And the interface is not trying to assault me. It loads quick.
...Seems like a better product than Twitter for a public feed.
I prefer Twitter in the sense that it's more laissez faire in terms of what kinds of speech get you banned.
People are going to assume it's something you don't want to name, if you won't name it.
The ability for /r/conservative to ban my counter arguments is just as harmful as Mastodon shutting down the anti-trans positions.
Conversation is what moves us forward and is how we find commonality.
I grew up religious and conservative. I changed a lot of my viewpoints through friendly conversations in the internet of 2000-2010, before tumblrism, cancel culture, and censorship took hold.
If I grew up in today's world or internet, I might never have been exposed to different opinions in a non-hostile, no-judgment environment. By trying to segregate, censor, and ban we're only leading to intractable polarization. Never giving folks an opportunity to change. Never accepting that people are capable of growth.
Please let's talk with each other. Even if we disagree. You'd be surprised how effective that can be.
We're all suffering though this world together. Laugh away our differences and find the ways and the things that we share. We all hold more in common than you might think.
Love your enemy, even if they don't love you (yet).
If I could have one lasting impact on this world, it would be this message.
If you have the energy to politely engage people who think of you as a child molester who should be shot on sight, great! Go for it! But I have done that, and I am tired, and I do not want to do it any more. I run a Mastodon and I just want it to be a space to talk to my friends and maybe make some new ones, and thus, I block the fuck out of places I do not expect to get anything but hate from.