ananiochita

A passive-aggressive metaphor, if you will.

No one is punching Twitter workers in the face, not even remotely close.

No, the point is that the vast, vast majority of workers in most jobs are worse off than anyone at Twitter now.

You say :

> At the end of the day, the conclusions are much the same as people would intuit. moderate drinking has little impact, may help some conidiations and exacerbate others and will depend on the individual. for the average person, the effect will be slightly negative.

You are of course free to interpret facts as you wish. However, the study from 195 countries and over 26 years, literally, and I copy word for word from its conclusion, says :

"Our results show that the safest level of drinking is none."

And in the paragraph where that phrase is, anyone interested can find what they say about the supposed and non-existent benefits of moderate drinking.

> Speaking in absolutes is rarely helpful or informative.

The study I link and from which I quote is rather informative.

I was not saying you were being hostile, on the contrary, your previous answer is friendly, informative, and perfect for someone who is trying to get started and knows nothing about Mastodon. It's what I try to explain to other people myself, and I have to say all I get is blank stares. No one needs to go to a specific Twitter for Javascript discussions, or a specific Twitter for weather bots for their city, or worry if this person or that person are on the same server and how that affects them, they just get a Twitter account, period, then use it for whatever it is they want to use it.

( I don't use Twitter myself. Personally I'd make an account as I have in the past at mstdn.jp -- I don't have one now, and this is also another reason behind my question, what are people doing and where in Mastodon these days, in case I should look at trying other servers. )

By hostile I meant the first friction point anybody coming to Mastodon faces : What are you looking for ? What are your interests, let's see what server fits you better, etc. That's why I compare that way to look at it to IRC; if I want to discuss film photography in English there's a specific channel for that. Or gardening in suburban Paris in French. Or whatever. Reddit comes to mind as well. That's what group chats or public forums are. Should I be thinking Mastodon is that kind of service / tool ?

Because I see Mastodon, and maybe I am wrong, as a content publishing and communication platform, not as a topic-driven group chat / forum. Or pushing it, I would even liken it to e-mail. One shouldn't have to decide if mails will be sent to an Irish programmer for work, or they will be for discussing in Japanese with grandma, when creating an e-mail account, or what servers the mails come from.

Yes, you can use a Mastodon account as you wish, provided it does not break the rules of the server, or what you want to see is not blocked, or roll your own if you can be bothered to set up and maintain your own server, or, or, etc.

And right from the start people are faced with these questions, and server rules, and whatnot, about Mastodon, when getting started should be frictionless, they shouldn't even have to worry about whether this server or that server does this or that -- "but you can transfer your data, it's yours", eh, that's not helping.

This is what I was talking about when saying I find it hostile.

As opposed to the other three, you can find a place to stay matching most if not all your requirements in literally a few hours in Tokyo -- which is not a "city" ( it's a prefecture, with a governor, and dozens of cities ), and that's a whole different conversation, but needed to understand the difference.

Housing in the West is a demented horror story at any rate.

I know how Mastodon works. I've had several accounts over the years, always ended up closing them. Mostly because : silence. I see there's a bump in engagement recently because of we all know what.

I was asking why people use a particular server, and why would they recommend it.

I have issues with two points you mention :

> If you want to discuss a specific topic...

I do not. I have many interests, and do not wish to have multiple separate accounts for each. It does not make sense. I engage with others about many unrelated and completely different topics, putting them in isolated silos is one if not the greatest of Mastodon's main problems, in my view.

> You might also want to sign up on a server that has a community that is in your region or speaks your language.

Again, I do not.

I speak several languages natively, and have roots in different countries, where I am at different times.

This attempt to put the user in a box from the start, a tight box, as defined as possible in all respects, is a real problem. I find it hostile, honestly.

Edit : Should I think of Mastodon as if it was IRC ? I never have, I don't think that's what it's supposed to be.

Edit 2 : Thank you for your answer though. I should have mentioned that I am not trying to figure out how to use Mastodon, but was looking for feedback from people using it.

A farm or a hospital.

Health. And it's increasingly harder and harder.

"We build our computer systems the way we build our cities; over time, without a plan, on top of ruins."

-- Ellen Ullman