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geraldew's avatar

So clearly thought and clearly expressed, thanks for summarising what many of us have been seeing over the last week.

I've been somewhat surprised by the amount of jumping at shadows and leaping to conclusions that's been going on - but I guess this is also part of how we get to know each other on these platforms.

I suspect there is also some maturity that yet needs to be added to the platforms and tools. For example, it would be useful for either the feed or the client to not bother showing us repeated boosts (or platform equivalent) that we've already seen. Of course, as a programmer I know that has to wait until someone actually writes code to enact that.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

I do feel Threads is incomplete. It feels very basic.

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Temi Mattu's avatar

Well, what can I say now? You've slapped some balance into my head. Thanks

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Ellane's avatar

Hear, hear

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Mark Dykeman's avatar

Well written and thought out take.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Thank you :)

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neena maiya's avatar

My thing is…wherever you are, make the best of it.

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DavidB's avatar

Didn't I see you on Threads??? ;-)

I want to defend the Mastodon crowd a little. ;-)

While debate has been intense and even tense in recent weeks, there has been a debate, which not everyone things Threads is the devil coming to kill us all over at Mastodon.

I followed the thing as closely as I could (i.e. still through the lens of my circles) and I have the feeling that it's the "loud minority" effect thing once again.

In really believe people against Threads joining the Fediverse are a small very loud minority. But every time I posted something positive (I even said I was excited about Threads possibly joining), I actually got a lot of positive feedback (be it replies, likes and boosts), and not so much hate, not at all at times.

Otherwise, I mostly agree with you. :-)

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Lol yes, I admitted just as much on Notes and Mastodon: https://hachyderm.io/@liztai/110681917969808258

Always a bad idea to say you will never do something hahhaa.

You must hang out in less Tech libertarian circles. I am always exposed to Threads is evil posts as a result, but now at least, it's being balanced out by more positive ones.

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DavidB's avatar

LOL.

I avoid tech libertarians as much as right wingers... (and between us, libertarians are just another kind of right-winger most of the time).

I guess I need to follow you there too. Although, the Fediverse will remain my social media main hangout for the time being (but Calckey is having some technical trouble these days, and I don't want to shitpost on my "serious" account)

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Joe Santos's avatar

I agree with this to a point. I'm on Facebook (posting about my marriage and my baby) and Instagram but I permanently left Twitter. There's passively low-key Evil (Zuck) and then there's agressively in-your-face Evil (Elon). In the immortal words of Jean-Luc Picard a line must be drawn and it must be drawn HERE! :D

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DavidB's avatar

It's a complicated matter. I agree with you on the kind of evil both are, but if you look closely, I'm afraid that Zuckerberg has done more damage to the world that Musk has ever done. Probably because Zuckerberg is good at what he's doing, and Musk is just a clown? An evil clown, but a clown.

I'm still both on Twitter and Facebook, looking for a way out. Threads could be it for Twitter (and if Threads actually joins the Fediverse, I could even follow people there without actually being there), but I doubt I'll ever be able to leave Facebook, that's still where the vast majority of the people I know from the real physical offline world spend most of their time when they use the internets.

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☕ KimBoo York's avatar

"Pick a platform that suits you" is really the heart of it. As an aside, I'm with you re: IG. I used to love it when it was about photography, but that was a glacial epoch ago in internet terms. *siiiiiigh* But platforms change and honestly, we should expect that at this point. I do not plan on joining Threads but I wish only good luck to those who do!

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Yea, I am just not in the mood to learn how to game the algorithm of gain clout or whatever. I don’t have that kind of energy.

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Susan J Bruce's avatar

It’s laughable that people think any platform is ‘moral’. There are probably some who are worse than others, but I tend to use the ones that are best for me unless that platform is blatantly promoting evil.

Will I try Threads? Dunno. I’m never a first responder to this kind of thing. I’ll wait and see if it’s going to be worth the effort and energy investment. Mastodon confuses me. I don’t have the energy for TikTok. Twitter is just opinionated people patting people from their own ‘tribe’ on the back while backstabbing those from other ‘tribes’… or those who use the word ‘tribe’… Insta bots annoy me and I never really got into Tumblr. I mainly hang on FB because of the writing communities. I learn a lot and ask questions about publishing and other relevant things. Not sure where my readers are. NTS… probably should try and find them 😎.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Personally I don’t want to. I was served a lot of offensive content. And there’s no way to filter them out. Don’t need such toxic content in my feed. ;)

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Susan J Bruce's avatar

Yikes! We don’t need that. Twitter is awful now. Negative people patting other negative people on the back for being negative. I claimed my author name on Threads and email there and I might push social content there, but I don’t think my readers will hang out there much so there’s not a lot of point me putting any effort in.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Yeah I claimed my too and uninstalled. I was curious how other parts of the world were feeling about Twitter. Malaysians don't seem to be terribly bothered lol

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Joyce Reynolds-Ward's avatar

Love this post. At this point, I'm rolling my eyes heavily at a lot of people over their social media platform drama. I'm tired of Mastodon zealots promoting their platform with a zeal that would make an evangelical missionary drool. Spoutible fans are only barely better, sigh. Right now, I'm sticking with the platforms I have and waiting to see what shakes out, because I already have plenty on my hands.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Good strategy. Our energy is not limitless!

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@mindset&mythos's avatar

It seems like the things I wrote about in my Indiana Jones post also apply to social media infrastructures.

How does Mastodon work? Someone mentioned threads last week on a group, but I thought they were talking about Twitter Threads.

Is Thread a Twitter clone platform?

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

Meta's answer to Twitter, yup!

Mastodon - well, it's a long answer, but basically imagine a platform that doesn't push you ads and gives you total control of your feed. It's the "open source" version of social media. And I like it because of these qualities. If you need any help joining it, lemme know and I'll direct you to the right resources. (Though starting at https://joinmastodon.org/ should be helpful enough.)

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@mindset&mythos's avatar

Thank you for the link. It sounds like a noise free environment. Do share the resources with me, please. I'm interested.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

I don't know if it's noise free hahaha. It really has its share of problems, but I like control. This is a good one: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/internet-culture/how-to-get-started-on-mastodon/ and you can read my posts about the culture of Mastodon too (important, or else your experience will be unpleasant ;) https://elizabethtai.com/2023/02/16/podcast-is-mastodon-for-you/

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@mindset&mythos's avatar

Thank you for sharing these Elizabeth. It's unfortunate that it seems like you need an instruction manual to avoid social landmines on platforms, instead of learning through exploring.

I'll go over these materials and share my thoughts with you.

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Elizabeth Tai's avatar

I learned through experience and got suspended lol. I thought this would spare people the grief

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@mindset&mythos's avatar

Damn. That sounds crazy. Zero tolerance. I better read your items before trying lol.

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