There's something that been on my mind lately, but I really want to be clear on part of it up front. This isn't a sub-toot of anyone, or even a single subject. It's about a conglomeration of things I've seen on Mastodon lately that have stuck in my mind. It's not aimed at anyone and I *do* think the climate(culture?) of Mastodon has been shifting and people's experiences of that can be all over the place.

That's kind of the nature of this place. No big deal for some, while traumatic for some. I'm not dismissing anyone's experience, but if I don't put this out there it'll just be stuck in my mind ruminating around forever, I'm afraid.

When I was 16 the first thing I did after buying an $800 car and getting my driver's license was travel. Why? Because I wanted to see different things and understand what about those places and experiences made people the way they were. By the time I was 18 I'd bummed around most of the country, almost every state, slept in a lot of shady motels, in the back of my car and on a lot of couches. When I was 18, around my full-time job and college, I got a passport and went everywhere else I could drive. Sorry Europe, I grew up poor and flying for pleasure was out of my financial means.

I see a rising number of people being upset that they aren't seeing what they want when they log into Mastodon. This seems to run the gamut from seemingly mild to Nazi's everywhere. The internet is nothing if not a mirror reflecting back on humankind. It's a big world out there. I've seen a lot and it's still a tiny fraction of what's out there. Pick any topic and people exist out there 180 degrees, exact opposite of what you think and every single fraction of a degree in between.

Thankfully, as far as I'm concerned, Mastodon has some pretty cool ways to deal with this. From talking to people I'm going to go ahead and say I'm probably in the top 1% in terms of using the mute and block functions.

But, wait, you say....you're the one saying you wanted to know all about all of these other people and what makes them tick.

Yes, and I know for a fact that you can't argue with people who are vehemently opposed to what you believe. Unfortunately, and I think here is the crux of what I'm getting at, I see a lot of people turning that into "I can't deal with Mastodon when it's not the echo chamber of my dreams."

You have to have a big tent people. That person who's 180 degrees opposite of you on whatever topic probably isn't going to listen. Me, personally, I give it a good try and if it turns into an argument I mash that block button and probably never look back. I follow over 1,600 accounts. I'm not afraid to mute them or block them when something comes up on my timeline that offends me. To me, that's what it's all about. Find out about other people and decide if you're compatible enough to have a discussion.

I see an awful lot of people lately bashing Mastodon in general, or bashing their followers, not because they're 180 degrees apart, but because they're a few degrees apart.

All of that to say, make Mastodon what you want. If you want a perfect echo chamber of yourself, those people exist out there somewhere. Find them, block everyone else and leave the rest of us alone. It's a big world with a lot of people and if you're going to limit yourself to only people who agree with you 100% of the way on whatever the issues, the problem isn't your choice of social media brand.

The public whining that people don't always agree with you is getting out of hand. At least on my timeline. Maybe not yours. And that's kind of the point, too.