Edit: Twitter X has become increasingly antisemitic, actively promoting and agreeing with antisemitic conspiracies and allowing advertising and promoted posts from self-declared white supremacists. Elon Musk's latest open Antisemitism is the last straw. I will no longer post my material there. I'll keep my profile as a placeholder, until that's no longer permitted. And I'll post links to my other sites. But I'm done with it. End Edit
I promised my followers on Twitter that I wouldn't leave the platform until they threw me out.
I'll stick to it, (Edit: I'll stick to it. I'll use it to keep current and stay in contact with certain people, but new material will be posted elsewhere. The only thing I'll put on Twitter are links to those sites End Edit) but Elon Musk announced today he will remove the block option from the platform.
Additionally, Twitter, or "X" as it's calling itself these days, also finally killed Tweetdeck, which was my primary interface.
I'll keep my account there, as promised, but the platform has become essentially unusable to me.
I've been bleeding followers there for months, since Musk took over, and frankly I'm at pains to understand why I should provide the world's richest man with any more free content -- the guy should be paying me. Particularly now that I'll have to deal with thousands upon thousands of trolls, bots, and screaming haters that I am no longer allowed to block while also working through X's garbage basic browser interface.
Oh, and not to mention that I continue to be rate limited.
I mean, you don't have to fuck me over more than a dozen times or so before I get the message.
So, I'll be reducing my presence there starting today.
If you still want to follow me, here's where you can do so:
Obviously here, on Stonekettle Station, I'll be moving a lot of content back here to my own website.
My personal Facebook, maxed out, you can view the content there and share it, but I can't accept any new "friends." That's a Facebook limitation and I have no control over it
The Stonekettle Station Facebook group, a closed group, you'll have to request to join. Answer the membership questions, or your application will be rejected immediately. But once in, unlike my personal page, there aren't any limits and you can comment on everything and participate with 50,000 other super cool people. There are strict rules regarding behavior, so read those first and adhere. Act like a jerk, you get airlocked immediately.
My professional Facebook Page, unlimited, unfiltered, unblocked. But you'll have to deal with the trolls and the jerks and the pedants. I don't moderate or curate the comments.
Instagram, where most of my professional photography resides and some additional narrative. Also technical discussions of photography.
Threads, limited at the moment as the platform really isn't useful to me until, if, there is a desktop interface. [There is now a dedicated desktop interface and I'm using Threads the way I used to use Twitter. Also, starting to see a lot of folks I enjoyed interacting with on Twitter now on Threads, also news services, information sources, celebrities, etc. If you want to follow me in a fashion similar to Twitter, this is the place I'll be putting most of my effort] I'm hoping this grows into a useful replacement for shortform, i.e. what Twitter used to be.
Counter Social. It's like Mastodon, but without all the people who hate me.
Speaking of Mastodon, I do have an account there. It's in mothballs, I won't use it or post in the Fedverse anymore. The environment there was extremely unwelcoming to me. Your experience may be different, but I really, really felt unwelcome. Also there are a number of accounts in the Fedverse pretending to be me, using my name and my content that they're skimming from other platforms. Apparently that's acceptable on Mastodon. Just another reason for me to avoid the place.
Post. A nice platform. Small. Not a lot going on. Still in development.
Bluesky. I'm there. I'm posting. I'm leery, given that the guy who runs it was the guy who sold me out to Elon Musk, but I'm there.
Patreon, you can support me here. I do some additional blogging there. Shortly there will be exclusive content just for Patreons. I intend to start a weekly video podcast. I'm set up. I've scripted out the first dozen or so episodes, but I've been on the road for the last eight months due to some family issues and haven't been able to get it up and running. I've hopefully resolved that situation and the first 'cast should drop shortly.
You can also support me via PayPal and I very much appreciate that.
And my store is here, Etsy, where you can find prints of my photography for sale, puzzles, pens, shirts, coffee mugs, and other cool things.
