What #Mastodon / #ActivityPub brings back to the internet is the #SharingByDefault attitude. The joy of sharing to people that genuinely value your messages and interact accordingly. This threatens the ad-driven, centralised model. It has the power to break it. So keep on tooting, fellow #federati ;)
I observe quite a change in my online behaviour since I deleted my Twitter account (and added filters on “Elon Musk” etc ;). I am slowing down. Not keen on clicking on stuff that drip of negativity. I genuinely love people here sharing their love of birding. Their first tries at photography. The weird gadgets they take apart. The nature pictures. The focus on sharing what they really love. It took me some time to make that switch.
And I still fight the urge (and fail at times) to post about whatever negative thing that gets hyped. I now try hard to find and share the positive side as my new default. Solutions instead of problems. And I notice how my followers really prefer to react to those things. Like nerdy stuff on integrating Mastodon as comment system. How my love for motorfaders is not uncommon. Thank you, all, for helping me to become the positive person I once was again!
The TL;DR: #Mastodon / #ActivityPub made me realise I interact with fellow people. Not algorithms. It made me understand I have to be respectful and open as my followers see all of my toots, not just the algorithmically selected, outrage focused stuff that brings money to the advertisers. That’s tough to really “get” after all these years on Twitter. I’m trying. Learning. Y’all are helping. Please be forgiving when I fail and tell me. I will listen and learn!
But I’m also not ignorant. I do notice quite some folks stuck in their algorithmically trained “let’s promote outrage” approach, thinking they can treat #Mastodon / #ActivityPub as just another account to add to their cross-posting setup and treat us here as just another rage outlet, hoping for clicks and retoots. I get why they think that way. But sorry, you’ll get an unfollow and ultimately a block.