One thing that's getting a little lost in this mix, is that some of the people desperately holding on at Twitter are because they are trapped by either healthcare or visas.

That there are systemic traps that trap workers in America so they feel unable to move freely to new employers who want them and would have better pay or conditions is *nuts* and deserves a lot more attention than it gets.

Here's your irregular reminder that:

Twitter was a multi-billion dollar company with thousands of employees.

Mastodon is a niche hobbyist product run by volunteers

The fact that we're being seen as a viable alternative to them is an admission that a federated, decentralized future is not only possible, but desirable.

Mastodon is not one thing, or one place. It's a network of many things and many places. We don't have a spokesperson (I mean, there's me. I'm the official spokesperson for 💯 of the fediverse, but beyond me there is no spokesperson) we don't have consensus on moderation or blocking or tools or what is good and what is bad. Some of us are professional SREs and Sysadmins, some of us aren't. Some of our instances have been around for 5+ years, some won't be here in six months.

And that's good! All of it, every last bit of it is good.

We're wrestling power away from the billionaire class, in real time, and reclaiming it for the People.

A gentle reminder to folks who are new to Mastodon. In solidarity with those in the disabled community who rely on screen readers, we ask that you:

* Add alt text/image descriptions when you post media
* Capitalize the first letter of every word in a hashtag #LikeThis
* Avoid emojis in your display name

UPDATE: So many great questions! Please check the replies to see if your question has been asked and answered ❤️

#StrongerTogether #Accessibility #AltText #Disability #Solidarity #FediTips

If you need it and want to join, here is the BlackTwitter instance https://blacktwitter.io/about

#BlackMastodon
#BlackTwitter
#BlackFediverse
#BlackFedi
#BlackAcademics
#BlackDiaspora
#BIPoc
#black
#diversity
#DiversityEquityInclusion