I had some fun writing about the history of #gaslighting, Merriam-Webster's word of the year.

The word has been used to describe the oil industry's communication style (lol), but the connections don't stop there. The literal “gas lights” it refers to began as a fossil-fueled phenomenon.

https://grist.org/language/fossil-fuel-origins-gaslighting-merriam-webster/

I can't help but notice many toots from helpful newbies encouraging you to support the Mastodon Patreon.

It's fine to do that but understand it goes to just two big instances and the official Mastodon dev team.

It does NOT trickle down to YOUR instance. If you want to support your server, donate to it directly. Nearly all the costs of the explosive growth of the past few weeks is borne by local instances.

Mastodon is decentralized. There is no Mastodon Inc. This is not Twitter.

Here's threads I've written that will require continual referencing:

1. My history building decentralized social media: https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109357582150520530
2. What the Fediverse is and why it's revolutionary: https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109354761662214688
3: What can other Fediverse apps can do that Mastodon cannot? https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109356388466537229
4. A fair monetization strategy for the Fediverse https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109349167321851783
5. Why Blue Checks are a terrible feature https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109343706047705242

I have a request.

Bad actors will soon figure out - if they haven't already - that setting up impersonations of important organizations now will allow them to set off an explosion of chaos and confusion at a time of their choosing.

So if you run an account for an organization (especially #LGBTQ), please set up link verification between your Mastodon account profile and your organization's website.

If not, please boost.

Instructions are here under "Link Verification":
https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/profile/