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Alright, I wanted to not talk about Twitter like everyone else for the past few weeks, and just focus on Mastodon, with all of the growth tech.lgbt has been getting. We closed registration again (though invites are open), because we had to deal with so much growth that our servers weren’t very happy.

But over the weekend I decided that it was time to finally just go. I was already one foot out the door on the platform, but now I’m fully set. Frustratingly, I can’t even log in to some of my old accounts anymore to delete them. With the two that I can get into, I’m currently keeping them up to direct people to my Mastodon account, as well as avoid the (assumedly small) chance of impersonation. You know, the kind where they take my full name as a username. Not just pay $8 and get a display name that matches me.

I bet this will be like Facebook: I’ll keep it for a while saying, “I need it for X”, only to realize that I don’t even do that thing before finally deleting it. I guess we’ll see. I usually get into moods of wanting to delete a bunch of stuff about myself from the internet, and shut down a lot of accounts until I get tired of the number of steps and barriers to do so.

Social media has unfortunately consumed far more of my life over the past month than I ever really want it to. A lot of it has been working on infrastructure, which scratches an itch that I haven’t felt in a long while, but also made me stressed since my decisions affected the experience of thousands of other people.

The other thing that I’ve been managing has been community management, both from inside and outside of the instance. We’ve been building out a larger mod team, a new Terms of Service and Code of Conduct, and will start looking toward building a community manager role and framework. Another thing that is a lot of work, but I feel is valuable for our community.

I don’t want infinite growth. But I do want to make a space for anyone who feels welcome, makes others feel welcome, and wants to feel safe in their community. It’s a job that is worth the time and effort.

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Twitter alternative: how Mastodon is designed to be “antiviral” – Clive Thompson

One of the better posts that I’ve seen from someone coming from Twitter to Mastodon and talking about it. I admit that I’m concerned about what Clive says about new folks changing the culture.

I am ok with change, but I’m worried about how much of the virality machine from Twitter will be forced upon us.

How Many Trans People Does The New York Times Believe There Should Be? – Lauren Theisen, Defector

I’m not going to bother linking the NYT article that tries to “both-sides” the “issue” of trans people by talking to doctors on one side, and republican politicians on the other. About medical questions.

It’s only political because one side makes it out to be.

Which Old Video-Game Score Would Have Won a Grammy? – Brady Gerber, Vulture

I love a good video game score. Journey, Hue, and RiME are among my favorites. What are some of yours?

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I Emailed My Doctor 133 Times: The Crisis In the British Healthcare System

Philosophy Tube goes a slightly different route, talking more about a first person issue this month. It’s a long video that is worth the time.

The “Pay For It” Scam

Even if you give reasonable, detailed responses to, “who is going to pay for these services”, the answer won’t be good enough for those acting in bad faith or just hating doing things for other people.

A History of Spam on the Internet

An interesting deep dive of spam and the arms race to combat it.

Why We Should Get Rid Of Intellectual Property

This video states that they don’t mean that people shouldn’t be recognized and remunerated for their work, and the positives that can come from changes to intellectual property laws.

Bowie’s October Sketch Request #shorts

I just wanted to share this timelapse of art of myself and one of my partners from Halloween getting done by the talented SimonWL.

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Leslie Jones: How Milo Yiannopoulos Weaponized A Ghostbusters Remake – Internet Hate Machine

Dang, I should have decided back then to stop using Twitter, and it would have been better lately.

The Disturbing Reality of ARGs – The Dark Side of Gaming

a newish podcast that I’ve been liking does an episode about some ARG horror stories over the years.

Book bans are on the rise in the US, just ask GirlsWhoCode. – There Are No Girls on the Internet

I find it bizarre that Girls Who Code books are banned in some places, and yet somehow I also find it not at all shocking.

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