#I have technically posted this on an alt account but tumblr just suddenly decided to terminate it

[soapsinthebox]

A sketch of Teruko in lolita since i thought she'd look cute in them ^^

[lindwurmkai]

i have mostly been talking about my experiences with other social media platforms elsewhere, but since i just realised for how long i've been doing this by now (i think i got serious about it in november), might as well post an update.

mastodon: decent replacement for my private twitter. great for rambling into the void and keeping up with friends, provided those friends are on there. my public twitter was more for entertainment than communication, and mastodon truly falls flat in that regard. as a result, tumblr has actually become my main replacement for that aspect of twitter.

pros: great filtering system, content warnings and alt text are part of the culture, you can subscribe to hashtags, not much value placed on popularity, decent mobile layout and 3rd party apps

cons: rules differ from server to server, your server's admins can suddenly decide to block the server your friend is on, the default desktop layout kinda sucks, finding any posts about your interests may be impossible, and reply guys are everywhere

cohost: technically has the best set of features to truly recreate the twitter experience, but text can be formatted like on tumblr and there's no character limit. absolute design nightmare and none of my friends are active on there, so i've basically given up on it.

pros: if you want a tumblr-twitter hybrid and don't mind the cons, this sure is the website for you. has "pages" that are like if sideblogs and multiple account management had a baby. it's a single account but each "page" functions like a separate one? hats off tbh

cons: aside from the horrible design, i've heard their terms of service and such were legally concerning. can't verify this.

hive: bad idea. wish i hadn't signed up for it

pillowfort: i've been on there for a long time, but only became active again last year and found it had improved slightly in my absence. progress is very slow because they're entirely user-funded. you know i love it, though: the as-yet missing features are totally worth the wait because they've got something no one else has: communities, like on livejournal or dreamwidth. this will absolutely become my main hangout one day, mostly replacing my private twitter (now mastodon) and the more personal aspects of tumblr.

pros: communities, per-post privacy settings, livejournal-style comments, very chill site culture, looks a bit like ye olde tumblr but less busy, planned features include dashboard filters and multiple account management

cons: doesn't have drafts and a queue yet (but they're coming soon!), activity is still low, memes and shitposts can be found but there's a trend towards more long-form essay content (which is not in itself a bad thing, i'd just like to see both)

in conclusion, i haven't found a 1:1 replacement for anything. ultimately, i'm betting on PF becoming a mix of what my private twitter used to be (a safe space) and how i remember the early days of tumblr (a place to connect with people and have good-faith discussions). present-day tumblr will replace my public twitter as a major source of mindless entertainment, and i'll occasionally check in on mastodon to keep up with one or two friends.

where the majority of fandom will migrate to is anyone's guess. if it were pillowfort, i'd be more inclined to actively participate than just lurk because the site structure seems to genuinely encourage level-headed discussion.