Is anyone using Mastodon as their primary social media and is it working for you?

[tommoree@mastodon.social]

@LianaBrooks yuh yuh mostly

[mancavgeek@social.teamb.space]

@LianaBrooks OH yes!
Been around the place since 2017 - been through several instances, but exclusively on various Fediverse server types since 2022.
(and hosting my own since 2019 or so!)

[priscillaharing@mastodon.green]

@LianaBrooks For me personally yes it is and yes very much 🩷 for our company No, as it doesn't have sufficient reach... I would love to get off IG

[freddy@social.security.plumbing]

@LianaBrooks yup

[barrysweeney@mastodon.social]

@LianaBrooks
Yes and Yes. I don't miss the other places at all, this is a much kinder, thoughtful place to be, and I've met some lovely people through being here

[adaraastin@supervolcano.angryshark.eu]

@LianaBrooks yes, and it's great!

Mastodon is my only social account.

[normjess@tech.lgbt]

@LianaBrooks
this is a question best answered by Daniel Bryan

[castaway@fosstodon.org]

@LianaBrooks yes and yes

[rupertreynolds@hachyderm.io]

@LianaBrooks Yes, me :-)

I find it takes more time to build connections the Mastodon way, but those connections give me a hugely better signal-to-noise ratio, close to 100%. I gave up on the others one-by-one as they became toxic.

[adaraastin@supervolcano.angryshark.eu]

@LianaBrooks That said, being here absolutely does not sell my audiobooks (I'm a narrator, or rather a former narrator at this point), and after over two years of futile promotions, I now put my energy into other projects (and occasionally post a book promo if the spirit moves me, but with zero expectations of making sales happen).

Changes in my day job + leaving corporate social media for 100% Fedi + my authors doing zero promotions on their back catalogues + AI coming after the voice work industry = I am no longer taking new voice work contracts & rarely promote audiobooks, because the ROI isn't there on Fedi for the time I put.

It is what it is, as the kids say.

[Note: I am not looking for a pep talk, nor for unsolicited advice. This is not an attitude problem (lol), it is a collapsing industry problem. I have cut my losses and moved on, which is a thoroughly considered and prudent business/career/financial move, I assure you.]

Meanwhile, there are also a handful of new audiobook listeners who I have connected with on Fedi, and I am deeply grateful to each and every one of them (/you). The scale just isn't there to make financial sense. So it goes.

But socially? I love it here. I am very, very glad to be on Mastodon / in the Fediverse.

[membrana@bolha.one]

@LianaBrooks yes,works very well.

Small community, very tightly knit. People are generally very kind and genuine. Interactions are meaningful and create bonds. Manageable amount of updates.

Apart from that I use chat platforms to connect with close friends.

I have an Instagram account to reach out to people whom I know are in there when I need to, otherwise I would completely sever all contact bridges with lots and lots of contacts. But I don't browse or post at all.

Linkedin out of NECESSITY unfortunately 💀

[jez@mapstodon.space]

@LianaBrooks Yes. It feels like the early days of Twitter: I can disagree with someone without it becoming a big deal; I can tell everyone good/bad news without it feeling like humble-bragging; I learn stuff from other people; I can feel the pulse of what's happening; I'm away from techbros; there are people here from outside of my normal circle and that makes me more accepting.

[pthane@toot.wales]

@LianaBrooks
It's my only social media and it's fine. None of my real life friends and family* are on it but I interact with makers and techies of all kinds.
* I suspect my brother might be lurking on Blue sky and see my posts via Bridgy. Are you there bro?

[julia@soc.pupgirl.link]

@LianaBrooks yes

[mutineer@social.coop]

Yes and yes. Remember too that you can use forum platdorms, with Discourse or similar, so that you can collectively own your content or blog. These platforms can selectively federate and share stuff more widely. For the rest of us on here I think we need to think more about tipping or paying for products or services we genuinely value, and not expect creators to be paid by the ad / algorithm shit. We get what we deserve in the long run.

[nux@fosstodon.org]

@LianaBrooks Yes, since roughly 6 months.

[darkedge@mastodon.me.uk]

@LianaBrooks yes and yes, it's great

[aspiringluddite@medievalist.masto.host]

@LianaBrooks

Yep, and works just fine ...

[afb@mastodonapp.uk]

@LianaBrooks Yup! I'm finding a lot of interesting people doing cool stuff, and I get a bit of blog traffic off posting here. It's also simply a nicer place to be than most of the other sites, in my experience.

[wav3ydave@mas.to]

@LianaBrooks yes, also yes. takes a bit more legwork to get it going but a much better experience overall