Social Media

Mastodon is undoubtedly better than Twitter (was) and way better than what Twitter has become.

One way to use Mastodon is to follow #hashtags or user profiles in a web based RSS reader such as Inoreader and then dive into the apps interface to respond to a question or join a conversation.

There are many RSS readers which are very good, either web based or standalone applications like QuiteRSS just search for RSS readers or check out RSS extensions for your browser. You probably already have an RSS reader, Microsoft Outlook supports it, Thunderbird and other email clients often have RSS readers built in, as it is an open protocol. You can follow the RSS feed of this blog. If you install the RSS Inoreader extension it will let you know there is a feed available on the site you are visiting by turning from the usual blue colour to orange, then you will see a choice of feeds and formats, usually RSS, Atom or JSON, it doesn't really matter which one you choose. Often there is more than one feed for a site, the main feed, and a comments feed for example.

Mastodon does have some good tools to cover and filter content, and as long as posters stick to the content warning rules then your timeline is readable. You can also mute "boosts" from other people you follow, without muting their posts. Unlike Twitter where there are constant "likes" from others, and content that Twitter's algorithm thinks you should see, but if you want to be in full control of the content you see, then RSS is a good solution.  There will be no more articles here referring the blue bird, I think everyone has had quite enough of it, if you are still using it and you see anyone claiming to be from Skyport Radio, it is not us, all our accounts are closed.

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