33 Comments
Jul 9Liked by Elizabeth Tai

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

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Hear, hear

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Well written and thought out take.

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I have a Twitter and FB account, though I don't post much. I have a private Instagram account. I've thought of opening another for my "writer side" but decided against it. Juggling social media apps is too much. I think I'll just focus on Substack for now. Not sure if I wanna continue with Twitter and my FB page. I'm not sure if I'll do Threads. I'm curious... Is Mastodon a better alternative to Twitter?

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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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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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"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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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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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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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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