@mentallyalex@beige.party
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

mentallyalex

@mentallyalex@beige.party

I was told once that Mastodon is a friendly void that yells back. I really like that.

The world is a big place filled with terrible and wonderful things. I sometimes comment on them at length.

Made 3 people laugh at my HashTagGame entry - Aug 24, 2023.

"One of the fun ones" - Lisa Melton, Jan 2024

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

mentallyalex, to random
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

Today was a very long Tuesday, wasn't it?

Maybe just me?

I have a lot in the air at the moment and keep adding more side projects.

Good news? More writing!
Bad news? Long form, story stuff. Pure fiction.

atomicpoet, to fediversenews
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

So will there be a fork of Mastodon without quotes and full text search?

Many people came to Mastodon because it didn’t have those features.

But now that Mastodon will have those features, those folks should have a place to call home.

@fediversenews

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@JorgeStolfi if I reply to you in order to harass you or bring my followership on top of you, I have to alert them of the conversation, my desire, your information, and how to best target you.

By quote-tweeting, you are able to identify most of that stuff all in one go. It's blasted out to anyone who watches your tweets however they watch them... and it has an easy way to click through and lump on.

To be clear, I'm not advocating for or against them - I'm simply giving you an example in which a quote could be used to bring about harassment or abusive behavior.

As a feature, copy/paste circumvents "QT" and screengrab captures "details" if you want to make it one-directional.

@aswath @atomicpoet @fediversenews

atomicpoet, to fediversenews
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

This is so true.

Once Twitter’s Blue Check became attainable to everyone, suddenly the “legacy” Blue Checks didn’t want it.

So much about social media is about clout.

The reason the old Twitter influencers don’t like Mastodon is because they have to build their clout from scratch.

Meanwhile, Bluesky is rolling out the red carpet to them.

Personally, I don’t like clout chasers. But that’s me.

https://beige.party/@mentallyalex/110301245950084900

@fediversenews

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@atomicpoet Even if they relied on their management companies to do this, or high tier'd boutique pay-to-play federated instances - great.

I could absolutely see the need for some to want to take that exact route for safety/brand/etc.

As long as they connect to us, that is a design that allows for the growth of both.

@andresmh

atomicpoet, to internet
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

For what it's worth, people on aren't hostile to .

They want to read Mastodon posts.

It's incredibly sad that people on Bluesky can't talk to Mastodon and vice versa.

@fediversenews

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@atomicpoet poor choice of design, as is being discussed everywhere.

I would imagine that BS is betting on the "twitterati" celebrities and big names from Twitter shifting to BS and causing everyone to flock to his new walled garden.

It's silly because this place already exists. Exclusivity isn't the new hotness.

@fediversenews

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@CarolynStirling
It works well.

If you only allow celebrities, certain classes of journalist, etc. onto the platform as creators and the 'regular people' to consume until you're 'stable enough for capacity testing' you build in a group that has a head start.

Worked for Gmail, Facebook, etc. People enjoy feeling exclusive, look at how quickly they moved away from the checkmark once it was obtainable by 'regular' people.

@atomicpoet @fediversenews

TonyStark, to random
@TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

Don’t like your own kid going to a play?

Great. Keep them home while the rest of the kids go. It’s the same problem over and over- people who don’t know what they’re talking about insisting their thoughts are more important than others’ rights and making sure no one can do the thing they object to.

Houston-area schools scrap field trips to see ‘James and the Giant Peach’ over concerns about cross-gender casting at Main Street Theater-
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/arts-culture-news/2023/04/27/450282/houston-area-schools-scrap-field-trips-to-see-james-and-the-giant-peach-over-concerns-about-cross-gender-casting-at-main-street-theater/

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@TonyStark :blobcatgiggle: can you imagine?
No makeup, no costumes... just a bunch of people cosplaying 1990s Businessman.

I can smell the old spice from here.

@MariaHill

atomicpoet, to fediverse
@atomicpoet@mastodon.social avatar

Evan Prodromou (@evan), the co-author of , does not like Bluesky.

He believes it's a setback to the Fediverse and slowing its growth.

https://cosocial.ca/@evan/110300493306700391

@fediversenews

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@evan The amount of effort and angry nights spent fighting the same problems all because he wants to claim 'ownership' is ridiculous and harmful.

You are right to be annoyed. I'm a user, not a fedi-developer, and I'm annoyed by it. It seems at best myopically focused and at worst childish.

I wish they would embrace the collaborative nature of the Fediverse and bring their creativity, brilliance and dollars into a better fedi.

@Jonathanglick @coachalaiskas @atomicpoet @fediversenews

mentallyalex, to random
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

Are there ways to see which toots have been boosted a lot?

I'm trying to see if there are 'toots' I've done here that I should transfer to elsewhere so they don't get purged.

Mrfunkedude, to random
@Mrfunkedude@mastodon.social avatar

So let me get this right...

The Mastodon app is no defaulting to mastodon.social so that when people join they aren't confused and can decide to switch instances if they choose.

Which, let's be honest, most wont.

