All right #Mastodon, show this #twitterexodus refugee what you can do.

Walked away from 6700 followers because I won't provide content (not directly, at least) or be in the same space as a destructive & dangerous narcissist. This new (for me) place is cool but I do miss being able to post a special #nature #photograph & know it will get seen thousands of times.

I guess that's my #introduction. I rant about #covid #CovidIsNotOver & #LongCovid & I live in a beautiful place. With a foot of snow.

In the early days of the Internet, teenage me marveled at being able to chat with people around the world from my dial-up modem and Commodore computer. Once connected to the university system at 300 baud with my borrowed login; I had access to precious computer time on the real Internet. It was mostly just university students and staff and researchers - live connections were rare and low speed in the ‘80s.

You could direct connect with “chat” or the more sophisticated ICQ, and eventually IRC. USENET and email were boring places filled with old people who liked to write too much - like me now. This was the early days of the fediverse.

I loved learning about people’s lives and cultures on the other side of the planet. We would often ask each other where we were, and I always said, “on-a-lake in-the-woods US” because nobody ever knew where Wisconsin was, and I lived far from any cities. In the winter that lake would freeze for months. Feet of solid ice is strong like concrete, and my Dad and I would fly our little Cessna from right in front of our home.

If I close my eyes it feels like yesterday. Winter was my favorite season. Lots of time to program and drink hot chocolate by the fireplace. Complete silence except for the occasional snowmobile. The sterile smell of cold punctuated by greasy machines that always needed fixing.

Be kind to your instance manager. This sort of thing is happening all over the #fediverse:
* October: 250 users
* November 3rd: 720 users
* November 13th: 6,000 users
* November 23rd: 25,000 users
* Today: Over 30,000 users

(Data from a small "hobby" instance, name redacted because they're already overwhelmed.)

My team at work just launched new research on the #TwitterMigration: We analyze which platforms are growing - especially #Mastodon, #Tumblr & #Post.

We look at which sites users are adding to their Twitter bios, posting to their friends about & downloading apps for.

Please do boost this, and love to hear any comments or feedback on it!

Download it here:
https://www.deweysquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/DSG-Snapshot-of-the-Twitter-Migration-December-12-2022.pdf

An introduction in hashtag form, some things I tend to share about:
My work -
#Systems
#Equity
#ClimateJustice
#Multisolving
#HealthEquity

My life/fun
#Gardening
#Cooking

I recommend this excellent essay from @egies called "What Does #Water Want?"

It's clear and provocative and wise. It has me wondering about other parts of #nature and what they "want."

I hope people in #envhist and #envhum check this out.

https://psyche.co/ideas/what-does-water-want-most-humans-seem-to-have-forgotten