mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06Assistant professor, Philip Merrill College of Journalism, University of Maryland; appreciator of autumn; former stops: Brookings Institution, National Weather Service
Disturbed by reports of Black Mastodon users—Black women in particular—having negative experiences on this app, including being randomly banned for discussions of racism. Some of these users will not come back. All will share their experiences. The answer is not to condescendingly lecture them on “how the fediverse works,” as if their experiences are inevitable, nor to swear to do better next time. (There may not be one.) It’s to do better now lest the reputation of this app be cemented.
I'm obviously here on Mastodon because I'm open to trying new things, but it feels like the time (walking down memory lane) where I convinced myself life would be better if I taught myself Linux, only to shortly thereafter to buy a MacBook and continue on with my life. The edit function is nice, though.