See you around // Jim
I am soon to join you "elsewhere" as I've spent months making my timeline readable on Xitter by liberally using the block function. Many of my blocks came from the blue checkmark MAGAts penetrating your threads, Jim. Now that Musk sees fit to drive me crazy with $8 fluffer accounts spewing hate in my timeline again, I'll be checking out as well. Screw the Billionaire drug addict.
ReplyDeleteI hate the band breaking up. It's turned me into a geriatric camp follower which I did not have on my Bingo card. Good times! I appreciate the list and will continue to do my daily Stonekettle search. ;)
ReplyDeleteI love that! "I hate the band breaking up." Nailed it.
DeleteAmen to that.
DeleteDoing what I can to get some stuff going on Post. Really enjoying being on the platform and I'm picking up followers. The tipping feature is kind of fun.
ReplyDeleteI am trying a couple of different alternatives to the X that used to be Twitter. I like Post, but as you said, not much going on there yet. Have you tried Spoutible?
ReplyDeleteI’ve found Spoutible to be more like Twitter than the others. So far my experience there is positive. I’m certainly not an expert so can’t identify technical or other issues. However the environment is very good. Bad apples are dealt with quickly.
DeleteI asked that a while ago; he said he didn’t foresee spending time there . Or much time. I like it because it really kicks off abusive people, but it’s also a little too tame. IDK what he doesn’t care for .
DeleteNo Spoutible? I tried a couple of others, and gave up on them. I really like Spoutible, and it's getting better every day.
ReplyDeleteI can say from experience that homophobes and antisemites actually get booted off within a day. Super cool
DeleteI agree, Spoutible is the future, unless you want haters.
DeleteFWIW, glad you are on Post. Yes, small but some great folks and decent convo there. Lots of good photography, too, so you might want to participate there.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you on both Mastodon (where I dropped my account) and Threads where I maintain but am bored with it.
Musk sucks, but we all knew what was going to happen.
The latest rubbish from EM sounds like them pretty much throwing a whole bunch of people 'out'. I left a few months ago and don't miss it much, but my following wasn't anywhere near where yours is. Do what you have to do. If that means leaving, I can't see anyone objecting too much.
ReplyDeleteI deactivated my Xitter account a couple weeks ago. It's a shame, because I met a lot of nice people there, but I felt by keeping an active account, I was in some way tacitly supporting the crazy guy at the top, and I just couldn't anymore. I understand other folks feel differently and that's okay. It wasn't as if I had a following anyway. But I will miss the people. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with Mastodon. I haven't seen what you describe, but again, I'm nobody, so it's not likely I would. I'm sticking with FB and Mastodon for now, and reading the blogs and substacks of people I want to follow.
ReplyDeletePlease note that 'X' may be pronounced 'Ch', or occasionally 'Sh'. :D
DeleteSorry you're cutting back the tweets but can't blame you.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about Mastodon - I found the fake accounts when I looked for you there, followed them all, and didn't see any posts. That's my main place now. #Xit, I guess.
@eyesquash@mastodon.world
Hoping Threads and Post expand their format soon. I like both and will follow you on each.
ReplyDeleteEmotionally left Twitter months ago... still follow for wildfire and other disaster updates, but most of my emergency and disaster prep folks moved over ot Mastodon. Sorry to hear that you found it unwelcoming... I gather that it depends on the server you join.. have seen lots of POC mention the same. gonna follow you on all the other platforms...(hey, I need an invite for Blue Sky..lol).. I really appreciate your voice in this increasingly chaotic world...
ReplyDeletePatreon paragraph typo? first 'cast, not fist 'cast. ... or I'm way more out of date on lingo than I realized. Oh my.
ReplyDeleteIt's just a typo. Could you maybe cut me some slack with the passive aggressive nonsense please?
DeleteI keep thinking you'll look into substack which could combine the best of this page and patreon- it's a thought, and the app is quite reader/user friendly. gave up the twits. good to have you back.
ReplyDeleteJ have also found great content on substack. I follow a number of people there.
