I am floored and fascinated by the near-literary quality of many of the descriptions of images that people carefully craft when appending pictures to their posts on Mastodon. Some of them will reveal a detail that had escaped my attention. Others will help me understand a subtle joke I had missed. Others still are true poems. ALT are their own microblogging world that reveals itself as you hover on a picture. And I hover, and hover.
Remote
Francois Heinderyckx
@fheinderyckx@mastodon.social
mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06• Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
• CIVIS European University Alliance
• Academia Europaea
• ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication
· Journalism
· New/s Media
· Political Communication
· Science Communication
· (Social) Science Outreach
0 Followers
0 Following
15 Posts
Joined October 28, 2022
Université libre de Bruxelles:
Academia Europaea:
RE: @jeffjarvis@mastodon.social
“Anger properly channeled is a powerful force. We who defend democracy must direct our anger at those who threaten it, at those who have exploited 9/11 to seize power. I am angry at institutions — universities, media companies, law firms, civil service — that fail to defend themselves against unjust attack. I am angry at my fellow journalists for succumbing to their reflexive tropes of imagined unity, objectivity, normalcy.”
If I may add: Properly channeled anger is above all *cold* anger.
@caiocgo@mastodon.social
We all thought it stood for "Metaverse" but it might mean "Metastasis" instead…
Replying to
@ntnsndr@social.coop
And yet most people who *finally* flee the nazi bar flock to… BlueSky and Threads. They've obviously learned nothing, and this is very disheartening.
Replying to
@jeffmcneill @jeff @MHowell @raiderrobert @pluralistic
"Turdification" would have worked too! (Though even harder to translate in other languages I suppose.) Let's keep it for another of the many processes of decay in big tech.
Replying to
@gleick@mas.to
London as the rear base of independent journalism after a brutal regime change…
#DejaVu
Replying to
@Starkimarm@23.social @ntnsndr@social.coop
You're right, but the proliferation of nazis, trolls and dipshits results from the whims of the new owner. So the owner is the root of the problem. So ownership, i.e. being owned by someone or some profit-driven entity, *is* the peril.
Replying to
@taylorlorenz@mastodon.social
Just about every reason one may have to leave Twitter is also a reason to stay away from Post. Moving from one to the other makes about as much sense as switching from Diet Coke to Coke Zero because you resent artificial sweeteners.
Replying to
@zephoria
Much congratulations to you ! (And to Cornell!)
Replying to
@jayrosen_nyu@mastodon.social
Wow! It sure proves that even those of us who still split their attention between the two platforms are paying much more attention here and hardly looking back.
I'm still struggling to interpret "Favourites" (compared to "Bookmarks"), but I was kindly lectured to not equate Favorited here to Liked there. Favourite would mean more "this is significant" than "I like or agree".
Replying to
@jayrosen_nyu@mastodon.social
It was wishful thinking then. We should not take the current serenity of this platform as evidence that it will be immune to the chaotic drift of the birdsite.
I say future digital cameras should include a SIM card and hands-free mode so that we loop that loop.
Remarkably articulated and documented overview of AI cult, dark enlightenment and the resulting technofascism by @MarechalPhD@techpolicy.social in @techpolicypress.bsky.social:
https://www.techpolicy.press/what-policymakers-and-the-public-need-to-know-about-the-cult-of-ai/
I could not have named the photographer (sorry, Sal Veder), but I've seen this photo over and over again, and it has always moved me very deeply.
Replying to
@jayrosen_nyu@mastodon.social
I'd guess the last 3 sets of comments came mostly from users on the birdsite (characteristicly caustic), and the others (more constructive) from the Mastodon side. But I'm just speculating, obviously.