Periodically, I see people upset that #Bluesky has become the default alternative to #Twitter instead of #Mastodon. So we need to understand why that happened:

1. Bluesky simply has a better UI/UX for Twitter users than Mastodon because it basically is Twitter whereas Mastodon is its own thing
2. When the Twitter migration happened in November 2022, those who managed to get a Mastodon account found that navigating Mastodon's unwritten social norms was difficult
3. Mastodon already had a pre-existing community, one that clashed with mainstream Twitter -- whereas there was no community on Bluesky when Twitter users migrated there
4. Certain marginalized groups, such as Black folk, found a hostile environment here, and many who have stayed remain here because they believe in the tech despite the community that exists around it

I cannot understate the role that social discovery had in this. On Bluesky it is easy to find people and topics that are relevant to users whereas on Mastodon this takes a lot of heavy lifting.

That said, there's a silver lining to this. Should Bluesky fail to decentralize and the company alienates their userbase -- which is inevitable -- where will Bluesky users go?

Obviously, to Mastodon.

But when that happens, we need to prepare ourselves for the eventual migration and build a better environment for Bluesky users to come here.

@atomicpoet hostile enviroment for black people? Most instances have rules against racism and most people on the ferdiverse are lgbt and its very uncommon for lgbtq members to be racist.

@fox @atomicpoet it would be worth following some folks from the black fediverse if you don't already. @mekkaokereke has a lot of excellent threads on racism in general and also in relation to the fediverse. This place can be great but has a long way to go.

@Affekt @atomicpoet @mekkaokereke nah im good

@fox @Affekt @mekkaokereke Got it. You’re not engaging in this conversation in good faith, and won’t even consider the view of a Black person who’s spoken about this topic.

I am blocking you for sea lioning.

@atomicpoet @Affekt @mekkaokereke for what???? tf is sea lioning

@fox asking for proof of a situation, then when proof is provided, it's downplayed, ignored, or claimed it's a lie.

In this situation, it seems you asked for proof and then didn't want to look at the proof.

It IS weird for you to do that.

@BeAware I asked for proof on that a bunch of lgbtq people were racist...

@fox you said "hostile environment for black people?" And dismissed it away, then when offered proof for those claims, you said "nah I'm good"

This isn't my argument. I was just telling you what sea lioning is.