Connecting to Mastodon
Last February, I joined Mastodon. I wanted to see if this forum could help me promote my alternative democracy.
Mastodon is a Twitter clone, but with a more organic structure. Rather than one big mother server, Mastodon is a collection of “instances.” Each user belongs to one instance but can easily connect with members of other instances. Users also can easily change their instance to better suit their needs for internet interaction.
The instance owners borrow the Mastodon software to create their own Mastodon instance. They also create a certain culture. In this way, the owners do their own censorship. And instances can ban other instances, which means a “real bad instance” loses connections with the Mastodon world. I think this will provide better control of disinformation than social media CEOs making promises and/or creating band-aid rules.
Mastodon and its instances are funded by donations, most of which, I believe, are from users of the instances.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with Mastodon because Twitter never made much sense to me when I gave that forum a try quite a few years ago. Mastodon has short posts, usually linked to something else on the internet. Like Twitter.
As I was experimenting with Mastodon, I figured out some angles to promote “Tiered Democratic Governance (TDG).” I think I have developed an approach that is worthy of a serious try.
I say “serious try” with some reservation. I’ve had more than a few internet businesses since 1996. I’ve tried many different marketing approaches over the years — and nothing has brought me success. History says this new approach is destined to fail as well. But it is different than what I have tried before. And it is not costing me too much money. It’s worth a try.
Non-Mastodon Enhancements
If I am bringing Mastodon into the marketing, I might as well do some minor enhancements to the TDG website that I’ve had on my mind for a year or so. Here are my recent changes:
· Cutting out half the text on the landing page, just getting to the basic message of this new democracy.
· Developing an animated banner to roll out three simple TDG slogans. These three slogans repeat throughout the TDG website.
· Releasing the TDG intellectual rights for TDG supporters to develop their own TDG artwork. I even allow them to monetize on the TDG name and art.
· Making it more clear that the TDG is not about me getting money.
Using Mastodon
Since February, I’ve been promoting my Medium articles on Mastodon. I copy the Medium URL from my Medium article, put it in the Mastodon post, write up a little promo, add my hashtag, and hit the publish button. Maybe one minute to make a Mastodon post.
I get a little traction. Maybe one in 10 of my Mastodon posts gets a “reboost,” a “favorite,” or a comment. The traction from other posters on my feed is maybe one in five. Mastodon (or maybe my Mastodon instance) does not seem to be as vibrant as Twitter.
From my Medium stats, I have not got any indication of external views from Mastodon. Maybe the Medium paywall is the problem, as I have had a couple of complaints of not being allowed to see my Medium articles. I know there is a Medium option to bypass the paywall (but no Medium shekels). But I wanted to give a more robust experience for my TDG readers.
So I am setting up a TDG blog on my website. This blog will have all my articles I published on Medium and other places. At this time, I have moved about 120 out of my 350 articles to the TDG blog.
So now my Mastodon posts have the URL from the blog, not from Medium.
My plan is to make several Mastodon posts a day, trying to move visitors to my blog. When visitors get to my blog, they have ready access to all my articles plus they have access to the rest of the TDG website. This is better than directing them to my Medium articles which have limited connections.
As well, I am able to find a specific article much easier on my blog than on Medium. Expect more of my Medium “clickbait” to have URLs from TDG’s Blog.
Each of my Mastodon posts has the hashtag #tiereddemocraticgovernance. I’m not sure if anyone is following this hashtag yet, but it shows up prominently on my posts. I’m hoping the repeated exposure will make the hashtag more ingrained. And used — later.
Will this get the traction that I am looking for? I don’t know. But this approach is different — and worth a try.
All these changes have directly cost me about $800. I am doing all the uploading of articles, which is a slow, tedious process. But my time is free.
Other Findings from my Mastodon Experiment
I have acquired 65 followers. Judging from their posts, some of them could be early TDG builders. They just need more exposure to the TDG.
Early in my Mastodon sojourn. I responded to a post, which immediately found a receptive audience. I was having chats with five different people, which lasted about two hours. That time was intense fun for me. I’ve had a few one-on-one Mastodon chats, but this is not a common occurrence.
I have clicked on many links from Mastodon posts. I have not been impressed where those links are taking me. I often get websites with paywalls, subscription popups, donation popups, and too much advertising. Too often, it is hard to find the text that got me interested to click. All this “monetizing” makes me reluctant to click on a Mastodon post.
To be different, my blog needs to be free of all this distraction!
So my blog articles load quickly with no popups. Readers can get right into my article with no fuss. If they like the article, there are convenient links to other articles.
I have “unfollowed” a few Mastodon users for dominating my feed. These people post 50 times a day, maybe more. When they post, I see much fewer posts from my other follows. This example says I need to put some limit to my posting lest I get unfollowed.
Medium has provided a certain education and entertainment for me. I’m not getting the same value from Mastodon.
Manor House Economics
The manor house business model is that the owner of the manor house sets the rules. "Users" can only accept or reject those conditions. Most internet conglomerate are manor houses.
Being dependent on one manor house has a danger. The house can change the rules anytime — and there is not much a user can do about it.
So, for a couple of years, I have been thinking about storing my articles somewhere other than Medium. I set up TDG’s Blog to fulfill that purpose. I can easily direct people to the blog, which is much better than having many WORD files on my computer. I have both safe, practical storage and access for future readers. Take a look at TDG’s Blog to see how I have set this blog up.
If the rules change on Medium or Mastodon, I can take my blog to other places. I am in more control of my future.
Setting up such a website is not that expensive.
Published on Medium 2023
