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I have to say I'm really surprised with how quickly my follower count and the #QOTO user count exploded in just a little over 2 months.
When I first came to the fediverse the very first thing I did was start my own server (qoto) because I wanted a place where I could talk freely (free speech), without the facism of censorship. Honest sincere debate, something I felt was lacking from other nodes in the fediverse.
I never intended to draw a crowd, or even other members on my server. It was for me and for one friend, that's it. But somehow in the 2 - 3 months I've gained thousands of followers many of whom have come to join our family on QOTO.
What I dont get is how. What did I do that was so special that got me 3k followers in a few months. I have to think its more than just being a nice guy.
My guess: people, like me, crave a place they can be honest, where a difference of opinion is met with mature respectful debate, not censorship and hatred. I hope we have created that here!
Tell me what you think! I'd love to hear everyones opinion on what brought them over to QOTO or even why you decided to follow me.
Once I found the list of instances, I sought out a place to engage others, and found #qoto. The rules were very different... (whoah this got long. CW for length)
@freemo
I loved the idea of mastodon. There were some niche sites that were appealing but only had a few active members, but the largest instances have a lot of rules that flag the system as very very biased and communicate that any disagreement will be silenced and the person banned.
Within a few days of my joining, the wilw situation happened proving that to be the case.
I don't want to encourage what I think are bad ideas. But I'd rather engage thoughtfully and respectfully than either troll or mob the person with diversity of thought and kick them out so I never hear anything remotely challenging.
I sought out a place to engage others, the way we did as kids on the neighborhood/global BBS and I found #qoto. The rules were very different
- not about silencing others and treating them poorly, but about engaging with each other and having mutual respect. Not necessarily for the ideas or disagrees with, but respect for the person who holds those ideas.
I've appreciated the strong, often oppositional, opinions here, and the reality that we don't devolve into name calling, trolling, and mob silencing each other. We can learn from dialoguing with each other, whether that's changing one's mind or simply clarifying one's position.
My personal goals include: understanding why people think their nutty ideas (imo) are good ideas ; and trying to encourage asking the right questions - I think we're often stuck because we're not even asking the right questions.
I do think the majority of people would engage this way given the opportunity, but the constant drum beat from the media, politicians, and Hollywood pulses a constant message of opposition and anger at each other.
@SecondJon Thank you, very well said. What I love so much about this response is that the reasons you came to qoto and the impression this space left on you was **exactly** the type of environment I was hoping to foster. I really could not be happier to hear you (and hopefully others) call this place home for those reasons.