This isn't about the Midnight. Just making that clear up front. However, I've found that when my primary form of engagement with other platforms involves blocking people because they posted something annoying that showed up in my feed without consent, it's time to delete my account on that platform.
I think I'm starting to reach that point with the Fediverse. It's really just a more technologically complicated version of Twitter for people who couldn't hack it on the real Twitter.
I have been bounced out of facebook, twitter, VK (a Russian version of facebook) Instagram, all "social" media because I am direct, I don't pull punches when voicing an opinion so if enough people report me I get the banhammer. It has been years since those bans and I don't miss it to be honest. By the way, I find it more enjoyable being here and chatting with you and the rest of the crowd here.
I've only ever been banned from FARK, but the older I get the less tolerant of groupthink incubators I've become.
Oh my gods, me too. I was on Telegram, I was in a group there, I stayed there for a while, fucked if I know why, today I got into a heated argument with a few of the idiots and BAM sudden realization.....this group is toxic...I left the group and Telegram in general. Fucking shit! people are just utter assholes, for some it's think and speak just like them or be branded as a (add the derogatory name of your choice here)
To be honest, that episode left me resentful and I still feel like that at the moment.
I don't blame you for feeling resentful. Your experience is why I regard social media, big forums like Reddit and Hacker News, and group chat platforms like Telegrams and Discord as "groupthink incubators".
If IRC had the same scale, I suspect it would suffer the same problems. People are tolerable in small groups. Once they become faceless crowds, they tend to put aside their humanity.
I am an introvert, I tend to be in the company of myself mostly and "socializing" has always been on my own terms. I can count on one hand and a half the closest friends I have, the rest are either acquaintances or just what I term "incidentals". The incidentals are people that are below the acquaintances and just come and go from your life at the speed of light and are never seen again. I love the small internet because of the civility and the sense of community and Midnight Pub in particular.
I tend toward misanthropy myself; I mainly like people (other than my wife) in small doses, and Midnight Pub and Smol Pub and geminispace are the goldilocks zone for me.
Oh I couldn't of said it any better, I feel the same way....LONG LIVE THE MISANTHROPIC ONES!!! Now that would make a wonderful banner!
I think Andrew Eldritch expressed it best in "I Was Wrong"
lyrics to "I Was Wrong" from VISION THING (1990)I was wrong
I was wrong to ever doubt
I can get along without
I can love my fellow man
But I'm damned if I'll love yours
IMO, The Sisters of Mercy haven't gotten enough respect over the years.
I just heard it, and I totally love it. I got to go find the whole song now, :) Thank you.
You're welcome. "When You Don't See Me" is another brilliant track from that album.
I didn't expect anything better than twitter from a copycat, so I haven't joined, nor plan to do so. That's all I can say, really.
The main thing I wanted from Mastodon was to have conversation related to something other than computers. I could have survived longer otherwise :) I haven't logged in in years and have lost the link to my instance / handle.
That said, I don't log into social media in general anymore (nitter instead of twitter, libredd.it instead of reddit, yewtu.be instead of youtube). midnight.pub and IRC are "just right" for me.
I have to check out the former things you list and check out IRC. I remember IRC was easy to download and set up back when it first appeared, what is it like setting up IRC these days?
IRC is easier than ever these days I'd say. Many servers let you log in via their website directly these days.
Then there are the desktop programs. You probably remember mIRC. There are programs just like that still.
I use the terminal. It's not that hard on Mac or Linux at least. One less app keep the laptop cool and stops the fan coming on :)
Feel free to ask for more help with any of those options.
what terminal program do you use for IRC I try to use the terminal as much as possible although I am not against the GUI and yes I do remember mIRC but these days seems like almost every linux distro has Hexchat installed right out of the box.
I use irssi. It's just an "apt install" (or equivalent) away. You'd use a command like:
irssi -c freenode
Only catch is that freenode has to be define in the config file in the .irssi directory. That dir is in your user's home directory.
I can send you mine if you need it. The official docs are way too verbose in my opinion. These ones are more succinct: http://wiki.kartbuilding.net/index.php/Irssi
I just opened the link you gave me and it reads so smoothly and easy but do you need to setup a server or can you join the chatroom without the benefit of a server?
You don't need to set up a server if you just want to be a user. The channels live on a server so you connect to the server first. Then you join a channel. A third thing you sometimes need to do if the server requires it is register your nickname. So just those three things should have you going.
Connect to a server
Join as many channels as you like
Leave channels or just quit the program
Let me know how you get on!
Same, I check my mastodon instance feed maybe once a day max and its typically just posts from the previous days because I only follow a handful of folks. Checking the local or fedi feeds is just Twitter 2.0.
I'm having a great time on mastodon. Very much depends on where you're sitting. And on what you post, think I just enjoy reading my own posts lol.
Except for yes, that inherent problem of "follow too many people -> endless scroll, drown in noise, notice nothing; follow too few people -> twitter-schooled brained is bored". The dissatisfaction is inherent in the format and our habits and expectations I think.