I get trying to play to peoples expectations. People expect Mastodon to be like Twitter because that's what everyone compares it to, and when they are asked to select an instance, their brains glitch and they become disinterested.

Will this work? I don't know. Time will tell.

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@Mrfunkedude I don't mean to be contemptuous but the decision to lean the app and website into a central hub is a move that needs to be measured carefully.

I'm not intending on making this "a thing". But I want to be precise with my issue.

The struggles that places like decentralized environments like Mastodon solve, almost entirely hinge on the ability for certain groups to defederate away. If people don't feel "safe/secure" on their 'home slice' they won't really explore.

Since mastodon.social is the 'catch all' that will encourage stronger personalities to emerge and lanes to establish that might feel intolerant. The current design allows for other places to exist and help reduce that. LGBT, non-white, etc.

If they are putting a 'face' on Mastodon - as you mention it will discourage exploration and other environments. People won't look at "mastodon" as the collection of environments that access the fediverse. They'll see it as solely represented by whoever is loudest on Mastodon.Social.

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@JRBuckley
Personally? I believe "they" (Eugene and Co.) should invest in an onboarding experience that introduces a guided introduction to the toolkit and uses some fun mascot like "Tooty the Elephant" to explain the experience.

Tooty could walk you through the introduction steps of finding 'your initial people'.

"First, we need to know what you're interests are - that helps us determine what part of the Fedi you would most likely want to see?

With a few panels of back-n-forth providing pieces of the interface details coupled with questions and detail requests - you could have the preliminary sign up information captured in variables to be fed to whatever server they click down into with an option for "Yes, this one".

Servers that wish to participate should have a server config something that identifies the type of server they are using a enum list that Tooty uses to filter.

@Mrfunkedude
apologize for the length.

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@nlarson830 This post is an exact example of your exact statement @Mrfunkedude "How do we educate past expectation"

Assuming a bunch of things about Nick (nothing negative).

  • Educated (word choices)
  • White
  • Technology experience
    ** techhub instance
    ** data is available

Those bias enabled Nick to lean into comfort zones of understanding and exploring that we cannot assume the average user will have.

We need to build a system that is far more baseline and designed for an under educated, paranoid user who needs things available to explain the bigger picture in smaller more digestible bites.

Sorry for rushing into this conversation so aggressively.

Mrfunkedude, to random
@Mrfunkedude@mastodon.social avatar

I'm fucking dreading quote posting being added to Mastodon. They better give the ability to opt out of it.

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@nlarson830
Conceptually, at "worst" I think it's a minor feature that most people have found work arounds for.

Technically, they "can't" enforce quotes against non-Mastodon clients but non-Masto clients would have to consume quotes from others, I imagine. I work in/around data so I'm just applying my education to the unknown. I could be absolutely wrong.

The Fediverse on which Mastodon sits is based on many different tools. Some of them are "mini-blog" type tools similar to Twitter. Mastodon is the most famous of those by a long shot - but it's not "the" fedi, just a planet in it.

I have a really cool visual to share: https://fediverse.party/

Click the little menu on the upper left and it shows you an option for 'All Apps'. Kind of helps me visualize the concept.

@Mrfunkedude

mentallyalex, to random
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

I'm terrible at jokes.

mentallyalex, to random
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

Me:
So, as you can tell - MarkDown is very insidious and exists all over the place.

In truth, it's really awesome because it allows us to communicate with clearly and aesthetically while maintaining an easy to parse document!

Them:
...

Me:
yeah... just the chai, thanks. 😳

TonyStark, to random
@TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

Calling it a "stray" bullet makes it sound like bullets are wildlife that occasionally just kind of cross your path by chance. Like when someone gets electrocuted by "stray" electricity that "leaked" from a power line. You know, this stuff just kind of pools around sometimes! /s

Um, no: bullets are fired from a gun by a person. And Republicans’ only suggestion is to make more of these things happen.

College baseball player struck by stray bullet during game-
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/05/01/college-baseball-shooting/

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@TonyStark Whenever I read these, I desperately want to force some management type to testify in the next shootings.

Why did you force them to choose the word 'stray'?

How much money did that particular article earn you in specific?

mentallyalex,
@mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

@TonyStark I'm sure it was approved by the editor who knows better than to piss off whoever pays them.

It doesn't feel personal enough yet. They'll allowed to feel that this isn't something they're actively encouraging with their passivist language and dismissive attitudes.

Looks like the shooter should be charged with multiple counts of "tried to murder several people". The fact that the bullet traveled 400yrds is working as designed.

Two druggies got into a gunfight and accidentally almost murdered people a few hundred yards away.

A responsible news organization would use this to showcase how weak Texas leadership is proving to be against the encroaching NRA.

victor, to random

deleted_by_author

    •
    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @missy_lynn @victor I spin like I should teach a class at the gym.

    We got you!

    mentallyalex, to random
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    Someone told me that I should start putting those thoughts into blog articles.

    Thank you. :)

    https://www.mentallyalex.com/revenge-is-a-dish-best-never-served/

    Mrfunkedude, to random
    @Mrfunkedude@mastodon.social avatar

    Welcome to the first meeting of "Why in the fuck did I do that?".

