
and this is a problem mastodon has. again i can't speak for actual demographics, but the impression that i and i think a lot of people have gotten has been one of kinda white, urbanite tech culture. as someone who is white but isn't urban and isn't tech, *i* can get turned off by that sometimes. as you add intersections i can only imagine that effect increases.
we need to start actively elevating diverse voices and we need to carve out spaces for people who don't fit the existing masto mold to fit in. we can't do this “gay communist tech furry” thing forever. or, i mean, we can, but it means some marginalized people will never feel at home using the service.
this isn't the sort of thing i would normally speak on much because i would much rather spend my time promoting the voices of those who are *actually* being marginalized than pontificate about it on my own. by which i mean i'm fine. i'm white, i can tech, i get along fine. but when those people who aren't are being marginalized and driven from the service, we've gotta step up. so.