Joshua Casey 😷 @JoshuaACasey@social.cleverlibre.org

Anecdotally seems like there has been another big exodus from #birdsite over the last 48 hours (hmmm wonder why 😂) just based on a jump in followers here

@evangreer Not anecdotally. For real. Around 125K new users joined Mastodon in the last 48 hours. This is 5x normal rates. It is a moderate wave, and the influx of new users is still well above normal. Mastodon handled the surge very well with only minor impact on the performance of the network.

For more information you can follow this link which tracks Mastodon stats:
https://mastodon.online/@mastodonusercount@bitcoinhackers.org

#twittermigration #NewHere #surge

So I understand that the bird site has started blocking links to common/known Mastodon instances, and that doesn't seem like free speech to me. So... I did a thing.

If you go to https://spacekaren.sucks it is now a URL shortener that blocks the twitter user agent. That means you can share that link that will redirect to your Mastodon account without the pouty baby stopping you. If you find this helpful can you boost so others can find it? #TwitterMigration #Mastodon #Musk #introduction

Roevember should have taught Republicans to stay the hell out of women's health. But instead of learning that lesson, they've decided to go to war against birth control... for everyone.

And it is all starting in Amarillo, Texas where a Trump appointee is using the judicial to "permanently harm teenagers’ ability to obtain reproductive care."

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2022/12/13/23505459/supreme-court-birth-control-contraception-constitution-matthew-kacsmaryk-deanda-becerra

#birthcontrol #trump #trumpism #SCOTUS #womenshealth #womensrights #women #lgbt #lgbtq #teens #teen

"not concerned about privacy, i have nothing to hide"

ok but youre wearing pants

Twitter reinstated the Mastodon account but Mastodon links are still banned.

@mmasnick NFT. Not Funding Twitter

'save the children' is going to kill the Internet

Is the de-platforming of journalism a dangerous attack on freedom of expression by a private company such as #Twitter? Yes. Has the same been happening before to sex workers, activists, LGBTQIA+ users etc., without the necessary attention by mainstream media and society? Also yes.

The great irony is that by having a "private" plane all to himself, Elon has bought the OPPOSITE of anonymity. If he flew commercial, or even just chartered planes for each trip, his travel patterns would be much more opaque. But my using an inherently trackable jet linked specifically to him makes his movements effectively public.

It must be tough to be a billionaire. So much money, so many tradeoffs.

A partial list of our reporters you can follow on Masto:

•Caroline Chen @carolinechen

•Annie Waldman @AnnieWaldman

•Perla Trevizo @Perla_Trevizo

•Jeremy Schwartz @JeremySchwartz

•Emily Hopkins @emilyhopkins

•Ken Armstrong @bykenarmstrong

•Mariam Elba @mariamelba

•Jessica Lussenhop @lussenpop

•Ellis Simani @emsimani

•Justin Elliott @elliottjustin

•Max Blau @maxblau

•Andy Kroll @andykroll

•Kartikay Mehrotra @kartikay

•Jeremy Kohler @jeremykohler

•Neil Bedi @neilbedi

Feasible.

There's a very broad bill tucked into the must-pass defense funding bill (the #NDAA) that would allow judges to censor online information about themselves. Here is a good write-up by @cathygellis on Techdirt. @flp publishes some of what's lumped into the bill as "protected information." We are looking at our options. @danielschuman has also been tracking this at @demandprogress.

https://www.techdirt.com/2022/12/15/congress-is-about-to-make-this-post-telling-you-when-to-celebrate-scotus-justice-birthdays-illegal/

Prediction: Twitter's ban of Fediverse links won't kill the Fediverse.

Turns out banning journalists from your walled-garden, monopolistic, dumpster fire of a bird site doesn’t go down too well - @openrightsgroup “while the Open Rights Group urged journalists to set up accounts on the rival platform Mastodon.” https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/16/twitter-elon-musk-suspension-journalists-sets-dangerous-precedent-un-warns #Twitter #infosec

With each new surge of Mastodon users, I feel the need to point out:

1. Welcome!

2. There is a learning curve here, but most people find it short and not very steep. Play around, explore. You'll get it.

3. Lots of people are willing to help.

4. Yes, it's different than Twitter. Sometimes in good ways, sometimes not. But you'll figure it out.

5. With surges especially, things sometimes get slow/glitchy, but they usually get fixed pretty quick.

Be patient.