|

Trying Out Ivory (and General Thoughts on Mastodon)

Posted

When I left Twitter last week, it wasn’t on a whim. I had been considering it for a long time…like middle of the pandemic long.

As people jumped ship from Twitter, Mastodon seemed to be the clear front-runner for replacing Twitter.

I’m hesitant at best, but Tapbots (from the makers of the incomparable Tweetbot), have put out a Mastodon client called Ivory, and I’ve decided to give it t try for a bit.

The app is really, really nice! It has most of the things I love about Tweetbot already, without the ridiculous API limitations that Twitter started to impose over the last 6-7 years.

Something especially nice is how it “consolidates” the Fediverse, abstracting away the server names from the usernames1.

One of the most frustrating interactions is that when you want to follow someone on a different server2, you need to copy their username and paste it into your server’s search.

If I keep using Mastodon, it will through this app. It’s big if though.

I Don’t Really Want to Replace Twitter

Part of the reason I left Twitter is how aggravating trends, tweets, and interactions were. That’s not a platform problem, that’s a people problem.

Jason Snell has pointed this out on Upgrade, and on Connected last week, Federico Viticci said there’s a faction of Mastodon users who are trying to make “people from the bird site” unwelcome3.

The point being, Mastodon doesn’t fix people. There will always be cowardly jerks who hide behind a keyboard, using social media to be mean because there are very few real consequences for them.

I spent years carefully curating what I saw I Twitter. It came crumbling down with the end of third-party apps and forcing the “Home” feed over the “Following” feed.

I don’t have the energy or the inclination to do that again on Mastodon.

I’m very happy interacting on LinkedIn, which feels like less of a firehouse, at least today, more of a place for honest to goodness helpful interactions.

  1. I once said Mastodon is like if you and your friends agree to go see a movie, and show up at different times and in different theaters. I stand by that. ?
  2. Something I didn’t even know you could do until my friend Brian told me ?
  3. He didn’t put it exactly like that, but that’s the impression I get. ?

Similar Posts

  • Interesting Links for January 11, 2013

    Bycasabona

    It’s not often I will do a links roundup, but as my Facebook and Twitter friends can attest to, I’ve been posting a lot this week. I’ve tried to hold back, but I will post the good ones here. Of-course, this will then get posted to Facebook and Twitter, but hey- better one than like…

  • |

    My Desk – 10 Years Apart

    Bycasabona

    While browsing through Flickr the other day, I came across a sight I hadn’t seen in nearly 10 years – what my desk looked like my junior year of college. I posted it on various social media sites to much amusment and lots of great comments, but I decided here I’d post a Then and…

  • |

    When You Freelance, Make Decisions & Stick to Them

    Bycasabona

    I almost called this one, “Trust and be Trusted, but don’t betray your business.” That’s the gist of the next two stories. It’s easy to make concessions when you’re freelancing, especially when business is slow. You need the work and you’re willing to bend your rules a little bit to move the chains, or bump…

  • About my Headshot & its Photographer, Phil Casabona

    Bycasabona

    I’m pretty fond of my headshot. I think it looks good and represents me well; granted, about 2 days after it was taken I stopped wearing glasses in favor of contacts, but still. It’s a good headshot. Since it’s being used in a lot more places now (my books, mu job’s employee directory, and various social…

  • |

    More Information on WP in One Month

    Bycasabona

    When I launched WP in One Month in November, it was admittedly a bit rushed. I set up a “preview” class (whatever that is) and promised a discount without really explaining what attendees would get out of it. I’d like to take a moment in this blog post to answer these questions: What / When…

  • Thinking About Podcast Process Audits

    Bycasabona

    I spent last weekend (Sat-Mon) in Scranton for an in-person mastermind with some friends and it was great. One of the exercises we did was a Customer Journey Map, where we mapped out a customer’s pain points. We’d get feedback, make sure we have the pain points right, and then come up with new products…

2 Comments

  2. I guess if I’m going to spend time there, I need this question answered: “What makes Mastodon better for connections than Twitter?”

    I didn’t extract much value from Twitter. So unless Mastodon can prove it’s more valuable, I don’t see the benefit of being there.

Comments are closed.