Joe Terranova @joeterranova@leftist.network

As right-wing extremists are re-platformed everywhere from Twitter to Mar-a-Lago, it’s more important than ever that we hold our journalists, researchers, & others to high standards of accountability when it comes to reporting on extremism and extremists. We need journalists who will tell us the truth, not stake out a position in the middle of two unequal sides. I keep coming back to this quote about reporting on the weather, but it was missing something — so I modified it to make it complete.

Annoying how it's assumed that when women say we "can't find anyone to date" that we mean "no-one will date us", when what we actually mean is that we can't find anyone we'd WANT to date, because he's not on dating apps, and he's 1916 Rising socialist revolutionary James Connolly

The arguments for remaining on twitter to “fight” remind me of the gambling adage that the house always wins. “Fighting” there is like gambling and thinking you’ll eventually beat the house. But even if you win $10,000 at the slot machine it’s because it’s in the casino’s bigger interests to give you $10,000.

A viral post from a progressive helps prop up an increasingly reactionary company. @jeffjarvis

As you're considering the other new Twitter alternatives, ask yourself if you really want to go to another corporate entity that could end up being just as bad as Twitter and Facebook. Algorithmic sites, by design, reward hate and outrage. You're jumping into another fire.

We have a rare and fleeting chance to build something different right now.

I'm choosing to spend my time trying to make this place succeed — helping new users and saving my best content for here.

A gentle reminder to us all, but especially our growing #trans community & any #ally settling in here that IF you see transphobic comments (yes I've had a couple too)

REPORT - report them, then block

FRIENDS - moderators and admins are your friends/allies here & will remove them in minutes

SAFE - you are safe here, and can roam the #Fediverse freely. It's the TERFs & GCs who get locked in a 'closet' at spinster. xyz

That's it, no more to say 💜 #TwitterMigration #Transgender

Mastodon tips (brief)

1. Server choice - tricky
2. Add a pic and bio
3. I prefer 'Advanced web interface'
4. And the 'Light' theme
5. Listen to long-time users
6. Tip your server admins
7. Hashtags pretty important
8. Put Alt text on pics
9. Use Content Warning if in doubt
10. Pin introduction post
11. Do some boosting
12. Follow interesting people
13. Hashtags can be followed too
14. DMs not secure
15. Be respectful
16. Thank you, people who run this

#mastodon #tips #MastodonTips #tootorial

Here's that conversation yet again.

For the past 20 years, the web has been deliberately centralized—creating tech monopolies.

We as a culture let it happen because we prized convenience and "free" above all else—giving away our personal data in the process.

This created the conditions for surveillance capitalism.

As this was happening, the media gave up their rights as news publishers in favor of "reach".

This is why Twitter happened.

Massive shout out to all the server people getting inundated. Newbies you don’t get milked or marketed by Mastodon. Donations to your sever admins are love 🥰 right now if you can afford it.

earth: I’m dying

humans: I’m sorry you feel that way

Keeping Mastodon non-toxic & benevolent requires total community buy-in when it comes to moderation.

Yes, we have mods + admins. But we must also habitually practice individual moderation using the robust safety tools at our disposal.

This means blocking clear-cut trashbags AND reporting them to admins

This means also reporting trashbags to the trashbag's own home instance admins.

It means calling out bad actors early and often & sharing information via #FediBlocks & boosts.

Following someone who boosts a lot of stuff, but you only really care about their original posts?

You can hide their boosts in the settings

I was brought up in a period of austerity. We had, only four years before I was born, and at huge cost in lives and money, ended a war against fascism. Everything was in short supply. Despite this we managed to build a welfare state, the NHS, hundreds of thousands of homes and rebuild the infrastructure damaged by warfare. Let nobody tell you that these things are unaffordable now - austerity now is a political choice foisted on those with the least.

🚨🗳️COLORADO VOTERS 🗳️🚨

Boebert’s 1,112 vote lead is now in real danger as thousands of votes for Adam Frisch could be fixed within the week if volunteers succeed in having select ballots confirm their signatures.

If you were notified that there is a technical mistake on your mail-in ballot, text COLORADO to 2VOTE (28683) to cure your ballot.

🗣 If this comes up on your TL and you're NOT from CO please BOOST for visibility🗣

#USElections
#Midterms
#VoteBlueToSaveAmerica2022
#VoteBoebertOut

“Death blowing bubbles,” 18th century. The bubbles symbolize life's fragility. This plaster work appears on the ceiling of Holy Grave Chapel in Michaelsberg Abbey, Bamberg, Germany. After the monastery’s dissolution in 1803, the buildings were used as the city's hospital.

#histodons #sciart #art #histodon #WeirdHistory #MedMastodon #ScienceMastodon #strangerthings #history #historian #medhistory #histsci #histmed #intro #introduction

How to follow #Mastodon Hashtags

1. Login on your Mastodon account from your PC (unlike #Twitter, Mastodon is not well optimized as an app yet)

2. Search for your desired hashtag. Example: #mastodonon

3. Click on your desired hashtag.

4. You will get the below picture at the top of your screen.

5. Click on the (person+) button - I put it in a red circle below for clarification.

🔁 Repost for everyone to know. Follow me for daily tips.

I point this situation out whenever people say Blue Checks have nothing to do with social status:

Richard Spencer, the white supremacist, was once a Blue Check. What's more people demanded that his Blue Check be removed—not because the Twitter account in question was an imposter. There was no doubt the account was verified, that was not up for debate.

The Blue Check was removed because Twitter wanted to revoke the social status that came with the it.

The appeal is social status.

If you block that instance that's doing bad stuff EARLY:

1. You can actually *prevent* abuse rather than just feel bad that it's a thing that happens and wonder why nothing could be done about it

2. You can influence the other instance's policies if they see quick and decisive backlash

3. You can prevent an instance from becoming "too big to block" in the minds of others

But you have to actually block them at the FIRST sign of trouble, not after the damage is done

men would rather try and remake mastodon after using it for two weeks instead of going to therapy