Today, I've gone to a lot of trouble to have fediverse accounts today, and accounts on other enviroments that aren't as toxic and hostile as Facebook ... I still have a Facebook account. It's necessary to keep in touch with some family members. It's valuable for activism -- meet people where they are. It's the best place to find out about music events. There are some friends and former colleagues that it's the best way to keep in touch with. etc etc I wish those things weren't the case, but they are. So I have an account but limit my engagement -- these days I rarely post except for activism, private messages, and occasionally resharing posts that people are trying to get the word out about. There's still a lot of value in keeping most of my activity off there.

And I still have a Twitter account despite all its issues. A lot of reproductive justice and abolitionist organizers are still there. It's better than any other social network for getting first-hand views of Palestinians. A lot of Black Twitter is still there. There are some friends and former colleagues that it's the best way to keep in touch with. It's potentially still useful for activism purposes. etc etc. So I have an account but limit my engagement -- these days I rarely post except for retweeting, DMs, and stuff that I don't care if it's public. There's still a lot of value in keeping most of my activity off there.

And some reproductive justice and abolitionist organizers have left Twitter and gone to Threads. Threads is likely to be useful for activism purposes. Over time there are likely to be friends and former colleagues that it's the best way to keep in touch with. I'm sure other etc etc's will evolve. So I have an account but limit my engagement. There's still a lot of value in keeping most of my activity off there.

And Meta's fediverse is likely to be useful for activism, and there are likely to be people there that I don't have any way to keep in touch with. Also, it's a great audience for The Nexus Today. I already have accounts there so don't expect to give them up. So I have an account but limit my engagement.

It's a classic double-bind. Being able to staying in an environment that some people find isn't safe enough to stay in is a form of privilege; but then again, feeling like I have to stay in an anti-LGBTQIA2S+ environment where I feel constrained as to what I can say publicly and my data's being exploited is a form of oppression -- and so is the expectation that I should have to give up on all these valuable things just because I want to spend most of my time in an pro-LGBTQIA2S+ enviroment. So, there aren't any perfect answers.