I feel like scientists should move towards open source solutions ... I feel like most scientists are smart enough to launch a mastodon server, but well.
this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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Most scientists aren't allowed to do stuff like that, or purely just don't have the time.
Never meet your heroes. If a scientist is human, they're as fallible as any other. Just like some teachers aren't there because they're passionate. Some legitimately are bad if you ever had parent teacher conferences. Not passion nor intelligence saves you from making poor choices
There's no excuse for using Xittter in 2025.
See you can be a really good scientist and not smart at the same time. Move to mastodon.
Non-EU folk - this website won’t open in EU because they don’t want to follow our local user privacy protections. What they’re going to do with your data? Who knows.
man that is so cheeky of them!
Instead of abiding with the law, they just chose to block content altogether 🥲
Why switch to BlueSky if you have Mastodon...
Cause the name is hard to remember.. I was trying to yesterday and the closest I could get is megatron and megalodon
I tried masterdon, mostertant (I don’t know what that one is) and eventually needed to look up the name from an E-Mail…
I think there's a fairly serious problem for large accounts on mastodon but I will never have one so I can't quite understand it myself.
Something like dealing with replies / scolds without spending all day blocking is too hard. It doesn't help that "no algorithm" means "show first reply at the top" so quick replies can dominate comments.
The bit I don't understand is why this is fine on blue sky. Is it just different users? I can't quite believe that but I can't see why blue sky would be less annoying.
These who waited until the X take over to move away are simply following trends.
I'm on both and Mastodon is missing (at least in any easy to use way) most of the features that make Bluesky such a good destination:
- instant add subscribe lists
- subscribable block lists
- custom feeds/subscribable algorithms
- keyword/topic blocks
- nuclear block where you never see the blocked person again
- optional discover feed
- DM preferences
All these things (and more I'm sure I'm forgetting), make Bluesky very quick to get started with and very powerful for honing your feeds to be exactly how you want and free of harassment and trolling.
I am still trying with Mastodon, but it's really slow going and I can fully understand why people wouldn't bother. After a year I am way behind where I was in a week with Bluesky.
It does have keyword blocking.
Not sure what nuclear block means but I can't think of any way a blocked person could be seen again. It even has above nuclear blocking where you block their entire server.
It has custom feeds but the implementation with lists is very fiddly and I wish it would be improved.
There is a trending posts section but I think you want a personalised discover feed? Which will never happen of course.
Thanks for the update. Yes the recommended feed is personalized. It's optional. The main feed has no algorithm,, just who you follow.
Keyword blocking is a bit more sophisticated on Bluesky I think as they have a crowdsourced tagging system which allows you to opt in an out also of fagged words regardless of whether they appear in the body of the post.
Thanks for the list! As someone who has never used any Twitter-like site before (I guess microblog is the right term...?), and recently made a profile on Bluesky only to support it (I have used it briefly ~3 times since joining): what are the pros of Mastodon that Bluesky doesn't have?
Main one is that it doesn't manipulate your feed with stuff "you might enjoy" so you can't be easily manipulated by the people setting the algorithm. Of course, this is exactly why people find it hard. People want to be fed stuff and told what to consume.
Bluesky also has the option of doing this, or not.
This one is so important. After a year my mastodon feed is perfectly tailored for me. When I open it I enjoy my time there and the posts I see. I can leave whenever I want, and without a feel of rage or anxiety. But the most important part is that I don't feel the compulsive need to open it every other second. It's to liberating in contrast with the algorithm led manipulation.
As far as I can tell, the advantages of Mastodon over Bluesky are:
- Well implemented federation
- No "starter kits" which are just positive-feedback loops for popular accounts
- No "algorithm" which promotes popularity or engagement over quality or relevance
Haha, thanks! I know it's quite important for a good bunch of people here (on a federated site), but I guess I'll stick with Bluesky then. Thanks for the insights! : )
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Guess why? /s For real, people, some of you live in a bubble...
In a word, audience. I'd prefer it if everyone went with Mastodon, but the audience on BlueSky is orders of magnitude bigger. I cross post to both, but only because I don't trust BlueSky not to do exactly what Twitter and Meta have done eventually.
They might do the Twitter. Jack Dorsey has already left the board saying exactly that.
Cool. I'm going out on a limb and saying Bluesky seems pretty based so far. I made an account when it was announced, and it's pretty cool. Nice app, seemingly good mission statement.
I don't want to dismiss something until it actually turns to shit. If it's good now, I'll use it now. When it turns to crap, I'll just jump off. I'll always have Lemmy and Mastodon as my mains, so I don't see the harm personally. 🤷♂️ Let's just hope it'll last for the scientists' sake.
Problem is it absolutely will turn when the Bluesky owners Jay Graber and Jack Dorsey decide it's time to cash in. The project started out as a way to start decentralizing twitter, but they never actually accomplished that goal.
Why is it a problem? If a tool is good now, I'll use it now.
I don't stop myself from buying a new axe just because it'll break eventually, you know what I mean?
Although obviously if there was an axe that never would break, I'd buy that! But maybe there are trade-offs. Maybe the never-breaking axe has a complicated handle or something. I don't know, I'm trying my best with the axe analogy to describe Bluesky vs Mastodon. 😅 Hopefully it's clear enough!
We can avoid it ever becoming shit when a wannabe dictator buys it if we make it impossible to sell: like mastodon and other federated options.
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