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> The real reason why people are "migrating" to Mastodon right now is one and one only: to signal their tribal affiliation

That's an assertion. I've moved because I genuinely want to own my network and not get suddenly blocked, losing access to everything. And I've moved because I want to encourage others to move. If everybody else moves, then it becomes easier for me to remain moved, and thus promoting it on Twitter is entirely consistent with that goal.

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Allow me to propose to you the following thought experiment: had Elon Musk not bought Twitter, what do you figure would be the probability that mainstream media would be talking about Mastodon right now?

Fairly low, I agree with you. And the chances of me having set up my own Mastodon account would also be fairly low.

But that's not to say that my reasoning is to signal tribal affiliation.

I haven't moved before because I didn't know anyone on Mastodon. I now know quite a few, so moving is more valuable. It could be the network effect happening in reverse, and that's interesting for the media to report on.

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