Dear Fedi friends,

Next week I have the honor of doing a presentation advocating for the Fediverse in a really prestigious venue (I can't share more now, but I will after it takes place).

I'm currently working on slides and I would love to hear testimonies from YOU. Why the Fediverse is so special to you in contrast to Big Tech platforms (bonus points if you speak French & can reply en français).

I'll share a selection of your testimonies in my slideshow presentation.

Merci beaucoup ❤️

... and now I need to go pick up my child from daycare. I'll be mostly offline for the rest of the day but I look forward to reading your testimonies tonight, when she's asleep 😊

@_elena I love the Fediverse because it restored focus on People having Conversations again. The so-called "Social Media" sites started out that way, connecting you with friends you lost touch with, and gathering your extended family, but these days they treat you like an Audience instead.

The people who seem to have the greatest frustration using Fediverse systems like Mastodon are the ones looking for "reach" or "follower count" or other metrics of how big their Audience is. This is Big Tech thinking, and I recommend they instead look for people to talk *with* instead of *at*. Because that's where we really shine, and I love this space for it.

@_elena I personally prefer Fediverse over other systems, because it feels like a nice tight knit community where you can be as dumb or weird as you like. Also (not applying to me) it is way more open to LGBTQ people.
[That does not mean there are non bad players. It is open and anyone can join. But those usually get moderated out pretty quick.]
You can easily create your own instance, using various servers and moderate things according to your own tastes. You arent bound by how $company decides to moderate.

@_elena I like the fediverse because it's my third place.
People I follow are real humans with their own unique traits. I don't agree with everyone, but I learn about the world as it is right now.

@_elena
Its very simple for me, really, I have made friends here, the neurodivergence network never fails to surprise, delight, and frustrate me, and I never have to wonder who paid to put something in front of me. If I want it to do something different, I can do it.