Musk's Twitter algorithm promoting bad accounts
@TheMorrigan
As a person who has been on Mastodon since 2019, has completely dumped Twitter as of mid November this year, and was never that active there to begin with, here are my thoughts:
1. Some people on Twitter are still not convinced that any specific alternative, Mastodon or otherwise, is going to be viable or suitable; some have either barely heard about it or not at all; some do not even know that alternatives there are. Other people are on the fence, active on Mastodon but unwilling to leave Twitter out of a sense of duty, a need for completion, or in at least one case I am aware of, simply being unable to be on two or more platforms at once. Shaming these people may feel morally right, and it's not exactly morally blameworthy, but it doesn't convince them. A better strategy is to encourage them positively to use Mastodon more and make this place welcoming for those on the fence, and to discuss the issue of continued Twitter activity in as non-judgemental a manner as possible. You aren't going to win converts by confrontational evangelism any more than a street preacher at a college screaming at students is, even though you, unlike the street preacher, are correct.
(There are, on the other hand, those who are there for performative or clout-related reasons, including several supposedly leftist people who are now paying for Twitter Blue. We should criticize those people, and we should do so harshly.)
2. There are a lot of niche communities on Twitter that still aren't certain where to go. These people are leaving slowly, and when the deprioritizing of non-paying users happens, they will leave en masse. It is vital to make a welcoming environment for when they arrive if we want them to not go to some other alternative. Scolding them for remaining too long on the fowl site will be counterproductive.
3. Some people are habituated or even addicted to Twitter, for lack of a better word. You do not cure an addiction or other habit simply by criticizing them and making them feel like garbage; if anything that will be deeply counterproductive.
@BylinesNetwork@bylines.social
Musk's Twitter algorithm promoting bad accounts
@mathlover or people like me who thought they would miss out on the latest breaking news (narrator 'she didn't and finally left)