Being a minority on social media sucks sometimes
A few years ago, a Malaysian friend told me during the Twitter meltdown that she’s carefully cultivated a Malaysian safe bubble for herself on Twitter and she’s leery of losing that.
Back then, I wasn’t very active on social media; I hung out mostly to drop brief comments on Twitter to people who talk about personal finance. I generally avoid the gurus and their acolytes. So, I thought it was a strange thing to willingly ensconce yourself in an information/conversation bubble.
I GET IT NOW.
After getting on Mastodon, I got super excited but quickly discovered how censorious some of its citizens can be.
a) If you support a narrative on a subject that the majority of Mastodon doesn’t, you will probably be cancelled.
b) You need to constantly be aware of the cultural triggers of the majority on various topics, especially writing, AI and certain countries they do not like. If you happen to not know woe betide unto you if you say something not accepted by the majority.
The urge to self censor and speak up in rebellion
When I wrote the post, What if using AI to write fiction isn’t an evil act? the insults I got stunned me. I was so ensconced in my AI positive/neutral real world that I don’t even realise how angry and unreasonable these people were.
Yet, when some people subtly told me maybe I shouldn’t have written on that topic, I became rebellious. People telling me not to do something? Well that’s usually my trigger to do it anyway.
So, I constantly struggle between self-censorship and rebellious speaking out all the time.
A more personal and spicy perspective below, for subscribers to my blog only. (Free, no payment required.)
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Utterly Random episode 1: Is Mastodon for you?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EDziQGRxovpggQFGxcSVx?si=oMa-ru7fTKK99qCyWzzu0g
In an act of utter randomness, I decided to create a podcast. Which is why I thought it’s totally appropriate to call my podcast, Utterly Random. Because that’s me, random.
I reflect on my four months into the decentralized social media network, Mastodon.
(I mention a newsletter at the start of the podcast; it’s this one: https://elizabethtai.substack.com/)
In this episode, I share my experience using the social media platform Mastodon. It’s been five months, and I believe I have a clear idea of the platform’s unique features.
The good stuff: It’s full of interesting people and I have rich and intelligent conversations all the time / I have full control over my feed and social media experience.
The bad stuff: Trolls, like on Twitter, have the power to shut down your account by repeatedly reporting you. This can result in the suspension of the account and I actually experienced this recently. I explain what happened and how the moderators of my instance dealt with it, and how I reacted. Then there are instance wars and instances shutting down…
Tune in to find out if Mastodon is for you. Understand the culture and the “unspoken” rules of how to have a great experience on Mastodon.
WARNING: Some swear words in this one.
Quick summary
- I have written at length why I quit Twitter but essentially I left because I did not like how Elon Musk was treating his employees and I have never found Twitter a good place for me. I endured it rather than enjoyed it. Elon Musk’s takeover gave me a good excuse to move because it could break down anytime.
- I didn’t have high expectations for Mastodon. I just wanted to “park” myself there. However, I ended up loving it a lot because of the intelligent conversations and high engagement I experienced there.
- A lot of Twitter refugees are amazed at how kind and courteous people are on Mastodon. They generally are, but there’s a dark side.
- I talk about my experience with being trolled after tripping and falling head-long into a super-sensitive topic on Mastodon. Harassment is still a reality on Mastodon.
- The politics of managing an instance and content moderation. It’s not easy for everyone, but it enables a great environment.
- How I ended up having my account suspended, how I got it back, and how it made me realise I needed to be very careful about certain topics.
- To protect yourself from trolls, use strong keyword filters and press that block button as often as you feel like it. Don’t feel embarrassed about it.
- Is your nice, nice enough? The politics of being a part of the Mastodon community, how it was built for the marginalised and disabled, and why it’s important to write ALT tags and use the Content Warning button.
- Ultimately, Mastodon is a highly flawed social media platform, but one that shows great promise. We hope that it’ll stay around for the long haul.
#Internet #Mastodon #socialmedia
