I have an apology to issue. Yesterday, I called out a few large, open-registration instances (mastodon.social, vivaldi.net, and mas.to).
I was ticked off because (once again) a blatant Nazi troll account sent me (and several other folx) swastika photos and hate-speech.
I'm not apologizing for calling out large, open-signup instances. I stand by every word I said. But there's something I *didn't* say, and that's what I believe I owe an apology for.
When you have as many followers as I do, it's easy to start a dogpile鈥攅ven unintentionally鈥攁nd because of this, I always try to include a "be kind, don't attack folx" message when I rant about something. Yesterday I forgot to do that, and some mods and admins caught shit for it. It was my responsibility to anticipate my (sometimes overly) enthusiastic followers' reactions and head that off, and I failed to.
If you were one of the people yesterday who sent reports or messages that attacked *any* of the moderation team members of those servers, I would love it if you'd apologize to them. They're all volunteers, just like me, doing their best with what they've got. It's on all of us to make Fedi a safe space for each other.
To any of the wonderful volunteer moderators of Fedi who got nasty messages yesterday鈥攐r don't wake up every day feeling appreciated for their work鈥擨'm sorry 馃珎 you deserve better. I appreciate you 馃挒
Update: two of the three above instances' admin teams have personally reached out to me about my original post鈥攁nd that's amazing! I hope we can work together to make Fedi a safer, more inclusive space for everyone (except Nazis).
#FediAdmin #FediMods #Apology