DeleteI use substack along with my blog posts and I love it. You can do free, paid, or a hybrid. I'd LOVE to get your content as a newsletter. Newsletters are BACK because the socials are crap. I'm so not mad to go back to newsletters!
DeleteOnly one question was available to me
ReplyDeleteYeah, enough is enough. I’m closing my “X” account. It’s bad enough he crapped all over the app, but now we can’t protect ourselves from harassment?! Buh-bye Elon! I will keep following you elsewhere. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI signed on with the Post when muskrat took over as a back up account. I like it. It continues to expand and improve and a lot of those I follow have started moving over there over the past month. I'm not signing up for anything else. I can follow you here.
ReplyDeleteBookmarking this. Thank you Jim
ReplyDeleteBlack twitter went to spoutible and I followed them there. I like it a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'll second the recommendation for Spoutible. Chris Bouzey seems like a clear headed guy. It will become better as more content creators move over. And they moderate the shit out of that place.
DeleteSorry we are forced to go somewhere else instead of twitter. I wanted to get on BlueSky, but still haven't gotten an invite. I will keep your website on my list. Thanks for all the good times on twitter.
ReplyDeleteTwitter w/o the block feature makes as much sense as a screen door on a submarine.
ReplyDeleteSorry it's come to this but inevitably here we have landed . I have full faith the gang will ultimately regroup in some fashion....somewhere....
ReplyDeleteThanks for maintaining multiple options at this point. Your photos bring me joy and glimpses of beauty. I won't be letting that slip away
Disappointing to hear that you had a bad initial experience with (federated) Mastodon users.
ReplyDeleteIf I see any fake accounts by you, I'll be sure to report them.
That's an inherent issue with federated systems: anyone could open an account on an email server pretending to be you. There's a verification system that lets you link back from an official website and establish validity for an account, though.
As with an email account, your best bet is to own it, and advertise which one is the correct one, I suppose.
Please keep your RSS feed. I'm not on any Meta platforms.
ReplyDeleteIs @Stonekettle@masto.ai your mastodon "stub" account? It would be helpful if you had some placeholder text there and maybe a website verification so that we know which ones are illegitimate.
ReplyDeleteI've been called a government agent on Mastodon😃 The village anarchism of Mastodon gets to me. But it turns out that both Apple and Google require blocking on social media apps in their stores, so that's not going anywhere. Bluesky, despite Jack Dorsey weirdness, seems promising. Never forget that Threads is run by Mr Genocide, counter.social is run by someone who uses the face of an alcoholic wife-beater to represent himself, and Substack has a Nazi problem.🙁
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I'm a little skeptical of Bluesky: they're very much a beta product, and they advertise federation as a future goal, which I'm not confident they're able to handle. Right now, they're relying heavily on invites to gatekeep their user population in their single silo'd instance, but as soon as they allow federation, they'll have problems similar to the one Jim complained about above.
DeleteI'm leery of their moderation mechanism, as well. I've heard they feed their data into a third party AI classifier, which will be using it for unknown purposes.
So Bluesky, once it gets out of beta and starts allowing other servers to connect, might be promising, but as of now, it's big on talk but long on reality. I want to be able to spin up my own server and control my own data.
I like their user-defined feeds feature, though. So, who knows?
DeleteAnd, really, most social media users do not want to be their own sysadmins.
I follow you on several platforms. Every change Musk makes trashes Twitter. It's a putrid mess now.
ReplyDeleteI am in the process of removing myself from Twitter as well. The no blocking rule is the last straw for me.
ReplyDeleteI remember the days when THIS WAS IT! :-) Back when you had the time to write long, thoughtful essays and share your experiences with your two cats. Those of us who remember you from those days know where to find you. And per another comment - do check out Spoutible, as I recall it started out desktop and now has a mobile platform. I like the format but don't spend much time there, solely because people like you aren't there. But you could change that - and probably bring them a lot of active members. :-)
ReplyDeleteWelcome back from the X. There is a whole world out there for you to explore. Take a deep breath, and get on with your life.
