Am I supposed to post something?

#GygaxianDemocracy

We're 8 months into the diaspora. I'm still miserably missing the G+ scene, and it seems as though a lot of other folks feel the same way. I think we can do better than we have been. G+ was an anomaly. It worked for us because everybody else hated it, which would kill any service that didn't have a titan like Google backing it. We are unlikely to be so lucky again. Big Social alternatives like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit have not been working out. To my thinking, it is not really desirable that they work out. There is a movement away from these toxic social spaces which many of the most interesting people are a part of. If we ever did get Facebook working, we'd still be missing everyone who is part of #DeleteFacebook. Our best short term solution is to strengthen small social spaces. Forums like this one, or lasagna.social. Small ~50 person discord servers. The comment sections of blogs. Our best long term solution is to get more people onto federated social media services, like Mastadon or Diaspora. These have the benefit of all the modern features folks have come to expect from their social media. They're also more stable, since they're not dependent on a single host maintaining them. They're less likely to create skewed power dynamics because of the same reason. The best way to accomplish both of these goals is to have interesting conversations in the spaces you like best. Be as interesting as you know how to be. Then link people to the interesting conversation. If it's interesting enough, they'll want to participate. They'll create an account. Once they've got their foot in the door, it'll be easier to get them interested in the next cool conversation, and the next. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit can be useful for funneling new people out of those spaces and into our small and interesting spaces, but aren't good for much else.

I'm an ENnie Award Winning Illustrator (Dan makes me say this, I don't even want to) who has provided illustrations and maps for various RPG weirdo products like Troika, Fever Swamp, Crypts of Indormancy, The Undercroft, B/X Essentials, various Dolmenwood products (Wormskin, The Weird That Befell Drigbolton), Echoes From Fomalhaut and a few others. I have a Troika chapbook entitled 'Fronds of Benevolence' that I wrote and drew coming out with Melsonian Arts Council soon and have plans to write more stuff in future including a 90s FPS themed supplement for Stay Frosty (think Quake/Doom in tabletop RPG form). You can see my portfolio and buy shit here: www.andrewwalter.co.uk https://andrewwalter.bigcartel.com/