Hahaha holy shit. I just checked in on my Mastodon account (prettyarbitrary@fandom.ink if anybody’s wondering) because I’d forgotten to look at it in months and Mastodon is EXPLODING.
Even Dreamwidth is picking up users (I’m prettyarbitrary.dreamwidth.org over there too, if you’re looking for DW friends).
I love Pillowfort and even Cohost looks like a lot of fun. But I have to say I’m an outright sucker for Mastodon and Dreamwidth. I love the ETHOS of them. I love a decentralized internet. I love a non-corporatized internet.
Anyway, if you or anyone you know is struggling to figure out how not to lose track of your community and content when a core social platform is busily nuking itself from orbit, here’s what I’ve learned from the four major internet migrations I’ve been through:
- Set up accounts on multiple services. Mess around with each of them a little. You don’t have to invest or become a power user. Just play with them to get a sense of how you might use them. Maybe some of them you straight-up hate, and that’s fine!
- For the ones you can see yourself settling into: go back to the profiles where you’re active now, and publicize to everybody who follows you where else you can be found. Put it in your profile, post about it REPEATEDLY. Ask around, coordinate with the friends you want to make sure you don’t lose, follow the people you can find on those alternative platforms. Start that re-networking BEFORE you bail out of your current platform.
- There are lots of “How to use Platform X” guides and tutorials out there! Check them out for tips and tricks to help you settle in. Share them with people who are nervous about moving because learning a new platform seems overwhelming to them.
- Download the archive of all your content! Do it now! And maybe mine some of your own old favorite posts to repost them to the new platforms you’re testing. It’s a low-effort way to establish some content for people to get to know you through, and it’s a fun way to bring new life to old faves.
I’m on Mastodon, Dreamwidth and Cohost (prettyarbitrary there too) as well as Pillowfort. If anybody is curious or confused about any of these, I’m happy to talk about them!
I’ve also got like 60 Pillowfort invites if anybody needs a spare for a friend.