I joined mastodon and loved the generally friendlier atmosphere (which I realize has not exactly been everybody's experience here)
But the longer I've used it, the more I've realized how much I love the freedom from ads, trackers, and feed algorithms
not to say that I don't think the community atmosphere isn't a major selling point / isn't still good.
I just don't think I realized before how much an effect some of the actual platform's features have
@nolan yea, on twitter, I tweeted about work or tried to make polished / shiny tech showoff gifs. Sometime in the last year it slid entirely into "argh i'm mad about politics" but before that it was all brand-y.
Here I'm much more a whole person. I make shitposts and get some likes & laughs, but mostly I just toot about what I'm thinking or feeling or I care about.
@tcql It warps your mind. On Twitter I found myself behaving like a brand: self-promotion, curating my "personal brand," always being bland and milquetoast. In retrospect it shouldn't be surprising since that's what the platform is honed for.