    I'm your group guide Mr. Funk E. Dude. If you have any questions please ask them after the meeting and as always, there are donuts and beverages in the back.

    Who want's to go first?

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @Mrfunkedude :ablobcatsweatsip:

    Okay uhmm.. hi, I'm Alex.

    So like - okay. I'm hard of hearing, right? Like it's not terrible but sometimes I mishear things and I get frustrated with people.

    So I was sick, like not covid sick like flu sick. I go to the CVS in the neighborhood with instructions to 'get sudafed'. This is different from my normal dayquil so whatever.

    I get there, and sudafed is behind the counter. The guy asks how much I need and I say,
    "How much can you legally give me?"

    fast forward through some hand wringing and confusion

    WHY, Mr. E. Dude... why did I suddenly realize he thought I was trying to cook meth and yell out, "OH! for making meth?!"

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @Mrfunkedude 😆 Man I wish I had thought to be funny.

    I then showed him the wrong form of payment. A credit card with the wrong name on it.

    Much less cool and a lot more

    • "Oh wait, no, please don't call the cops. I'm just stupid, I'm not a criminal."

    This is a true story and one of the reasons I tell people I'm "bad at outside". :D

    Lady_Star_Gem, to random

    To anyone b*tching about Biden being our only 2024 choice.

    I heard an identical argument against Hillary Clinton in 2016, it helped trump get elected, which resulted in 3 corrupt SCOTUS justices installed, ROE overturned, LGBTQ/TRANS Rights attacked, gerrymandering, botched pandemic response, Jan 6 insurrection & the endless mounting pile of manure we’re still dealing with & republicans are getting away with because you weren’t happy with the presidential candidate.

    THREAD 🧵

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @GreenFire fantastic idea! Consider it a 'dry run for democracy' and make a day of it. Carpool and grab some lazy friends - annoyingly schedule meetups with friends in the area of voting! (I write, libraries are awesome)

    @CaliGal @Lady_Star_Gem

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @GreenFire Absolutely we do.

    I'm carpooling with two friends because I hate driving so I make people drive me when I can.

    Thing 1 - HATES politics. Doesn't want to care, couldn't give any fucks. Guess what? He's super-ultra-gay. He has to vote, he has no choice.

    Thing 2 - Doesn't care one way or the other about voting. Likely would if she was forced to but would rather just not listen and tends to turn off the channels. Guess what? She knows me, she knows Thing 1, and she herself is a HER. She has no choice, she has to vote.

    So... I'm making it a day. Thing 2 is picking Thing 1 up because he'll flake if we used his car. Then they are coming to pick me up, have an outing and a few laughs, pull a lever or select a box, and then go drink or whatever.

    When I learned that they give out hotdogs to voters in Australia I was so angry and jealous.

    @CaliGal @Lady_Star_Gem

    Pattyagray, to fediverse

    @tchambers

    As a member of the indieweb.social instance who hasn’t got a clue how to or beyond a few html tweaks, I am constantly in awe of the “builder” vibe here (on , on , on the ). Everyone be like, “Hey, I built this over here!” And “Hey, I can connect that to this over there!” And “Yo, look what I did on top of all of that!” And none of it is for the purpose of raking in bucks or controlling an empire.

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @Pattyagray That is an amazing sentiment. I love this view of the Fediverse.

    @tchambers thank you for the share.

    mariyadelano, to random
    @mariyadelano@hachyderm.io avatar

    I’ve been struggling to spend much time on Mastodon lately because my feed is >50% discussion of Bluesky

    Seeing them makes me feel a terrible cocktail of:

    • FOMO for not having an invite
    • Confusion over why everyone cares so much all of a sudden
    • Fear that the wonderful community I’ve found here on Masto in the last 6 months will die because everyone will leave
    • Existential dread over the immense difficulty of managing a community-governed social media platform

    It’s been tough 😖

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @mariyadelano I've seen fewer pro-BS conversations. Anecdotal for sure, but most of what I've seen is either people concerned (mildly or otherwise) for the blocking features and discussions about the 'twitteratti' talking about how awesome it will be and how short-sighted that opinion is.

    For the most part, my Mastodon feed is "filled" with humor, lgbt-stuff, human rights and brains and a ton of politics. A tad technology but really only as a garnish.

    I'm glad you've seen the awesome stuff. Keep looking - there is a lot more!

    TonyStark, to random
    @TonyStark@progressivecafe.social avatar

    My original toot about this deleted. No idea why. Sorry for orphaning numerous important replies.

    This is the living hell Republican politicians want us to live in. This is the Trumpian vision of America. Constant carnage.

    We must defeat this mentality to survive or drown in our apathy.

    Texas: 5 people fatally shot, including 8-year-old, suspect at large, San Jacinto County Sheriff says -
    https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/29/us/cleveland-texas-shooting/index.html

    mentallyalex,
    @mentallyalex@beige.party avatar

    @Heimdall exactly here. The problems are all coming from one specific direction.

    @empiricism @TonyStark

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