@roli_skates Hmm... possibly...

@Are0h heeheehee
now I want to draw it

@starbreaker As in I am asking for support and just not declaring anything, I would say that separates me from a white 19th century megalomanic.

@Are0h Then put me down under "support". You calling yourself "Fediverse Mayor" doesn't affect me either way, so I have no reason to object.

@starbreaker LOL, thanks?

@Are0h could you wear a pirate costume so i know its real?

@ArtistMarciaX Ahem... ma'am. That will be discussed in private.

@Are0h the moment i was reminded I was NOT british...when i saw this shit at an event and i was excited bc there was a pirate...and i was politely told that was the Mayor

@Are0h well one of the many moments lol

@ArtistMarciaX My official stance is that I am open to pirates... but not whatever that is...

@Are0h wise. either way

you my mayor,

@ArtistMarciaX @Are0h 👀👀

@miql @Are0h we can only dream LOL

@ArtistMarciaX @miql *makes a mental note*

@ArtistMarciaX Ha, nah. I was thinking more of a on the ground community dude kind of thing...

@jalcine Ha, that's fair.

@RussSharek Haha, damn man...

@alice FOR A BETTER... FEDIVERSE?

I don't know.... I'm working on it...

@Are0h Big job. Activity pub is one thing. Leading the online culture is definitely another.

@alice I was gonna start small and work my way out.

The fediverse is... not small.

@Are0h @alice The point of the fediverse also is that there is no central leadership. For better or worse.

But maybe a good place to start would be building a good community instance with strong guidelines for the culture you want to empower?

@deadsuperhero @alice Which why I said _mayor_ and not Super Galactic Lord Ruler, Sean!

But, yeah... that's probably where I'll start.

@Are0h @alice Super Galactic Lord Ruler has a really nice ring to it, though.

@deadsuperhero @alice *sigh* It does. If only I was a power hungry mad man bent on ruling everything.

Well... one cannot be everything.

@Are0h @deadsuperhero @alice that's the thing about the fediverse - there's no "everything" to rule. The best you can hope for is Earl o' the 'Verse

@sivy @Are0h @deadsuperhero no Pope... Only Metropolitans

@alice @sivy @Are0h If you're a Discordian, everyone is a pope.

@sivy @deadsuperhero @alice I choose mayor specifically because there can be more than one.

Ha, I don't think there's a way to be something for the whole thing.

@gekitsu Ha, still working all that out.

@RussSharek I absolutely agree, man. There are so many communities here with different needs.

It would be really cool to put some serious effort into addressing those concerns in a way that is separate from technical wants/desires and find a way to meet in the middle.

@Are0h

Once a social platform hits critical mass, it seems to need a few active helpers that are focusing on something other than the code.

The code is critical naturally, but my entire experience of Mastodon as a place was made by the people who helped me settle in and gave me a sense of the culture.

@RussSharek Same here, man. Absolutely agree the tech aspect is a very attractive part of it for me personally, but I'm a culture dude as well.

And if we're talking about building a new type of community, I would say the code part of it is much easier than maintaining a healthy and save community.

It seem like Masto has reached a point where cultural concerns are on par with tech issues. That's a hard gap to bridge.

But that's where all the good stuff is.

@Are0h

More culture than tech here, but relatively savvy.

I'd say it's more like being a gardener than governor.You can shape the big picture, weed bad things and seed good ones, but ultimately you need to be of a disposition to believe that the organism can and will thrive in healthy soil.

I've worked on community projects like this in the real world. I think things would simply happen faster online.

@RussSharek @Are0h

I’ve been spending time each day sitting on the banks of mastodon.social watching the river go by, wondering about culture.

One issue that hasn’t come up is language. There’s a governance dispute happening in parts of anglophone mastodon (increasingly I think it’s not a mastodon culture thing but a GitHub culture thing), and it might also be happening in Korean or Japanese but you need the translator node folks who move between both.

@RussSharek @Are0h

Obviously, my vote is locked in though. Mayors gotta mayor.

@katebowles @RussSharek @Are0h

Often I see a great thread and would love to contribute, yet all I see myself able to do is boosting and expressing that I like what I see/read.

@kafkaesqueNomad @RussSharek @Are0h Oh same, so much. I really get this.

@kafkaesqueNomad

There's a value in that too. I often find myself worried about the quality of my response. I've tried to train this out of myself, and the positive feedback I get here helps.

@katebowles @Are0h

@RussSharek @kafkaesqueNomad @katebowles Honestly, a lot of times I find my most valuable contribution is boosting what someone else says.

I know what I know, but there is so much that I don't. And quite often there are people here that are so much more informed on a variety of topics.

I would agree there is a lot of value in spreading around good convos, ideas, etc. Probably more than we give it credit for.

@Are0h @RussSharek @kafkaesqueNomad @katebowles

I feel like your posts regularly inspire me to think about things differently, so I wouldn't say that your biggest contribution is boosting. You're definitely having an effect on shaping public discourse, even if it's not always having immediately visible effects.

For every "YEAH BUT" you get, you get people who needed to hear your message, who realize they need to just shut up and listen, and do it.

@Miredly @RussSharek @kafkaesqueNomad @katebowles

That's a very kind thing to say, thank you. It really wasn't my intention to change minds and all that. I just wanted to build a safe space for folks like me.

That said, the more I speak on things, the more I'm realizing there's this kind of new global community forming of people that are tired of the same things I am.

I don't know what to call it, but I know I want to be in the middle of it.

@Are0h
What Miredly said and much more.
Which is why I'd really like to convey how important it is for white people to read what you have to say. It took your words for me to become aware of all the racism that takes place around me and how vile it is in spite of just how "innocent" and "fun" the culprits want it to seem. Just how nauseating it is even to me who just witnesses without being affected... apart from how shameful it is because

@kafkaesqueNomad That's pretty close to how I feel about sexism. I am absolutely disgusted by the idea women are treated a certain way and me another.

I just can't sit by and be cool with it. Even if it costs me something personally.

@Are0h

...because I do nothing. This inactivity or silence is the greatest part why I didn't even realise most of the racism, because every white person seems to be in "good faith" that the other one shares their beliefs about people of colour...
Like... "no need to talk about it, we're mates, aren't we?!"

The "Fuck NO, I am not, I don't want to be affiliated with you!" ...never left my head so far, stays a thought.

Partly because of how much...

@Are0h

...I've been silenced as a kid. I find myself petrified whenever I disagree with anyone. I really need to get past that. There's no use in thinking the right thing when it doesn't lead to action.