Weekend Mastodon is starting to remind me of Weekend Hellsite.
Trolls, hostility, ignorance, intentional provocation.
Blocking is not enough sometimes. Time to step away for a couple of hours (unless news breaks, of course).
@GottaLaff that sucks, I'm sorry. I want you to know I really appreciate your summaries! You are my favorite news channel.
I was seeing that too. Just blocked someone who was intentionally provocative. Don’t have time or energy for that anymore. 🫤
This week has been a news tornado, and you’ve been on top of it all. Thank you. Enjoy your break. 🫶
@GottaLaff I’m sorry you have to go through this Laffy. I also saw some right wing hacks on here a while ago, but just blocked them.
@GottaLaff Peace. Lots of us appreciate you. And, yes, you're entitled to take time off. (You already know these things, but maybe it doesn't hurt to be reminded. )
@GottaLaff This is a structural weakness to Mastodon. If instance owners don't actively moderate than high profile accounts like yours have to spend an inordinate amount of time paying whack a troll. And as always, women are subjected to more of this abusive behavior than men so they end up doing more of the work.
Sorry to hear this. Because your work is so popular it is likely also a magnet for those elements. Take a break. Hang in there. We love you!
Not sure it is particular to Mastodon. Moderation is always reactive. When a platform is open, people can create new accounts and spew abuse until they are caught and banned. On another level much of the trolling may not even be in bannable, just annoying, and the only recourse is personal blocking. It's just an unfortunate fact that there are many Jenks out there and many of them are attracted to social media.
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@GottaLaff
Yes, it's caturday, but go take a puppy-snuggle break. Those always do wonders for me. Be well.
@GottaLaff I had a feeling this stuff might start ramping up as we approached next year’s election. Take as many breaks as you need 🤗
@GottaLaff I understand that behaviour isn’t tolerated on here. Please report trolling, provocation and hostility. Be well. I wish you peace.
What we can do is to become much tighter and protective of each other. When you see someone hectoring Laffy, it is fine to jump to her defense. Tell them to cute it out and maybe block/mute and/or report them. Relieve her of some of the burden. Can say it is an enormous relief when someone else chimes in in these cases. Think of Mastodon as any other public space. If someone is acting poorly, they should feel the weight of the disrespect of the community upon them.
@GottaLaff yes, I was told to light myself on fire last weekend after something re: IsraelHamas conflict I put up....my instance moderator is really good about getting people blocked or blocking whole instances that spout a lot of bull. Take care of yourself and thanks for all you do to keep us informed!
@mastodonmigration @heronheart
Interesting point until the self-appointed police people are verifiably incapable of English comprehension. One important piece of comprehension is context. In my experience on social media & life in general, people can read, but they lack the requisite reading comprehension skills to exercise good judgment.
@GottaLaff
Provides great information, & we all appreciate her service, but I don't feel the need to comment on it regularly. I think it's more to spread it
@GottaLaff — there is a Mastodon algorithm that populates the “Local Timeline” and “Federated Timeline” for users. When you’re established, you never go through it because you have your own Home Feed. But newbies, they gotta start somewhere. Your content is likely being dropped in front of every new user and that is an opportunity for every new troll. I ran a little social experiment where I lead a troll around by the nose and manipulated the algorithms to my favor.
@GottaLaff
Sorry to hear that, it sucks. Here's a pretty picture of Sao Miguel in the Azores to add some beauty to the day.
@servelan If you didn't already know, both on Twitter and now here, I'm known for coining #WhackATroll (when I give them a chance to explain, then if they prove their trollitude, I give them a parting gift of snark) and then #Toodles, meaning I block. I'm not exactly new to this, lol @mastodonmigration @heronheart
@mister_shade02X2 Yeah, I expected that, this is not new. Every platform has it.
But it started so early, I had to get offline for awhile and do something else.
@LadyDragonfly You too? Yes, on Twitter too. I stopped posting on weekends after awhile there.
I post much less often on weekends here now.
@_L1vY_ It's been like this for awhile, but today I'd been on for maybe an hour? And it was only 7:20 am! That's too much, too early.