ReplyDeleteI'm on Post, am meh about Mastodon, love Spoutible but it's only on desktop, and more than love Threads since it's a lot like how Twitter was in the beginning. Way before bots, trolls, and Trump (repeating myself, I know), of course. :D I like Facebook but that's friends, family, and business for me. Not politics like Twitter was and now Threads is. I'll probably undo all of my tweets but leave my accounts there and ignore. I hate giving a billionaire what he wants, but I hate being screamed at by Nazis even more.
ReplyDeleteSpoutible has apps.
DeleteOn Facebook, I've been known to say lots of things that go against "community standards" and for a long while I was put in "jail" and threatened with life sentences for them. But I've noticed recently that whenever I've been warned and threatened, I go to the "what's on your mind, John?" and just casually mention that if Facebook doesn't want me, then I shall have to delete my Facebook account and join up with Tribel.com, and VOILA! they leave me alone. I must not be the only one to do this, but a lot of us must be makings noises like this.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened on Mastodon?
ReplyDeleteI fell in love with the place since last Fall.
Yes, there are a few annoying gatekeepers there, but screw them, they don't own the place.
As promised, Spoutible has apps for Android and Apple now. Users will get a chance to be owners and abusers get kicked off. Continuously improving.
ReplyDeleteI bailed on FB and Twitter awhile back, so I'm super glad you're posting more here. I hope you feel better soon. And dang, your mention of the paper mill smell in Pensacola brought back memories. (Corry Sta 79-81)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of "that guy", looks like his philosophy aligns with this "no block" nonsense, so it looks like BluSky isn't going to be viable either.
ReplyDeleteWith you to the end, Chief.
ReplyDeleteGood to see this site more active with your words. Left Twitter weeks ago, yours is one of the few feeds I actually missed over coffee. (Need some beverage to spit out.) ~Sealbhaich~
ReplyDeleteIt's a good point, backing up activity on Twitter or X or whatever the hell it's calling itself this month. I'm deprecating my activity on the platform, but should back up what little activity I've done there. Good to see some suggestions on alternatives, with Threads still being to nascent and feature-light to be a full blow Twitter replacement yet and Mastodon being too decentralized to be useful, even without the trolls. I'll be following you on FB for now and check out some of these other platforms.
ReplyDeleteMusk has appropriately renamed Twitter, it is now Xitter (just think of the Xi as the family name of China's president for life.
ReplyDeleteStonekettle without an airlock? That ain't right. I'll miss the whooshing sound.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jim, don't do twit or face book, thanks for the list as I try and check in daily. C
ReplyDeleteThanks for the list, try and check in daily, no twit or face for me.
ReplyDeleteI will not go to Facebook or Twitter, or any other platform that is using their resources to ruin my world. Period, non-negotiable.
ReplyDeleteI prefer your long-form writing to Tweet-style posts.
Take this as you will. I really enjoy your writing, but wish I could read more of it on a suitable platform. (This one is perfectly fine, BTW, wish you were just here, all the time!)
Being a Grandad is great (11 and three greats). I finally caught it myself, but was extremely lucky, and just slept for four days without any symptoms beyond feeling crappy and a medium cough. How are we going to get the politics out of medicine? Is there a reasonable approach to prosecuting them for practicing medicine without a license? We need to find a way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the insight into your life and your clear (COVID_19 be damned) thinking.
Hopefully Threads will soon be available across the EU and us European followers can join you there.
ReplyDelete-grin- Threads will never be the Twitter replacement for me. Being in the Meta ecosystem, there are waaaaay too many family members and coworkers who have found and followed me there.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I guessed wrong. I put my effort into Post. It has a lot going for it. But I'm going to have to sign up for Threads to get my Stonekettle content.
ReplyDeleteI subscribed to your Atom RSS feed. At least, my Thunderbird reader says I did, but I don't see any posts. Has anyone else reported this?
ReplyDelete