As more people get introduced to the Fediverse—hi! welcome!—one thing that I haven't seen mentioned is that not all of us are using Mastodon!

My instance here, Motley, is actually running a different system, called Friendica. I chose Friendica because it better fit the type of community I wanted to build. Because Friendica and Mastodon both use the ActivityPub protocol, you can see my posts from your Mastodon instance, and I can see yours. Neat, huh?

This actually allows some really cool things that you don't see elsewhere on the siloed, Big Social sites. Pixelfed is a photo-sharing site like Instagram, also built on ActivityPub—which means that you could follow someone's Pixelfed account from your Mastodon account, and like or comment on their photos without ever needing to create an account on their Pixelfed server.

That does mean, however, that not all of us will be using exactly the same tools. For instance, when I write posts in Friendica, I do not have an easy option to create content warnings the way that Mastodon does. I tend to make manual content warnings at the beginnings of my posts when necessary, but please keep that in mind: if someone's doing something a little differently, it might be because they don't know how to use the tools, but it also might be because they have a different set of tools altogether. I also don't have the capability to easily add custom emoji the way Mastodon admins do. Sadly. 💔

Be patient and generous with one another when you can. Even though we're all gathered here now, we may have taken very different routes and may have different tools at our disposal. ❤

There's a new influx of people to the #fediverse today, and rightly so! Figured that's as good a time as any to make a new #introduction.

I'm Spencer (he/they). I run Motley, which is my name for this little Friendica instance. It's mostly just me here these days, although I still have dreams of one day helping my friends find digital community here.

I made myself a home on the Fediverse because I wanted to distance myself from the big corporate services. I care about #decentralization and #selfhosting, as I believe more people running smaller personal servers will help break the stranglehold of big tech companies.

My ideal world is one much freer of coercive hierarchies. It's smaller-scale, more cooperative and communal, and more deeply connected to the earth. I'm kinda #solarpunk, I suppose. I care about freedom, tempered with an ethic of compassion for one another and the world we live in. I also practice #polyamory. I find that inextricable from my values.

I dabble in way too many hobbies, and it's delightful. I love #boardgames, especially #Netrunner, which I maintain is the best game ever. I'm a member of the volunteer fan organization keeping that game alive—ask me about it and I'll gladly talk your ear off. I enjoy amateur #mixology. I started learning #lockpicking last year, and am also working on becoming licensed as a #hamradio operator. I'm interested in community-focused approaches to #preparedness, because I don't think the odds are good for the uncomplicated continuation of this late-capitalist "normal", and when things start to fall apart, I don't want myself, my family, or my communities to be caught off-guard.

Over the last couple of years, my own spiritual growth has taken me in a location that might look bizarre from the outside: I still firmly identify as a secular humanist who does not believe in the supernatural, yet I'm also increasingly an intentional practitioner of "#magick". I occasionally read #tarot for myself, have cast a couple of spells in my time, and generally see the playful fantasy of magick as psychologically useful and spiritually rewarding. I run a Friendica forum about it, in fact, though, like many things here on Motley, it's fairly dried up.

My posting is eclectic, and I tend to share to a followers-only audience by default. I strongly believe that arguing with me is a privilege reserved for those I already have a relationship with, so I have very little patience for strangers who comment on my posts in an attempt to provoke a debate. I don't know you—why would I waste my time and energy in a fight I don't know is safe? This is my little corner of the Fediverse, and I choose not to spend it interacting with fascists, bigots, conspiracy theorists, Web3 shills, or generally anyone I find unpleasant. Because of that, I'm slow to accept follow requests until I can peruse your public profile and get a sense of who you are.

I'm sure I could go on forever (haha already have), but that probably gives a good start. I'm always down for new connections, since that's what makes the Fediverse thrive.

Cheers! 🍻