Lizzy (@mousebumples) @Mousebumples@social.cleverlibre.org

Oh this is too good. Since Twitter is now blocking Mastodon links, someone has created a link shortener to hide them. Gotta love the URL:

https://spacekaren.sucks/

As Twitter kicked me out of the so-called digital town square, I'm trying to embrace the open source Mastodon with high hopes.
Please say hello and help me to navigate through this new app.
#newbie #hello #India #twitter

“Your vote keeps #democracy healthy.” #GetOutTheVote #PostcardsToVoters for #Virginia from #upcycle bran cereal boxes. #AdamRouseForSenate #HollySeiboldForHouseDelegate

Mastodon please help me with something. I'm a #trans guy with practically no trans guy friends. I know nothing about trans guys. I only know about James.

I could really do with some transmasc and trans men friends so.... hi?

Boosts encouraged 💜

Coffee drinkers! Listen! Starbucks workers nationwide are starting a 3-day strike today (Friday 12/16) as part of their effort to unionize.

How can you help? Don't cross the picket line. Get your coffee elsewhere. (Preferably at independent coffee shops. Long live small biz).

And spread the word! Make this message viral. Let's hold billionaire corps accountable because worker's rights are human rights. Let's go.

Hi! Figured I should finally do an #introduction post. I’m a former librarian (except not really - once a librarian, always a librarian).

SFF fan, language geek. Interested in environmental & social justice issues. I love nature photography, which I’m seeing a lot more of here - yay!

Need to relearn how to post regularly. The face site and the bird site became bad places to engage with anything. This is a refreshing new beginning.

Mastodon pro tip: Block assholes and trolls. This isn't Twitter, there's no need to tolerate that stuff

🚨 SAVE YOUR STUFF 🚨

If you post research to Twitter and have not had a chance to archive or save your posts, now is a good time to do so. I expect the recent TOS updates to disproportionately affect activists even more than we've already experienced.
Here are some tools for archiving:

Download friend lists and last 3200 tweets:
https://tweetbeaver.com

Extensions for grabbing all the media off of Twitter accounts for Firefox and Chrome:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tw-media-downloader/

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/twitter-media-downloader/cblpjenafgeohmnjknfhpdbdljfkndig?hl=en

Archive important threads here:
https://web.archive.org/save

https://archive.today

Most tweets after late 2019 are automatically saved to the Wayback Machine and can be retrieved with tools like this (requires API access): https://github.com/travisbrown/cancel-culture

Older threads will need additional attention.

If anyone is migrating to Mastodon and wants a list of your friends from Twitter to auto connect with: https://www.movetodon.org/

I also recommend using Fedifinder or Debirdify and exporting the CSV just for account verification later even if you don't plan on following people today.
Note: you can look up Mastodon friends of accounts other than your own with Debirdify.

We do have some research account backups saved from a few weeks ago but if you have posted anything important that needs to be preserved externally please grab it.

#osint #twittermigration #alerta

Writing postcards to get out the vote for Holly Seibold in the Jan 10 special election.

@postcards #PostcardsToVoters #PowerOfThePen #Artivism #Craftivism #SnailMail #HopeWorks #MailTheVoters #EveryVoteCounts #GetOutTheVote #VoteEveryElection
#CivicEngagement

Got a pen? Write with Postcards for VA:

https://addresses.postcards4va.com/login

Public Service Warning

Mastodon has a very big surge of new users right now. There's no way to tell if it will be sustained, but at this early point it looks similar to Nov 18 when when Musk pulled the employee purge.

It is very challenging for system administration to accommodate so many new users. If your server starts to struggle, it is not broken and will get sorted out.

We're all in this together. It's our social network. Be patient. What we are building is amazing.

#twittermigration

Top tip for the newbies;

1) Get an avatar, profile pic, whatever you want to call it. Just get one.

2) Hashtags, they are everything here. So go crazy.

3) Write an intro post, with hashtags, so we know how gorgeous you are.

4) Get involved, toot your genitals off. Toot any old rubbish, I do, and it seems to be working.

5) Have fun. This is an accepting and open social site. Not one person has made fun of my hobby of shoving video game controllers up my bum.

#Twitterpurge #Twitter

@TonyStark

Thank you again, Tony for all this valuable information.
Since I have the time ( have to isolate ... COVID again ) and done this before. I also signed up to write postcards.

If you are a journalist newly migrating to #Mastodon,
from the #TwitterMigration,
here are a few tips for you:

1. WELCOME TO MASTODON! ​​

2. INSTANCE 🏡​

There is a Mastodon instance (server) dedicated to journalists called journa.host . But, you can choose any instance you see fit. You can migrate your account from an instance to another later on if you change your mind, and keep your followers. Here's a link if you want to learn more about this instance: https://journa.host/about

3. ADMINISTRATOR(S) ​

If you have a large audience, make sure to support your instance financially if you can. Increase in traffic usually means increase in cost to run an instance. Since there are no ads here, community support is important.

4. TIPS AND GUIDES 📚

There are a lot of great guides to help Mastodon newcomers. But, to get you started:

Here’s a great website to learn how Mastodon works: https://mastodon.help/

Here’s a great account to follow to get regular tips: @feditips

Here’s a toot (post) with a few mini guides I wrote for newcomers: https://infosec.exchange/@Em0nM4stodon/109323504324459171

5. FINDING AND BEING FOUND #️⃣

Hashtags are important to find and being found here. You can even follow a hashtag and toots using it will get in your Home timeline. It is best practice to CapitalizeEachWord in a hashtag for accessibility.

6. CULTURE ​

Mastodon is a more interactive, more personal social media platform. Do not hesitate to interact with others, boost (repost) the toots of others, and to follow many. You can separate the people you follow using Lists if you get overwhelmed.

7. MASTODON IS DIFFERENT 🐘

Take your time to discover the different features here. It takes some time to get used to it. But it is a wonderful place, and I sincerely hope you will like it as much as I do 💚

I think what's really going to drive #Mastodon adoption and make it go mainstream is when organizations start discovering the power of running their own instances. This does multiple things:

It gives orgs control over accounts. Instant verification by virtue of domain name. Random journalist? Oh, it's on mastodon.washingtonpost.com so it's legit! Random government account? It's on mastodon.wa.gov so it's legit! Things like that.

Therapist: How have you been coping with everything lately?
Me: With sarcasm mostly.
Therapist: Has that been working?
Me: Yeah it’s been super great.

Why did I laugh so hard at this

The first Gen Z Congress member was denied a D.C. apartment due to bad credit.

Freshman reps don’t get a paycheck until February even though they start working on January 3rd.

Congress is inaccessible to those who don't have wealth.

It’s designed to keep working people out.

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

James Baldwin
#EmotionalIntelligence #Quotes

I miss this guy.

Three weeks after joining I guess I should do a formal introduction. I have been a #journalist for four decades at a succession of local papers, then spent 24 years as a freelance magazine writer. Since July 2019 I have been on staff at the #WisconsinExaminer, a nonprofit online news bureau here in the state capital, Madison. I have wonderful colleagues, and having long believed nonprofit, public service reporting was the future of serious journalism, there's nowhere I'd rather be these days.