The third in our blog post series is by @haubles - sharing our work and ideas around how to grow and nurture the community, for everyone. #Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialWeb

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/02/mastodon-is-for-the-people/

Look who decided to show at my kiddo's #Minecraft world ...

#Mastodon #plushy ! Now at 20% of discount in the US.

This is not a sponsored post lol @Mastodon

https://shop.joinmastodon.org/products/mastodon-plushie

Hold On Tight

Fun fact to keep you awake tonight: Just had a chat with an atmospheric chemist and the best comparison she could come up with for the pollution that would result from burning up 1 million "AI datacenter" satellites in Earth's atmosphere is a nuclear war.

In today's blog post, we have @renchap (with @imanijoy) updating you on the project roadmap, plans, and technical direction.

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/02/our-technical-direction/

The United Kingdom is escalating its censorship and mass surveillance. When Mullvad tried to criticise this with the TV ad “And Then?”, it was banned on British television.

https://media.mullvad.net/andthen/30s/Mullvad_AND_THEN_30s_US_ProRes422_Webmix_4K.mov

Have you enclosed your horse today?

Deal with it! #Plushtodon

Just so disabled people in the UK know, if Reform UK get in, they would repeal the Equality Act, describing it as divisive and a political fashion statement. If you aren't interested in politics, it's worth bearing in mind that politics is interested in you - the immigrant carers that help you, your benefits, your access to work, your right to live free from discrimination, companies' obligations for accessibility, Uber's obligation to take guide dogs.

Ran into a local celebrity in my hotel lobby. She’s so gracious with her fans!

This post is a sincere thank you to my Mastodon family for the (super) warm reception of Current.

We are firmly #1 in news and just about to break top 20 in the entire App Store.

Thank you!!!

#rss

Puff Puff loves her scritchies

#Cats
#CatsOfMastodon

Gen AI is an expensive way to create text and images. Right now, much of that cost is being subsidized and hidden, but it will eventually need to be paid. Because charging the actual cost will likely negate most of the value proposition of genAI, the companies that run the big models are focused on altering the social and economic context so that there are big external costs to opting out. E.g. getting companies to fire staff makes it difficult to pivot back away from AI because hiring and training replacement staff can be difficult and costly. Hence, the huge rush and hysterical sense of urgency around adoption: the demand for profitability is an approaching tidal wave, and they need to lock entire industries in before that wave hits.

That's why resistance IN THE PRESENT counts for a great deal. Right now, we have the approaching wave in our favor, and they're counting on cultivating enough dependence before it hits that we'll have no choice to accept the actual costs. The closer they get to locking society into dependence on hyperscale AI systems, the more difficult it becomes to opt out of even the plainly dystopian uses of the technology. And the longer we "wait and see," the less say we may ultimately have in how this technology shapes our society.

The UK has announced plans to fast-track legislation requiring “age verification for VPN use”. The correct term, however, is not age verification but identity verification.

A law like this would require everyone to identify themselves in order to use a VPN. This would pose a risk to whistleblowers, violate human rights, and represent yet another step toward an authoritarian society.

Today we're sharing the first in a series of three posts from our leadership team, starting with @mellifluousbox discussing our mission, and priorities for 2026. Stay tuned this week for more.

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/02/connecting-the-world-through-thriving-online-communities/

Es war ein kurzer Weg von "ich richte mich mal hier ein" zu "wow, ein Plüschi".