Eubie Drew (QOTO 🦣) @EubieDrew@qoto.org

There are domestic reasons for the protests in Iran and China right now. But I can't help but wonder if the spirit of the Ukrainian resistance helps explain them too. Some people in both countries do have access to the real story of the war, through VPNs if nothing else, and have watched what can be achieved by solidarity and bravery

Seasonal reminder: Alcohol is a completely legal drug that destroys lives, relationships and families. Don't make it hard for people who are trying to stay sober to enjoy festivities and functions.

#MastodonTip If you are more of a reply human than you are a post human, you may be unused to the "shoutyness" of Mastodon.

I like to reply to things, but I don't like to broadcast my replies out of context into the Federated feed, so I recommend setting the default to "Unlisted," if you're one of those reply people.

At times (like this) where you intend to notify everyone, you can just change it to Public.

@undefined Does this emoji show up for everyone?

Having run my own test mastodon server, I can tell you that boosting is REALLY important. That's how posts propagate between servers that are not federated together.

I may get a bit technical, and it can be hard to describe but it's something like this:

Let's say that you have 2 servers, A and B that are not connected. They have their own federated timelines that is vastly different.

let's assume they have their users @a@A and @b@B that are mutuals. If user @a@A sees something interesting on theirs federated timeline and boosts it, user @b@B will see that on their own home page. But more importantly server B will now know about and download that post, and everyone else on B server will be able to see that post on their own federated timeline!

And that's why you boost, guys! It helps posts to spread.

#FediTips

Twitter was never a healthy "public square" for most of us. Let's not rewrite history while eulogizing the hellsite.
Twitter was a frightening battleground where we managed barely to claw out an uneasy existence amidst the worst violent neo-Nazi extremists who constantly published our home addresses, threatened our kids' lives, and sent hordes of racist trolls into our mentions.
The same principles that allowed us to survive uneasily on Twitter will be required here in the #fediverse. Community defense, thoughtful pressure on moderation policies, and eternal vigilance.
There are no safe spaces but those we make safe through constant effort. We keep us safe.

I've covered the US gun issue extensively in the past. I never understood how people blame mental health for a crisis fueled by easy access to #guns. This excellent piece dispels that popular but inane notion. Statistics don't lie. #Journalists need to do a better job forcing politicians to confront these facts. “Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate...Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.” @Max_Fisher @joshkellerjosh https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/world/americas/mass-shootings-us-international.html?smid=tw-share @nytimes

Good morning! A post just rolled across my fedi-timeline saying not to post about politics on Mastodon, so I'm here to remind you that:

1 "politics" refers to decision-making about how to live together in groups
2 choosing to not participate in political discussion is saying you support the status quo, and is a political stance
3 abstaining from politics because you feel safe from its impacts is a privilege and a choice to abandon your more vulnerable neighbours

Hilariously, I've discovered the one response that upsets edgelord harassers more than any other, and it's from Toy Story.

"You are a sad, strange little man, and you have my pity."

What I think happened at Twitter, simply put, is Musk has an authoritarian mindset, and #authoritarianism has been ascendant around the world—especially in the pandemic. So Musk built up an overinflated confidence and a receptive constituency to take over Twitter. But the sheen is now off authoritarianism—which has been demonstrated unpalatable to most and unviable for complex problems (see Russia, Iran, China, the GOP, Brazil…). Yet as we’ve seen, authoritarians never adapt because the role is too heady—they must be unseated through whatever means. At least with Twitter the means are relatively pain-free market forces. But in the meantime we see a self-selecting dynamic where people drawn to authoritarianism are herding onto Twitter—and people repelled by it are drifting to sites like Mastodon.

Hey, as a person who is #VisuallyImpaired - I want to recommend my friends and others coming through the #TwitterMigration - do please follow @alt_text and @PleaseCaption - within 2 minutes of your posting they will remind you that you forgot to add alt text to any image you shared. It really makes a difference for people who are using screen readers or have other visual disabilities to feel included in conversation.