Joshua Casey 😷 @JoshuaACasey@social.cleverlibre.org

I have to say, I am still boost shy here at #Mastodon - Simply because of negative experiences from the other "place". I always feel like I may annoy or over-boost - But then I remember, this is how it works here. This is how we support others and find those who interest us. Strange, shifting to a more enjoyable social media platform.

One slightly frustrating thing about working in communications for human rights causes is seeing a repressive government spend kajillions on international public relations (PR) firms to try to clean up its image.

All the human rights organizations in the world put together couldn’t hope to have the kind of money that even one abusive government can throw at global communications.

What gives me solace, however, is knowing that it hardly ever works...

➡️ Read more: https://www.hrw.org/the-day-in-human-rights/2022/11/25

Quick little tip: You don't need to use link shorteners on Mastodon.

All links on Mastodon count for 23 characters towards your limit, no matter how many characters they really are.

However, you need to include https:// at the beginning of links to make them clickable.

I found https://movetodon.org/ today and it’s the best tool I’ve encountered yet for quickly rebuilding your Twitter following list on Mastodon, without manual imports or the like. (Thanks much @Tibor!)

"Just a day after Tim Pool blamed the victims of the Club Q shooting by having a "grooming event," Elon Musk is palling around with Tim Pool. ELON is implicitly endorsing the calls for violence against LGBTQ people." - Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_@twitter.com and @esqueer )

Another quick PSA for the newcomers:

There is no Mastodon.

As in, there is no entity out there called Mastodon that needs to "get it together" or "make things easier."

Every server is a unique collection of hardware and software operated by a unique team of (usually) volunteer humans funded by (usually) donations.

Some days will be smoother than others. We new folks have flooded the network. Cut the volunteers some slack. Better yet, offer support.

In just 60 seconds, this clever video shows more than 200 years of change in country health, wealth and population size
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/lmlrks/oc_our_health_and_wealth_over_221_years/

🧵1/9 We’ve signed an open letter to Rishi Sunak about how the #OnlineSafetyBill threatens UK cybersecurity. The Bill introduces content scanning on our devices, compromising end-to-end encryption for individuals and businesses.

Read in full here: https://www.openrightsgroup.org/blog/70-organizations-cyber-security-experts-and-elected-officials-sign-open-letter-expressing-dangers-of-online-safety-bill/

#cybersecurity #privacy #encryption

I found this flow chart of toot visibility useful. #newhere

I'm about the age when one normally has a mid-life crisis. I bought myself a bicycle to replace my 23 year old bicycle. I did *not* go overpay for a social media site and then seek to destroy its value in less than a month.

I think, on the whole, I'm doing okay so far.

I've seen a few folks join Mastodon and complain that it's too difficult to follow people on other servers, with the cutting and pasting and whatnot. But @bramus has now created a neat Chrome extension (or bookmarklet, if you prefer to go that route) that let's you avoid all that hassle.

I just tested it out... by following @bramus with it!

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/mastodon-view-profile-on/limifnkopacddgpihodacjeckfkpbfoe

Morning mastodon world. Extra special good morning to all you newbies here in Mastodon. Hope you get comfy and find your groove.

Its definitely not twitter but that's a good thing.

Couple of bits of advice.

Always alt text your images.

Use hashtags. They actually mean something here.

Repost aka boost liberally. It is how people find others also shows you are here to be more than just your own voice.

Tip your instances admin if at all possible for you financially

Enjoy

Egyptian authorities should have zero tolerance for sexual violence, but they all too often ignore attacks on refugees, some of whom are children.

#Egypt should take rape allegations seriously, investigate them, and punish perpetrators.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/24/egypt-sexually-abused-refugees-find-no-justice

✨ Conversational DMs

Our DMs are a bit different than Mastodons, instead of a thread based approach we opted for a conversational one.

We're exploring encrypted DMs and will be sharing some exciting news in the coming weeks! #pixelfed