I meant to post this a few days ago, but since we seem to be having an exodus, here's a quick guide.

If you want an easy way to find where people are going, use the Facebook search function - but that's not all you have to do. Once you have the search term in, click on "Posts" so you're just looking at posts, then "Your Friends" and, if there are too many, narrow it down by year.

If you get a hit, remember to check the comments, because some of your mutuals may reply in comments with where they are moving to.



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Blue Sky is like Twitter. All posts are public and the focus is on engagement and sharing. There's better moderation than Twitter though.
To find which friends have moved to Blue Sky, search on:

• bsky.social (the "right" way to share a profile link
• bsky.app (the common way, for people who copy/paste URLs)
• bsky (the abbreviation, may not be needed if you do the other two, but I don't fully trust FB's search function, so here you go)

These ones's aren't great, as they catch more than just people posting moving notices, but in case you want to do a deeper dive, here you go:

• bluesky
• blue sky

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Reddit is like an old school BBS or Facebook groups, with different channels for different topics. Some groups are good, some are really, deeply, unpleasant. Feel free to drop a group the moment you get uncomfortable.
To find which friends have moved to Reddit, search on:

• reddit.com/r/ (this finds channels/groups)
• reddit.com/u/ (this finds profiles/people)

I don't know of any other searches that work. Unfortunately, this one is messy.

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Dreamwidth is a LiveJournal replacement, best for long-form content and discussions. It works off of "circles", but basically, all communication occurs on the equivalent of Facebook pages and groups. Sharing images/media can be a challenge if you're not used to embedding images in an HTML-like form.

Dreamwidth is easy. Just search on "dreamwidth".

When people say "I'm beaksandbaubles on dreamwidth", that means that you need to go https://beaksandbaubles.dreamwidth.org/ . Once there, click "add to your circle" to follow them.

Remember to check comments on your friends' posts on Dreamwidth, as you can find more friends there.
You can also search on "dw", but know that you may match a lot of Doctor Who posts as well.

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Discord is like a modern spin on IRC or WhatsApp groups. It works off of "servers" which contain "channels", so you have to join a server and then see what channels on that server you care about. It's kinda messy, but it's much more "in the moment" than other platforms.
Search on "discord". And then read about which servers and channels they're suggesting you join. If they don't mention specific servers, you'll need to ask them for more specifics.

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Mastodon/Fediverse is complicated and can vary based on which server you're using. It's generally for short-form content like Twitter, but aims at growing community.
Search on:

• mastodon
• mastadon (because people misspell it a lot)
• fediverse

If people don't mention their specific server, you'll need to ask.

This shrimp is here to kick ass and take names and there's no one else here, he can't hold a pen very well, the pencil floated away , the paper dissolved in the water, and frankly this whole project could be going a lot better.


(No, I'm not starting up the photo posts again - too busy, but I saw this old photo of mine and the caption popped into my head and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so here you go.)

(Since it was popular over on FB, I'm copying here.)

I'm seeing the "no one knows what kind of dog Cerberus was" post going around again, so I feel a need to mention that Κέρβερος was first mentioned in Homer and Hesiod, which places him at - the earliest - as 800 BCE, or less than 3,000 years ago. At that time, in Greece, the dominant dog breed was the greyhound.

Homer's/Hesiod's Cerberus could not have been a dachshund, as that breed is (1) German and (2) just over 300 years old. Similarly, the chihuahua is out, being around 150 years old (and it's predecessor breed, the techichi, is only about 1,200 years old). Even the poodle is out, being only 2,000 years old.

Assuming Hades can travel and leave Greece, in addition to the greyhound, reasonable dog breeds for Cerberus include the akita inu, the greenland sled dog, the afghan hound, basenji, tibetan mastiff, or the saluki.

HOWEVER, this assumes that Κέρβερος is the name for a single immortal dog. If Κέρβερος is a TITLE given to Hades' dog, which lives a mortal - though extended (as is common for those who associate with mythical gods) - lifespan until he either dies or gets to retire as a Naberius, then Cerberus could be unrestricted by breed.

Moreover, if we assume that, when he needs a new one, Hades just goes to the shelter and picks up three dogs to smush together, there is no reason to believe that all three heads would come from the same breed of dog.

(And there are advantages to picking specific breed traits, such as seeing, hearing, and barking, to maximize capabilities in a guard dog.)

Whooping cranes like to tell jokes:

A fully vaccinated person and a non-vaccinated person walk into a bar. Six weeks later, the non-vaccinated person’s grandparents die.

Whooping crane jokes aren’t all that funny.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

This penguin understands that everyone makes mistakes, but observes that some sure do seem to make a lot more of them than others.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

intersect((z=-x^(2)-y^(2)+5),(x+y=2))

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

This sheep is aware that the 1980’s are as far away from today as WWII is from the 1980’s, but it doesn’t bother him because he likes being a time traveler.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

Butterfly patiently waiting for the vaccine rollout to include the 1-30 day age range.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

This sea nettle suggests that you pick one place in you house and label it “safe place”, so when you remember putting something in a safe place, there is only one place it can be.

Okay, it’s not the sea nettle saying this. It’s me.

Fortunately, I eventually found the tax documents.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

This crab just realized that, in all the stories, all the magic carpets do is fly. If they’re magic, shouldn’t they be able to do a lot more?

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.