I'm working on a YouTube mini series explaining the Fediverse!!

charityhl@mastodon.social

@taylorlorenz The trending page usually have people different than the typical userbase I'd encounter on american platforms. It is decentralized, so sometimes I get to see dutch or german posters even if I don't know any of their language.

Mastodon fediverse is part of why I have a home here. I get to avoid meeting the same group of chronically online posters raking over 200k posts since 2010s and reading about whatever irks them.

joshsusser@autistics.life

@taylorlorenz I think the most important concept is that Fedi is social networking, not social media. There is no media company publishing us as their product here. It's just people talking to each other. Pretty much everything else follows.

I think it's also worth looking at how many governments and institutions have an official presence on Fedi now. Many have chosen that path to enable direct connection with the public instead of being mediated by a private company with its own interests.

harueb@mk.absturztau.be

@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social I think the main thing outsiders need to know is that the instance you are on matters a lot.

Instance admins determine which other instances you see, which is good if they are blocking bigots and other overt toxicity, but bad if they are blocking instances because they don't like the owner or some of the users.

Unfortunately, it's usually impossible to tell which reasons an instance is blocked for, if you even notice at all. Block lists with reasons are rarely made public because it tends to create drama.

All this to say, you must have a good deal of faith in your instance admin team to both protect you from overt toxicity but also to respect you as an adult to choose who to follow even if admins don't like some of those people.

I don't think it's reasonable to place that trust in a moderation/admin team on a very large instance (e.g mastodon dot social or any instance with more than a couple hundred daily active users) but I do hope you get some replies contrary to this opinion, if for nothing else than to hear both sides of the argument.

jawnsy@mastodon.social

@taylorlorenz Heard joke once: Woman goes to scientist. Says she's confused about the Fediverse. Says life seems harsh and cruel. Says she feels all alone in a confusing culture where what lies ahead is vague and uncertain.

Scientist says, 'Treatment is simple. Great journalist Taylor Lorenz is in town tonight. Go and see her. That should answer all your questions.'

Woman bursts into tears. Says, 'But sir… I am Taylor.' Good joke. Everybody laugh. Roll on snare drum. Curtains.