@realtegan So sweet, thank you. I'm used to it. Twitter was all about that, and I was a target there too.
But some of the idiocy comes from well meaning Dems, too.
I'm tired of people ranting irrationally, calling for things that are obviously unfeasible, and "____ for president!" every time someone says or does one good thing.
It's juvenile and annoying. So it's not just "trolls" per se. Unfortunately.
@BlueWaver22 Thank you! Yeah, it doesn't matter who you are or what instance, you get trolled by assholes.
I've whacked 'em away for well over a decade.
@customer228 It's not always right wing hacks. Sometimes it's Dems or Independents who say things that make my head explode.
@GottaLaff I'll readily admit that a compliment can also be a pain in the backside. But I try to remember the 'first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win'.
@GottaLaff Does it help if we block or report those you or others have identified? Not sure the best way to help with troll removal.
Thanks for all the great work you do for us.
@GottaLaff you know what, I am privileged to be sitting at the bottom of africa. We got so.much shit ourselves that we are just grateful that we are hanging in there. Trolls are the least of my worries... #relax
@george I appreciate what you're saying.
2 things, if I may, and I say this in a friendly way, so don't take it otherwise:
1. Telling someone to "relax" is dismissive. It immediately makes me not relax & irks me.
2. I have plenty of shit going on too. Just had a major death in the family, moving to a new country, US fascism, I could go on. The big stuff is bad, the small stuff compounds it. So yeah, trolls are the least of my worries too. So what?
@GottaLaff I agree. I try to look at their profile & their toots & boosts first. Some are really just jerks.
@GottaLaff You just taught me something new Laffy. I mean, i know the abuser, sh*t type come in both colors, but fortunately it’s only the red ones i see throwing vile language around… I hope i never see a Democrat like that…
@GottaLaff 1. Understood. Apologies. My wife tells me the same, so it's not you, it's me. 2. What's that saying about all being in the same ocean bit on different boats ? I can't experience your issues. All I can say is, "you can only control what you can control." Other than that, try not stress about it.
@customer228 I haven't seen many Dems use vile language,... OTHER THAN call for violence against people they hate (Trump, others). I won't tolerate that.
@george I agree, and thanks for clarifying because I was on the verge of blocking. You get total bonus points for taking the time to understand and respond thoughtfully instead of stomping your foot and doubling down.
@GottaLaff #notatroll :-). In a country with 11 languages, a lot of intent is lost in translation. I meant no bad intent.
@GottaLaff @customer228 I don't believe in Violence. But U do believe in justice. I was positively gleeful when the MAGA's flipped on Donnie. If that makes me a bad person I can accept that.
@kwheaton Not what I was saying, no. I literally meant people using violent language and wishing people maimed or dead. Not MAGA flips, lol. @customer228
@GottaLaff just observing general Mastodon post quality and quantity seems to be slipping past few weeks, at least on my feed; perhaps byproduct of new arrivals from X or maybe some dual citizens are spending more time on Threads or BlueSky. I prefer here as not on BS and Threads is really a Blue (US Democrat) mutual following society. I still do limited posts on X but mostly just in my financial wheelhouse.
@GottaLaff You’re doing fantastic! I and may others rely on your posts daily!
Please don’t let a few get you down.
We may be attentively and quietly listening, but you do a powerful service for us. And we can’t thank you enough!
Keep on Keepin’ on!
@xdydx Not even close to what I do.
Nor is informing people about the latest development a bad thing.
If I were to wait 24 hours, there would be no news. It would be old stories that have less relevance that have been forgotten about as more news breaks. It’s called Life.
And my mental health has nothing to do with posting breaking news.
@JonChevreau Thanks for clarifying.
I agree.
And I HATE those long “Follow these Dems” lists on the other platforms that people keep posting.
@GottaLaff it creates a high signal-to/noise ratio at Threads but if it helps keep 45 from becoming 47 I can live with it
@GottaLaff So, that sucks, so let me add my voice to those saying that I appreciate your posts greatly, and don’t let the F’ers get you down!