Ok so I think I have some reading to do. I just kind of jumped on here, but I guess this particular instance is supposed to be academics focused? And I'm supposed to use CWs for selfies? And links to other sites? This may not be a good fit for me.
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@topologist I too have been using it just like Twitter, and have realised that, no, it's not just like using Twitter but being in a group where people happen to be academics. I prefer an open mix of science and non-science content, so like you may need to find somewhere else. Thanks for mentioning that here.
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@aidanbudd do you know what the reasoning is behind asking for CWs for e.g. Twitter or Facebook? And presumably Google, Amazon, and other "tech" companies? The CW framework ia not super clear to me yet. I mean, for certain things it seems like a great idea (e.g. on Twitter I've had people I follow post pics I did not want to see) but I'm not sure I know what its bounds are. And some people seem to use it just to compress posts.
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@topologist @aidanbudd I can try to answer the question about the rationale behind CW's
A lot of people came to Masto to escape the toxic culture there, which was really multifaceted
E.g. a big part of Twitter is "outrage culture"—a constant cycle of "omg Trump did X" or something, and so in order to give readers a chance to consent as to whether/when they want to deal with that, we use CW's
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@topologist @aidanbudd And for Unlisted posts, I'm not going to police that, as anyone who's seeing your Unlisted posts can just unfollow you, or if they're seeing a post of yours boosted, they can mute you
But for Public posts, those go in the Local Timeline, and the whole point of this instance is to be a non-toxic place for academics (loosely defined) to geek out over the cool stuff they're learning/teaching/researching (loosely defined)
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@socrates @topologist Thanks very much for taking the time to get in touch with us about this, Socrates.
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@aidanbudd @topologist Np! I'm open to feedback
I'm trying not to be authoritarian, while also trying to be clear that I will come down hard on people who are harming minorities or the vulnerable
It's a tricky line and I hope I don't screw it up too often!
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@topologist @aidanbudd Don't worry
Nobody's gonna ban you for posting your furry little friends ;)
Scholar Social is a microblogging platform for researchers, grad students, librarians, archivists, undergrads, academically inclined high schoolers, educators of all levels, journal editors, research assistants, professors, administrators—anyone involved in academia who is willing to engage with others respectfully.
We strive to be a safe space for queer people and other minorities, recognizing that there can only be academic freedom where the existence and validity of interlocutors' identities is taken as axiomatic.
"An academic microblog that you can be proud to put on the last slide of a presentation at a conference"
(Participation is, of course, optional)
Scholar Social features a monthly "official" journal club, in which we try to read and comment on a paper of interest.
Any user of Scholar Social can suggest an article by sending the DOI by direct message to @socrates@scholar.social and one will be chosen by random lottery on the last day of the month. We ask that you only submit articles that are from *outside* your own field of study to try to ensure that the papers we read are accessible and interesting to non-experts.
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@socrates @aidanbudd thanks! Yeah, I think that we will probably develop a better sense of what we're doing as we move forward, and in particular some kind of community norms. I 100% agree with banning the heck out of abusers, racists, etc., but I also wouldn't want this to be a completely dry and "academic" instance. Or at least, I wouldn't enjoy that as much. As you can see, scholars love their pets!