Mastodon figures
Nov. 7th, 2023 11:26 pmWow those follower numbers are round figures. Me on Mastodon.
I'm just pondering some ideas that I may expand into a full blog post on my academic blog for my musings. I wrote a similar blog post some years ago and it may be a good time for an update.
I'm off Twitter now. My account still exists, and hasn't been closed - I'm reluctant to wipe it or remove the tweets, for historical preservation (haha right, yup in Musk land!) reasons. But I never login, and my latest post says I'm basically off it now.
Facebook is for family and friends. Largely to keep in touch with Martin's close family and also lots of my friends. I also help fellow vasculitis patients from time to time in our Vasculitis UK support group there.
Dreamwidth is for a mix of more fan based posts (e.g. what I'm reading, watching etc, thoughts about Babylon 5) and a place I can vent some more private restricted stuff (including that I can't post wider e.g. on Facebook). Rather a curious mix! But it is working for me. I was on LiveJournal for many years before then.
Mastodon feels like a rather shaggy dog of a social network. I mean that as a compliment. It's rather anarchic and chaotic, but friendly, and I like to post lots of informal things there. It's also a bit of a vent for me. I'm less likely to post serious history stuff there than genealogy things and - and above all probably! - accordion stuff.
I'm newly on Bluesky. I was surprised to find so many familiar faces and friends there. I'm thinking it's probably going to be more somewhere where I engage with fellow academic historians - there are a *lot* of them on there. But my thoughts on that are still evolving. And it will need to open more widely to truly work.
I did try Threads but didn't get on with it - though my account still exists. It doesn't offer as much to me as Instagram and seems more like seeing people interact with famous people rather than wider engagement.
I'm off Twitter now. My account still exists, and hasn't been closed - I'm reluctant to wipe it or remove the tweets, for historical preservation (haha right, yup in Musk land!) reasons. But I never login, and my latest post says I'm basically off it now.
Facebook is for family and friends. Largely to keep in touch with Martin's close family and also lots of my friends. I also help fellow vasculitis patients from time to time in our Vasculitis UK support group there.
Dreamwidth is for a mix of more fan based posts (e.g. what I'm reading, watching etc, thoughts about Babylon 5) and a place I can vent some more private restricted stuff (including that I can't post wider e.g. on Facebook). Rather a curious mix! But it is working for me. I was on LiveJournal for many years before then.
Mastodon feels like a rather shaggy dog of a social network. I mean that as a compliment. It's rather anarchic and chaotic, but friendly, and I like to post lots of informal things there. It's also a bit of a vent for me. I'm less likely to post serious history stuff there than genealogy things and - and above all probably! - accordion stuff.
I'm newly on Bluesky. I was surprised to find so many familiar faces and friends there. I'm thinking it's probably going to be more somewhere where I engage with fellow academic historians - there are a *lot* of them on there. But my thoughts on that are still evolving. And it will need to open more widely to truly work.
I did try Threads but didn't get on with it - though my account still exists. It doesn't offer as much to me as Instagram and seems more like seeing people interact with famous people rather than wider engagement.
Wrote a fresh #introduction post on my Mastodon. Then realised I forgot to mention Doctor Who and me being a big fan, and managed to write a whole other post about that 😜 I am approaching 900 followers on there, which is pretty good, given I’m not a public figure. I really like the engagement I get. But using hashtags liberally is essential. I am almost totally off Twitter, or whatever it might be called by tomorrow.
Mastodon progress
Nov. 14th, 2022 09:57 amReached 300 followers on #Mastodon where my handle is ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vivdunstan@mastodon.scot Finding it welcoming, after the initial hurdle of which server to choose! (it doesn’t matter) Use hashtags liberally. I recommend pinning an #Introduction post on your profile via the web interface.
vivdunstan@mastodon.scot Finding it welcoming, after the initial hurdle of which server to choose! (it doesn’t matter) Use hashtags liberally. I recommend pinning an #Introduction post on your profile via the web interface.Mastodon (2)
Nov. 5th, 2022 10:10 pmA good first start with Mastodon. Debirdify helped me quickly find some of the people I follow on Twitter, though just a fraction of the 2000+. But it’s already a welcoming place. I don’t intend to leave Twitter - I don’t believe in letting bullies win. But I’m keeping my options open. Note it doesn’t seem to matter much which Mastodon server you pick at setup, though it can limit searches. I’m a general poster and chose the general Scottish server but if you tend to be more specific eg re coding or game development etc you may want to pick a more specific server initially.
I’ve just set up a Mastodon account, mainly to nab the username, though I may use it more in future. Here is my handle: vivdunstan@mastodon.scot
vivdunstan@mastodon.scot
