Here's my #introduction:
I'm one of the many #Twitter refugees jumping into the Fediverse today. I'm a bestselling #author, #writer, and media consultant.
Looking to connect with others about #gaming #media #storytelling #accessibility #advocacy #disability and #lgbtqia matters.
And just generally connect with interesting people. I loved Twitter in 2007, and looking for a similar vibe.
CW monkeypox, covid, public health (~)
Ed Yong’s articles about covid have consistently been helpful to me, so this was calming and useful to read. It lays out both the causes for concern, and how public health is in a better position to deal with monkeypox to start with
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/monkeypox-outbreak-covid-pandemic/629920/
uspol, twitter, Trump
I feel validated in my choice to leave the birdsite completely. Musk looks to take everything I didn't like about Twitter and make it a larger part of the experience.
Hopefully the Fediverse can figure out how to be a welcoming and useful platform for the marginalized advocates who did so much to make Twitter useful in the first place.
alien 1: in summary, the humans have nearly rendered the blue planet uninhabitable. The only plan they appear to have is to migrate to the red planet.
alien 2: can they breathe the atmosphere of the red planet?
alien 1: no.
alien 2: is there material there they can eat?
alien 1: no.
alien 2: can the plants and animals of their planet live there?
alien 1: no.
alien 2: is there liquid water there?
alien 1: no.
alien 2: lol wtf?
alien 1: lol idk
Total Lunar Eclipse Coming!
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/total-lunar-eclipse-may16-2022/
Posts on Mastodon, also known as Toots, have a privacy setting.
You can change a toot's privacy while writing it by clicking on the privacy icon. Depending on what the setting is, and depending on how you access Mastodon, privacy will look like a globe 🌐 🌎 or a lock 🔒 or a group 👥 or an envelope ✉️ or an @ sign.
Pick the privacy you want before you publish a toot, as you can't alter it later (unless you delete the toot).
You can also choose a default privacy setting in your account settings. New toots will automatically use the default privacy unless you change it.
On the website, go to Preferences > Other > Posting Privacy, choose the default privacy you want and press "Save Changes".
On the official app, go to ⚙️ Settings > The Boring Zone > Account Settings and then log into the website.
Thoughts after my first week on Mastodon...
When you post something on Twitter, it feels like stepping into a spotlight.
And you are aware that it might burn you. Anxiety.
When you post something on Mastodon, it feels like wandering through the house at night, slowly beginning to see
the soft glow of a candle. Everything's a bit blurry, but you probably won't get hurt.
---
People post more things that are important to them.
A lot less outrage.
So that's nice.
Good quote here in this Wired article on what #Twitter can learn from #Mastodon:
"As with this latest surge, those who arrive on Mastodon servers are joining an experiment in whether communities can function better with self-moderation, and by self-organizing into like-minded groups. The answer, it seems, is that they can—but not without some trade-offs."
@mike 100%
CWs are one of those paradigm-changing things that one wonders how in the world we managed without them previously.
(one could argue that we didn't really "manage" I suppose, at least for a healthy, non-toxic, non-inflammatory definition of the word)
@mike Nor to make an exit from corporate social media!
Boy am I ever glad I made the same move...my emotions are intense enough as it is - I certainly don't need the algorithm to make things worse.
uspol, trans rights, abortion
I have this really sinking feeling that a bunch of people who were fighting against anti-trans bills and the "don't say gay/race/trans" bills are going to suddenly forget about these things and pivot solely to abortion, leaving a bunch of people to suffer in the process as these bills go largely unopposed by those with the most power.
Abortion info
Now seems like a good time to remind all my uterine pals that there are drugs which you can get in advance that will allow you to safely manage an abortion at home basically undetectably up through nine weeks, and with some risks for detection up through twenty weeks.
A solid overview:
https://thenib.com/self-managed-abortion/
Also if you are using software to track your periods, now might be a great time to switch to a pen and paper method, or consider just lying to Apple health, that’s fine too.
uspol, roevwade
I am not at all surprised.
I am still shocked, outraged, and terrified.
Love it or hate it, the USA is an incredibly powerful nation. This country sliding further and further toward religious autocracy is a danger to everyone around the world.
There is so much to do, and so much of that work falls on already exhausted marginalized groups.
I work at Quantum Spin Studios building worlds, writing stories, and helping people communicate more clearly. I'm a bestselling author, and science advisor for a bunch of stuff you may have seen (like Marvel films).
I'm here to meet new people and talk about nerdy stuff like #science #videogames #ttrpg #screenwriting #writing #scifi #fantasy #worldbuilding
Also into advocacy around #climate #disability #antiracisim #lgbtqia #feminism
Reclaiming being a person after being a brand.