How Is Science Twitter's "Mastodon Migration" Panning Out? - Absolutely Maybe

3 years ago by fossilesque to c/academia

“Thousands of scientists are cutting back on Twitter, seeding angst and uncertainty.” And Mastodon was the most common destination if they opened…

CamilleMellom 10 points 3 years ago

I have no idea how use mastodon effectively :/. Lenny has the advantage of article + discussion so there is a topic to follow. Mastodon/Twitter has always been too chaotic for me. Any advice on how to make it worth it and not just a massive mess x)?

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Sal 6 points 3 years ago

Twitter is chaotic for me too. Maybe I just didn't give it the time to learn how to use it properly, but when someone links me to a thread there I find it difficult to figure out who is responding to who and the chronology 😅 Broadcasting things into the abyss is not my favorite communication style, I prefer this more conversational format.

Also, I know that Mastodon has its reasons for not enabling search, but I think my mastodon experience would be a lot better if I could search...

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funkless_eck 4 points 3 years ago

I had, in my heyday, 10k+ followers and approx 100 likes per tweet

it's the "social" of social media. you find a circle of people and you all like and retweet each other, converse, make DM rooms and build a community.

or you're rich and famous or are retweeted by people who are.

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Sal 2 points 3 years ago

Thanks, that adds some perspective. I didn't know you could make DM rooms!

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CamilleMellom 3 points 3 years ago

I have used the exact sentence “broadcasting into the abyss” hahaha. It feels to me that everything is short lived and context-less

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Sal 2 points 3 years ago

😂 It is what it feels like.

@funkless_eck mentioned in the other comment that it is a nice social experience when you build a follower base and a community to speak with each other.

But I am a very chaotic person that is interested in many different things, and so I create lots of accounts for each site to try to keep things compartmentalized. Like, lots of accounts.

So a site that relies on the development of a specific account to deliver a good experience is not alluring to my personality. I want to be able to jump right in with an anonymous account and participate. When I post something with a new account to twitter, I have no followers, and so that's why I'm literally broadcasting into the abyss.

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