Mastodon Doesn’t Want You

There can be no good reason for this kind of obstacle.

Photo by <a href=”https://unsplash.com/@julienlphoto?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Julien L</a> on <a href=”https://unsplash.com/photos/smiling-girl-in-black-and-white-striped-shirt-sLrw_Cx6u_I?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>

(I don’t know why the image caption isn’t displaying properly, and I have no time to troubleshoot right now.)

I gave Mastodon a trial run a few years ago. I don’t remember the details but I chose Twitter over it. In theory, I liked the idea of a non-corporate and de-centralized social media experience, but Twitter was easier to grok and more people were using it. By the time a certain man-baby bought Twitter, I was hard-core addicted, using it daily.

I publish/edit a tiny bi-monthly lit journal, Exist Otherwise, that only exists because of Twitter. I found enough of a writing comunity on Twitter to be able to attract the interest of enough writers and readers to make my obscure vanity project viable.

I knew before he bought it that Musk would fuck it up, which he did, so I re-joined Mastodon and closed my two Twitter accounts. Mastodon had matured since my earlier trial with it, and I found it to be pretty easy to get into the swing of it. I now have three accounts. One for my personal weirdness, one for my haiQu project, and one for Exist Otherwise.

I’m going to echo the praise that I’ve heard from many other Twitter converts. My reach is infinitely smaller, but my engagement is much better. Meaning, I have…