Update on my Mastodon marketing
In February 2023, I joined Mastodon. Mastodon is a Twitter clone, with short posts linked to bigger articles somewhere else on the internet. On Mastodon, I post a short description of a certain TDG article on my TDG Blog. That post shows up on the feeds of my Mastodon followers. If a follower likes the post, he/she can quickly move to the article on the blog.
When I am on my computer, I post about every three hours to Mastodon. So maybe five posts a day. I could post more often, but I fear annoying my followers.
I attach some nifty graphics to each post. So even if the Mastodon post can’t find a visitor, the great messages are still visible on the feed. Maybe with repeated exposure, there will be more visitors later. Here are four of the first 20 graphics:
Most of the articles in my blog were first published on Medium. In essence, I am recycling my Medium articles. Making a Mastodon post takes one to two minutes, which is much less than it takes to write a new Medium article.
I have 240 Mastodon followers. I believe at least half of them are seeing at least one TDG graphic a day.
About five of my Mastodon followers sometimes repost my Mastodon posts. While this is great, I would like them to be TDG builders, sooner than later.
I have 521 articles on my blog. I just work the list from start to finish. My eight main essays get played three times in this cycle. About 150 articles do not find their way to Mastodon because of less relevance or too dated. So it takes about two months to cycle through the list. So the content always looks fresh to my 240 Mastodon direct subscribers, even though these articles are “old.”
But what about the title of this article, Dave?
Mastodon has a 500-character limit per post. It’s been fun trying to message within that limit.
Of course, my feed is full of posts from my 240 followers. I have occasionally clicked on these posts. Usually, I am disappointed for one of these three reasons:
1. Paywall
2. Subscription request popup
3. Garrish advertising
While I feel sorry for media outlets trying to pay their bills, I don’t have time for tacky websites. So I seldom click on a Mastodon post.
But I am happy to tell you that the TDG Blog is free of paywall, popups, and advertising. When you click on my blog, you go straight to the articles you want to read. You control your learning of an alternative democracy.
So how’s this Mastodon working, Dave?
So far, not much tangible is happening. Are my TDG graphics having an effect on my followers? Hard to say.
However, the TDG website has had sustained increased traffic since December 2024. Before that time, the website might have got two visitors a week. Since then, it is getting about 15 visitors and seems to be holding steady. I believe that this increase is mostly coming from Mastodon. But there might finally be a desire to inspect something different, politically speaking.
Since my work cannot be explained in a few minutes, its exposure suffers from our shorter attention spans. Some of my TDG visitors look at one page and disappear. Some take in a few pages. Some return for further quick sessions. But I haven’t seen any truly committed readers yet.
My email subscriber list has grown from 20 to 200 since December. For this group, I write a bi-monthly TDG report about the TDG. But no one has communicated directly with me.
Medium
After 6.5 years on Medium, I’m still a bottom writer. I have not built up a sustainable following. I get only 10 to 20 readers per article. And the lukewarm TDG fans are doing little to move the TDG forward. Not encouraging. Even the second Trump presidency cannot change my exposure!
So I don’t expect much from Medium these days. But I still write one article per week for these reasons:
· Maintaining some continuity for the last 6.5 years.
· Satisfying a creative urge.
· Staying in a position to get “lucky.” My main topic is unique enough that it needs only one celebrity to move it more into the Overton Window.
Too many political thinkers still believe we can vote, protest, and post articles to get us out of this mess. They believe democracy was working reasonably well before a famous man took a ride down an escalator — and we can somehow return to those times. “Naïve thinking,” I say.
Other political thinkers believe the situation is hopeless. Why they still bother writing political articles is beyond me. Yet these political writers are more popular than I.
Substack
In January, I joined Substack, which is a Medium clone, albeit with different features. I post each Medium article to Substack. I don’t linger long, so I have not built up any serious following here. I mostly see Substack as a place to archive my TDG work. When the political crash finally happens, a few Substack readers might remember a crazy guy from Canada talking about a new way.
My Substack work is getting about 50% the traffic as compared to Medium. But Substack is new for me, so we could say it is outperforming Medium. I have one true fan on Substack (we met on Medium) who sometimes promotes the TDG in his own way. Other than that fan, I’ve only had one serious inquiry from this forum.
LinkedIn
I have been on LinkedIn for about 20 years. I have acquired about 120 followers. About 2/3 are people I know personally — and people who know me personally have dismissed my TDG idea. My reality friends think I’m insane.
I post my new articles on LinkedIn. My LinkedIn stats say my views are 10–20 per article. But no likes, no comments, and no reposts.
Recently, my LinkedIn traction has increased to 20 to 40 views. I’m not sure why. But again, very little reaction to what I am doing.
Conclusion
Mastodon — with recycling of my Medium articles — seems to be the best use of my limited time and energy. I shall continue with this marketing.
But at this point, the furthering of the TDG probably depends more on you than on me.
Spread the word.
Published on Medium 2025
Why is Science Fiction Holding Us Back?
