Notices by Mal (malmorrow@mastodon.africa)

@wogan @hnygd

That's all I've got for now. I'm going to withdraw my earlier comment about 'misplaced optimism', get back to being a real optimist!

@wogan @hnygd

Learn from the #hate.

As a #cis white man, especially in SA, I don't face a whole lot of hate. But of course #SouthAfrica has huge problems with hate. I can empathise with others, but the experience is not usually my own. The trolling I faced today was perhaps as cold a reality as I'm ever likely to face. It will, I hope, teach me how horrible and difficult it is for black, queer, Muslim, Jewish, and other minorities to survive bigotry. Vulnerable people might not survive.

@wogan @hnygd

Words don't achieve much by themselves.

I thought hard about what I gained from attracting trolls about Pride. I didn't achieve anything much - except this self-examination! The real and useful thing to do is to *go* to Pride, when it happens, and write about that. That's being a useful #ally to people who matter to me. For that matter, I do useful volunteer work with a #schools #equestrian organisation, so I must write more about that too. Do first, then write.

@wogan @hnygd

Choose my controversy.

I don't have to apologise to anyone - admins or otherwise - about my strongly-held opinions. But if I want to get myself into trouble, better be something in which I'm particularly willing to fight a corner. LGBTQIA+ rights are extremely important to me, yes, but I'm really a supporter, not a prime mover. The controversial subject I'm much more invested in is #migrant rights. It affects my family, and I think it's also very relevant to @mastodon.africa.

@wogan, @hnygd What have I learned? 🧵

I should treat #admins not as faceless #moderators but as friendly hosts, and not mess up their place! The #ServerRules are obviously essential, but it's easy to cause problems even if I stay inside the rules.

Blocking trolls works well, but in order to protect my followers I need the admins' involvement. So that adds work for a couple of busy people, which isn't kind.

@wogan @hnygd

Controversial subjects attract #trolls.

That's not a reason to avoid them, but I must consider if it's a controversy that is relevant to the server. This is @mastodon.africa, and there are plenty of controversial subjects that are relevant. #Pride and #LGBTQIA+ rights are certainly relevant, they're relevant everywhere. I just have to decide if it's the hill I (and my admins) must die on *today*.

One of my posts just got dogpiled by American (going by timezone difference) homophobic racists making death threats. That was a good opportunity to test Mastodon's block facility, which seems to work pretty well. It clears one's timeline very neatly and immediately.

I didn't bother reporting - their admins won't care. One positive response to the hate was from a user on one of their own servers - that user should consider moving elsewhere for their own sanity and safety.

Go to Pride and take your kids with you. If for no other reason (and there are plenty of other reasons):

Your kids will know they can trust you if they ever need or want to come out.