Trying out Mastodon

It is so painful watching Twitter go into a horrible tailspin.

I was always against the idea of selling Twitter to Elon Musk but I never imagined it could get this bad, this quickly. He never wanted to buy it, he clearly doesn’t know how to unlock its potential and he’s just flailing. Just this week he has suspended a number of independent journalists without warning and banned any and all tweets mentioning competing social platforms. Unsurprisingly many of my friends and creative folks I follow have either left or are substantially using it less.

I am not giving up entirely on Twitter. But I will use it less. And I’m now giving Mastodon a shot.

I’m still getting the hang of it and suggest a few tidbits if you want to learn about it as well.

Start by reading Joanna Stern’s article which provides a great intro and overview on how it all works

Next, visit Fedipages to find your friends on Mastodon (I’m @bijan@home.social)

The onboarding is clunky for sure. But it’s also a breath of fresh air.

Also leave me a comment with your Mastodon username. Unlike Musk’s Twitter, you can do so freely on my blog

There is so much opportunity to build what’s next. I don’t know if Mastodon is the answer but it’s worth our time to find out.

ps: oh, and please don’t delete your tweets