One of the things I find least attractive about masto at this point is the treatment of all things political as a verboten subject. We just bombed another country. I have friends who are scared about getting deported. I also have friends who will lose their jobs due to funding cuts. I guess I'm supposed to ignore all that? Yes, it's depressing, but I worry if communities try to pretend this stuff doesn't exist they'll just let it happen.
@pearwaldorf I guess I don't see the point of a social network where you have to ignore large parts of your life in order to participate.
@nirak Do you post about everything going on in your life to, say, Facebook? We edit all of our experiences for public(ish) consumption in one way or another.
And hiding something under a cut isn't making it "verboten". It's letting people know you're talking about something they may not want to engage with right now.
@pearwaldorf I do post a lot on social networks. I stay off of facebook precisely because people tell me I should only post happy stuff. I guess I was hoping for a place more balanced than that.
@nirak You're not supposed to ignore it and using a CW isn't the same as something being verboten-- it's just that many of us left the birdcage because of the constant stream of politics, a lot of which were panicked, angry, and often a lightning rod for attacks. Putting something behind a CW is kindness, not burying one's head in the sand.
I guess in the end I'm fine with people blocking me. I really don't think this very huge thing that affects millions and millions of people deserves to be hidden from view. (Also, though, I didn't mean to add this to the public timeline, thought I turned that off)
@nirak It does seem like it will lean heavily towards social media isolationism.
On the other hand, I suppose someone could start a politics-heavy instance.
@SafteyBot I was thinking about his too. Will we split into islands of interaction? Social justice, politics, art, etc? What happens when I exist across these things or want to move between them?
@nirak as far as I can tell, the federation will spread content arouind, but if individual instances start blocking eachother, we could end up with a very curated/echo chambery service.
Which some people would love, and others hate. It's interesting to watch and see how it goes.
@nirak I don't know what "masto" is, but if "octodon.social" bars politics I'll be leaving. Yes it hurts. And it's very important. Can not be ignored. People can follow me or not, as they wish.
@deafferret masto is short for mastodon in general. It seems like it is far from consensus but many people feel like politics deserves a content warning. This instance seems like other big instances in that regard. I disagree, and will proceed as normal.
@nirak I don't think it's a matter of ignoring it. It's choosing whether or not to engage *here*.