Flaviu Vescan @flaviuvescan@social.cleverlibre.org

#JohnMastodon is proof that things *CAN* go viral here on Mastodon, but the key is that *YOU* are the algorithm. The reason that the John Mastodon meme showed up on other people's timelines is because so many users boosted the posts.

The lesson here is: please don't just favourite something if you really enjoyed it; BOOST it so that other people can enjoy it, too! This is the only reason why I bother to create as large a social graph as I can on Mastodon—to act as an amplifier. You can, too!❤️😉

Just migrated from Twitter.

Here to talk to other chemists, educators, and birders.

Where should I start?

How about one of my favorite photos I've ever taken—a remarkably friendly Red-breasted Nuthatch.

Dude just stubbled upon “fuck ‘round, find out” ~ the French digital minister 😂🤣😂

Honestly moving to Mastodon from the bird site feels like I just switched to PBS after years of exclusively watching a reality TV show called, I don't know, EXTREME HATEFEST: ORGY ISLAND or something.

Like, yeah, of course it's going to be a little jarring but trust me it's better this way.

People rocking up on this platform and expecting it to be as rich and diverse and mature as their carefully nurtured Twitter feed, fine-tuned over a decade to reflect their interests and values, maybe give it a few weeks of actually investing in finding the accounts that interest you before writing the whole thing off as a howling wasteland.

Musk’s lackeys spent their entire day in my mentions defending this absurd policy as just and wise only to have Musk abandon it in less than 12 hours

Please, I ask those of you who are on this platform, if you see someone struggling to understand Mastodon, give them a hand.

There are a lot of confused folks out there who are afraid to make the jump.

Don't be pushy.

Just offer a hand to help them out.

@BlackMastodon@chirp.social @blackmastodon@a.gup.pe #BlackMastodon

Things I've learned about Mastodon this week:

1. Photo captions are read by screenreaders for people who have impaired vision. The more descriptive you make them, the more people can appreciate your post.

2. Hashtags should be "camel style" which means you capitalize each word in the tag - this enables screen readers to identify different words in the tag,

3. Reblogging boosts posts and favourites do not.

4. Hashtags are way more important here than on the birdsite.

#FediTip

I think all those “How to Mastodon” articles are going about it all wrong. They start by explaining federation and talking about how to choose a server. Yes that’s the first step but it’s also where we lose people. Just put that aside. Start by talking about how you use Mastodon, all the great apps, the culture, etc. Then end with the first step, that “all you have to do is pick a server to get started” and explain how. You have to hook a fish before you can reel it in.

Could we start a hashtag specifically to help journalists settle in and getting known and followed on Mastodon?

Is there already one?
I imagine there might be more creating accounts tomorrow maybe.

Perhaps something like:
#NewsOnMastodon
#JournalistsOfMastodon

What do you think #journalists and #Mastodon and everyone?

It is very #frustrating to watch folks get #covid, #LongCovid, and then deal with stuff I have been dealing with for 47 years. When, for them, it might have been avoided by wearing a #mask. It is sad, maddening, frustrating, & horrible. Their cries of "i can't live like this" hurt. I understand where they are coming from intellectually. But to be told that the way you have to live your life is "not worth living"? I beg to differ.

Twitter's increasingly aggressive policy of blocking links to other social media platform, in the words of its own CEO.

@BlackAzizAnansi

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." – Lyndon B. Johnson

@juddlegum Elon is busy putting together the Legion of Doom. Shit's about to get real.

From the description:

"Does fake news spread better than true news? Do bots spread fake news? What can we do against fake news? Does social media increase political polarization? Is it true that we all live in political echo chambers? In this video, we look at what scientific studies have found and what we can learn from that."

#SocialMedia #SabineHossenfelder #FakeNews #Politics #Bots

https://youtu.be/XDqESkPiV4E

I find this comment fascinating on what gives Leica lenses the “Leica look.” #photography

I need to get my new server federated, please 🔁 BOOST!🔁 to help it connect to other servers.

For just 1 post boost you can show Twitter and #SpaceKaren that any little server can survive out here

Me making backups: Well this fucking sucks. What the fuck.
Me restoring from backups: Haha fuck yeah!!! Yes!!

Things going really well over at @twittersupport

Account has deleted ALL its tweets from last five days 😂

Eg those tweets banning links to social media including Mastodon