Why is Mastodon the best social medium in 2026?
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Why is Mastodon the best social medium in 2026?
Picture 1: If I share a post with some objectively good news, it gets 97 boosts and 140 likes.
Picture 2: If I share the same post on Threads, it gets zero interactions — zero! — because it contains a link to the competing social medium YouTube, and on Threads, Mark Zuckerberg has decided that the algorithm should not promote such content.
Threads is where the rich decide what we can talk about.
On Mastodon, we decide.
@randahl fuck off right back to linkedin with slop posting like this
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@caiocgo @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon oh my dog this is the most ableist post I have read all year! DUDE.
@f4grx @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon I am sorry for this misunderstanding. What I meant to say was: people who can't see pictures are not amongst those who complain the most when alt text is missing. Neither they are aggressive about it.
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@f4grx @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon I am sorry for this misunderstanding. What I meant to say was: people who can't see pictures are not amongst those who complain the most when alt text is missing. Neither they are aggressive about it.
@caiocgo @f4grx @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon
I see people are getting their nerves up. Like, why all this focus on that? Alt text isn't just for the people who can't see pictures.Most times I used alt text was when I was on a really shitty internet and images never loaded at all, or when I could not understand images (for many reasons).
I think the imposition of alt text without proper education is terrible for the fediverse. People feel forced to add alt text and then add shitty alt text, like AI generated text and/or which missing important information.
Also, not everyone has the same skill. If I can't understand an image, I prefer leaving the alt text off (and waiting for someone to help me with it) rather than writing a shitty alt text. I don't know everything.
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@qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon the funny thing is I have never seen a visually impaired person complaining about the absence of alt text.
@caiocgo @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon - Hi! I'm from a family that carries a genetic form of blindness. While I'm seeing (luck of the genetic draw), about half of my extended family are legally blind, and most are visually impaired to at least some extent. I'm also involved in activism for people with various other disabilities, and live with a disabled partner. With those credentials out of the way:
I can genuinely assure you that when disabled people are "nicer" about an issue than non-disabled allies are, it's very often because they are a) too exhausted to keep fighting you, b) too depressed by the constant ableism they face to believe in themselves any more, c) genuinely afraid you will do them harm if they try to stick up for themselves, or d) embarrassed about being disabled/needing something and don't want to draw attention.
Allies tend to have more energy to stick up for our disabled loved ones, because we aren't also dealing with the daily challenges of, y'know, actually being disabled.
"Bad" alt-text is still better than no alt-text, and you'll never get better at writing it unless you practice. And using limited time and energy to ask someone (who might ignore you, or even respond with hostility) to do what they should have done in the first place? Takes way more time and energy than just re-posting with passive-aggressive captions.
The shame you feel when you are called out for not posting alt-text is nothing compared to the shame of having to constantly ask for help and accommodation, drawing attention to yourself and your disability.
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@caiocgo @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon - Hi! I'm from a family that carries a genetic form of blindness. While I'm seeing (luck of the genetic draw), about half of my extended family are legally blind, and most are visually impaired to at least some extent. I'm also involved in activism for people with various other disabilities, and live with a disabled partner. With those credentials out of the way:
I can genuinely assure you that when disabled people are "nicer" about an issue than non-disabled allies are, it's very often because they are a) too exhausted to keep fighting you, b) too depressed by the constant ableism they face to believe in themselves any more, c) genuinely afraid you will do them harm if they try to stick up for themselves, or d) embarrassed about being disabled/needing something and don't want to draw attention.
Allies tend to have more energy to stick up for our disabled loved ones, because we aren't also dealing with the daily challenges of, y'know, actually being disabled.
"Bad" alt-text is still better than no alt-text, and you'll never get better at writing it unless you practice. And using limited time and energy to ask someone (who might ignore you, or even respond with hostility) to do what they should have done in the first place? Takes way more time and energy than just re-posting with passive-aggressive captions.
The shame you feel when you are called out for not posting alt-text is nothing compared to the shame of having to constantly ask for help and accommodation, drawing attention to yourself and your disability.
@Polywog @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon
You are totally right and thanks for pointing this out.
It's far more likely that I'm bothered by the discomfort of being called upon to pay attention to this. What's most important will always be striving to improve. And that's what I'm committed to doing.
Again. Thank you. -
@f4grx @qgustavor @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon I am sorry for this misunderstanding. What I meant to say was: people who can't see pictures are not amongst those who complain the most when alt text is missing. Neither they are aggressive about it.
@caiocgo @qgustavor@urusai.social @randahl @winkelmesser @gsymon blind people are sick of ableist bullshit and know that it's useless to complain.
IT IS NOT THE ROLE OF BLIND PEOPLE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT MISSING ALT TEXT
IT IS THE ROLE OF SEEING PEOPLE TO MAKE ALT TEXT NORMAL SO BLIND PEOPLE ARE BETTER WELCOMED.
Just like it's not the role of women to ignore sexist bullshit. It's the role of men to callout and condemn the sexist bullshit of other males.
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Why is Mastodon the best social medium in 2026?
Picture 1: If I share a post with some objectively good news, it gets 97 boosts and 140 likes.
Picture 2: If I share the same post on Threads, it gets zero interactions — zero! — because it contains a link to the competing social medium YouTube, and on Threads, Mark Zuckerberg has decided that the algorithm should not promote such content.
Threads is where the rich decide what we can talk about.
On Mastodon, we decide.
@randahl Mastodon just works better for what we were told social networking was for when it was invented (DAE remember when it was a "social network", not "social media"? Cause I do...).
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@randahl I'm quite new to using this platform. Any tips to help initiate curate an algorithm and people to follow?
Hiya!
I've done a guide here on all the different ways to customise what is on your timeline: https://fedi.tips/does-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-use-algorithms-does-it-start-pushing-stuff-at-me-based-on-my-interactions
Let me know if you have any specific questions
