Nick @nickopotamus@qoto.org

After all these years, Weird Al is still the Nerd God.

Ok two threads on migrating to #mastadon

1) How and why its important to #verify and you can do that yourself
https://econtwitter.net/@fetzert/109296526744390720

2) How to add people you follow from Twitter on Mastadon at scale?
https://econtwitter.net/@fetzert/109297167010664834

I am on the #econtwitter #mastadon instance. To ensure this remains a good place, for any #introduction you see here of an account not verified. Remind them to verify.

Also make use of hashtags. You can reach out your bubble through them quite nicely.

Said and done: an IT service request at Warwick Uni to set up a #mastodon instance. Now I am sure this will only take between 6-12 months. And that will be fast. I still cant use cloud computing services even if I have a research funding to pay the cost. That is a massive barrier for me right now.

Tip for the new folk:
Often Mastodon’s features work the way they do because it was first populated by people who had been harassed on FB and the Birdsite.

For instance (not sorry), you cannot search Masto for a simple term. Only #hashtags. Say you’re having a private conversation about iguanas. Anti-iguana trolls will not be able to search for “iguanas”, find your conversation, and drop into it to say, “Iguana luvers suck!”

#TwitterMigration #Twitter

Tip for accessing from Apple devices… Metatext seems like a big improvement on the Mastodon iOS app.

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/metatext/id1523996615

Having spent some time looking at mastodon, I’m a bit gutted I didn’t make the switch sooner to be honest.

The absolute 💫 best 💫 thing about Mastodon is that you can at least, for the moment, #SubToot Twitter people here 👌🏾

Just putting this out here, and you're welcome to disagree: I don't want stats on #Mastodon.

I don't want to see impressions and engagement rates here. I don't want to care how much "reach" I have.

The most valuable analytics for me, in this space, are the conversations in my Mentions column.

FWIW I think it fairly unlikely Mastodon will supplant Twitter (tho who knows...), but it does seem worth joining:

1) in the spirit of social media pluralism

2) as a hedge against at alarming early signs from Musk on verification and conspiracy theories

3) as, judging by first impressions, Mastodon could becoming a valuable complement to Twitter: smaller but calmer, with particular thematic strengths eg e-democracy, digital rights, economics, law

I'd like to hear what people want out of #ScienceMastodon

To me, the best bit of Twitter has been learning and chatting about cool science; and hearing what my colleagues are up to. At it's best it's the poster session at a conference

But instead the algorithm gives you this toxic--but highly addictive--sludge

So I'd love to recreate the best bits of that here--I'd love to be able to come here and consistently learn from interesting people (and keep the existential doom elsewhere)

Thoughts?

Hello everyone.

I just saw this excellent article explains what Mastodon is and how it works.

A great place to start understanding why this is a far superior form of social media platform to the bird 🐦 app.

https://fedi.tips/mastodon-and-the-fediverse-beginners-start-here/#whatismastodon

So here's what I've learned.
Mastodon isn't Twitter.
And that's by design.
You've grown used to things designed to give you that anger rush.
Mastodon is very deliberately built to avoid that.
The temptation is to replicate your Twitter experience.
Picking arguments, amplifying trolls.
Please don't.
This isn't your house, people here put time into building it.
Content warnings, ALT tags.
Don't turn it into a replica of the mess you just left.
If you miss the fights, the birdsite is still there.

We're a few days into the current wave of #TwitterMigration, and we're all excited for all the #NewHere folks to have joined.

But please be mindful you are joining a social network that was not a barren, desolate desert before. It was a blooming, cozy garden.

It's not just about finding your old connections from , it's also about making new valuable connections with folks on here, who might have moved years ago, or who might have never had an account on hellbird.

For people interested in AI image stuff:
Midjourney released v4 yesterday. Here's what I got with the prompt "Elmo, standing in front of a pile of money, surrounded by fire, fear, sadness, anxiety, chaos"

Can’t emphasise enough how much the Mastodon experience is improved by choosing the right app to use it. The official Mastodon app is terrible with very limited functionality, making for a very isolated feeling from everyone and the wider communities. Metatext is waaaaay better and replicates the Twitter experience much more closely. Mastodon is actually enjoyable with this app.
I advise picking through a bunch of apps to see which one is more suitable for you before settling on one to use.

Lotta talk about replacing Twitter.

The better dialogue is how to get people to re-evaluate how they engage with the internet.

Personally, I'm convinced of two things:

- You can't 1:1 replace Twitter unless it's a similar top-down walled garden.

- Most people probably shouldn't want a Twitter replacement, since Twitter is bad for us.

Instead of finding/molding/creating a replacement, we should encourage people (and ourselves!) to focus on what they like most about internet interaction.

Wishlist for #mastodon

Quote tweet equivalent
Easier way to find others on other servers including official accounts of companies / news channels / countries
Reassurance what will happen if a server goes RIP

That’s basically it, the rest looks great

@feditips

Is the new #MedTwitter?

(#Medstodon, #MedMastodon, #Medodon)

Something big is happening in Mastodon over the weekend. Here is my graph, updated. Right now Mastodon is growing ~3 times faster than Twitter.