As a researcher of alternative social media platforms, I couldn’t resist joining the #forkiverse.
If you’re reading this, I’d love to hear your story. What brought you here? What keeps you here?
Discussion
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@anna First account registered in Nov '22, fleeing from Twitter. I didn't start using Mastodon properly until August '23 though. Then I slowly got comfortable and after a while, looked for a server that was better suited to my hobbies. It's lovely here, feels like Twitter when it was new. No ads, no one that can change the entire thing, I can switch to a different server or software whenever I want. I can use my own clients that are built by the community, for the community, and no one's going to close or monetize the API either. I'd never go back, and prefer it over all corpo socials - I only post about my life on here.
@anna i've joined every social network I could find since 2000. I've worked at social networks.
so as an early adopter I knew I was perfect to join and build the community needed for others who will only join a party after it has started.
@anna Nice people, real conversations, no bots or Nazis, lots of cats… and free beer of course
@anna welcome to the Fediverse Anna :)
For me, a dawning realization that Twitter could never be the political platform needed, and that the Fediverse could. And a very persistent friend 😊
Want to link us to your research?
Hi Doug! Linked are my published articles (let me know if you need help accessing any of them). And hopefully a few more coming out soon, including a couple comparing the homophily of mainstream vs alternative social media
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZXZ7jM4AAAAJ&hl=en
@anna I originally created a Mastodon account in 2017, when Mastodon started to be more talked about.
I didn't really stick around much, but Musk taking over Twitter was enough motivation for me to actually start using it. I have also followed the Bluesky project back when it started at Twitter, but when they decided to create their own protocol instead of plugging into the existing fediverse, I knew it wasn't for me.
I really just don't want to have to worry about migrating to yet another social media platform. Or be on one that enriches tech bros and crypto bros.
@anna I had a friend who constantly brought it up (at the time it felt like another Google+ or MeWe). The Twitter downturn finally had me accept the suggestion/invitation to join. And I was hooked for idealogical reasons. 🙂
I’m excited about all the different facets of the Fediverse. Free software without paywalls feels like a playground to explore. It reminds me of the days of learning about alternative operating systems to Mac OS (period correct formatting).
The community movie night was also charming (sometimes—I’m not a horror fan 😅).
I appreciate the control I can have over so much of my experience.
The revelations about Meta/Facebook collaborating with various villains, especially the leaked memo that Meta knew people would die and didn't see it as a problem:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ryanmac/growth-at-any-cost-top-facebook-executive-defended-data
And after that leak people did indeed die:
What keeps me here is helping more people onto here, and away from nasty platforms that make money from promoting hate.
@anna 1. I like using social media to be social. 2. All the pretty photos of fibre crafts.
Hello and welcome to Fedi! 👋
@thegiddystitcher @anna 1. same! 2. same plus all the photographs and other crafts!