Tag Archives: Mastodon

The Great Migration to Bluesky

Remember The Great Migration to Mastodon in 2023? That was when various groups on Twitter got pissed about Musk and loudly migrated to Mastodon and other social networks. During that migration some people would occasionally “check back in on Twitter” to remind us that they were leaving. Very few people actually left entirely, though, and over time most quietly moved back to Twitter.

That was then. Now? Well, there’s a shiny new migration going on as various groups are again loudly leaving X — but this time they’re bound for Bluesky. Maybe it was the election? The equalizing of political views on X? The changes in the X TOS regarding AI training? The ads? The APIs? Who knows. Likely all of it. I don’t care.

The process of communities atomizing themselves is natural and predictable so you just have to accept it, let things run their course, and adapt as necessary to stay connected to support your own interests. This is normal human behavior. Communities grow and thrive, sure. But they also change, move, break, and die. This bolt over to Bluesky may work well for some people and their communities, and Bluesky may thrive as a new free speech platform with new and interesting features that have been lost on X. But it may also wreck some relationships and break some communities as well. Sorry, that’s life. What’s most interesting to me, though, is that the people most aggressively leaving seem to be missing any downside to their actions. They may have some good reasons for embracing Bluesky, but it seems it’s just all one way and it’s all good. We’ll just have to see but I don’t think that position is realistic. Human behavior within globally distributed groups is too complex for such a simplistic view.

Anyway, because this migration seems significant, I’ve opened an account on Bluesky for my Duke’s Corner Podcast at Oracle and may update it to be a personal account in the future if it lasts. I don’t really feel like I have a choice, to be perfectly honest. I need to stay connected with some software networks for the time being, so I figure this much of a move for me is enough. I’ll post links to all of my work-related podcasts going back to when I re-branded the podcast as Duke’s Corner in 2022. And occasionally I’ll participate on Bluesky by liking and re-posting things directly related to my current job.

However, at present, I’m not interested in opening a Bluesky account for myself and posting as myself about non-work issues. No time for that. In fact, I’ve been busy deleting social media platforms from my life because too many of them just waste too much of my time. And, besides, as I’ve said before, I’m an individual and I’m tired of feeling pressured by a minority of leaders who expect others to just follow along with their latest whim. No. I have other interests and options now. And I’ve moved on from that old follow-the-leader perspective. Actually, my view of leadership is vastly different these days than even a few years ago.

But on the good side, hopefully, if this migration is successful for Bluesky it’ll open new opportunities for me on X to engage new networks there. I’ve been reluctant to speak freely on X for a variety of reasons over the years. The social pressure of one network can absolutely constrain the engagement of other networks and that’s something we all have to deal with. Again, that’s just human nature. Also if Bluesky thrives that’s just good competition for X. Free speech and capitalism, baby! That’s what it’s all about. It’ll be interesting to see how X responds to this new threat — especially given how hard X has been hit after the election in November with so many people leaving. But the United States — and much of the Western world — will experience significant change in the coming months and years, so maybe all these social networks will be replaced by something else entirely. Hope so! Either way, hold on tight. Earthquakes coming!

The Great Migration to Mastodon

I deleted my Mastodon account recently. And it felt great!

I went to Mastodon a few months ago because I felt pressure from my social network on Twitter. It seems some people got pissed at Elon Musk for buying Twitter and they made a big hairy deal of leaving. It was a remarkable reaction, I must say, but to be honest, it was actually in character given The New Normal™ going on out there since 2020.

Anyway, there they went and opened Mastodon accounts and started talking. But, aside from a few individuals, they didn’t delete their Twitter accounts. Instead, they came back and checked in once a week or so, attacked Musk aggressively (and by extension others who decided to stay), and then they left again. And the cycle repeated. I noticed over time, though, that those checkins got more frequent. And, most recently, I notice that very few are talking about Twitter or Musk much anymore. They are just Tweeting as normal except for a few people I know who did leave entirely. I can count those guys on one hand, though.

But as for me I’m pissed at myself for following along initially. I know better. I know not to follow mass movements making aggressive moves based on anger or fear virtually overnight. And that’s what the migration to Mastodon was. Now, I never really intended to delete my Twitter account, but at the same time I also didn’t want to be left out of a real migration based on the intention of my core network. What would people think of me if I stayed on Twitter? I felt the pressure. And there were several community leaders who weren’t shy about projecting judgements about those who stayed. So I followed them. In my gut, though, I knew it was wrong. It felt disgusting, to be honest. But I opened an account on Mastodon anyway and started reconstructing my network there — until I woke up one morning, logged on to my computer, and deleted the account.

So, no. Just no. If I want to open a Mastodon account I’ll do it in the future — and I’ll do it on my own terms. I’m done with the virtue signaling in some software development communities, and I’m done being an obedient follower. Yes, I know all about federation — both the technical and political types — which only seemed to matter yesterday. I don’t care. I’m not impressed with the argument.

I’m feeling more liberated in recent months. I’ve been contributing to different communities on Twitter and also on different platforms during the last few years. It’s been an eye opening experience. I’ll continue moving in that direction. I’m an individual. I contribute to many communities. I won’t be bullied. Period.

I’m @jimgris on Twitter

Update March 2023: Musk is now making the Blue Checks pay for their privilege starting April 1. Should be interesting, eh?