Welcome! Feel free to introduce yourself here in the c/main channel if you’d like.

  • milltertime_3227790@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    From Chicago. I made the plunge to Mastodon (and here) after the Reddit shenanigans and just seeing the repeated bad-faith policies by Twitter. I have been using redirector and libredirect for the last month or two to actively decide who I give my data to just as a fun experiment into best practices.

    I think it’s slowly starting to be clear that this type of setup will be the way forward for the more tech-savvy, privacy-focused users, and hopefully/eventually it hits the mainstream as well, but otherwise, it’s just self-selecting into the type of people I want to be around, which will probably be better for my mental health anyways.

    I’m into cycling, trading, sci-fi and FOSS. Currently reading The Expanse and taking a sabbatical year from work

    Edit: Just want to encourage people to engage w/ and create content over the next few weeks. Activity and friendly faces are probably the most determining factor in whether someone becomes an active user or just browses for a few minutes

  • heyfluxay@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Hey everyone, started exploring Lemmy the other week and really jumped in after the Apollo news broke.

    I’m gamer/podcaster/dad/wannabe bourbon enthusiast from Michigan.

    I have a tech role in logistics and am just looking for a chill community to be a part of.

    Currently consumed with exploring Hyrule.

  • Tink@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Hello! I live in Kalamazoo, MI and grew up in Muskegon, MI. I’m a part of the mass exodus from reddit. So far I’m enjoying the fediverse and was glad to see an instance dedicated to midwesterners. I work in mental health and enjoy cooking/baking, crafting, painting, kayaking, gardening, gaming (DnD, Zelda, board games) and spending time with my loved ones. Excited to be here!

  • maskedwallaby@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Hello! Quad Citizen reporting in, pretty active in the /r/Iowa and /r/QuadCities subreddits and poking around to see who’s popped up in Lemmy.

    MOST of our buildings are solid.

    • Jeremy [Iowa]@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      MOST of our buildings are solid.

      I read about that. I wonder if the builders if my home shared some design ideas with the architects there…

  • Derecho@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Yet another reddit refugee, but the only thing I will miss is the niche animal husbandry subreddits.

    My main interests are critter genetics & habitat management, and a lot of husbandry n enrichment on the side. Always been a bit of a pain to be lefty & interested in livestock, most of the old forums such as they still exist are full of people that are pretty aggressive in their disapproval of my sort. But maybe I’ll find a niche eventually!

    I do other science n tech reading and cruise some of the hobby stuff (carpentry, mini terrain, jewelry making… I like a little bit of a lot of things) but don’t usually post as much as lurk those areas.

  • Jeremy [Iowa]@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Hey, all. Like many, I’m bailing on Reddit given the drama and sheer disrespect for everyone, trying this community with a few friends.

    I’m an Iowan, soon-to-be dad, equally-avid gardener and range time enthusiast, software engineer, gamer, etc. Based on the other intros, seems like I’ll fit in well enough.

    I wish I was consumed with exploring Hyrule; the pre-baby DIY crunch is too time-consuming.

  • methodicalaspect@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Morning everyone. Chicago suburb native of 42 years who doesn’t really feel like leaving. Working at one of the many data centers in the Chicago area, if you can call it work, because I enjoy technology in general. I joined because I’ve been migrating from legacy social media to the Fediverse; Reddit’s API nonsense helped that process along.

    Contrary to what my parents and sisters drilled into my head as I was growing up, I’ve been leaning more and more left as I age. At some point, someone decided that giving our children a better life meant making them suffer. Seems like teaching my kids to be grateful for the opportunities they have, respect others’ beliefs, accept people from all walks of life, stand up for marginalized groups, foster positive mental health outcomes, not expect anything to be handed to them, and just be good people in general makes me a communist in the eyes of many, including my own parents. I’m gonna have to pass on whatever ideology came up with that and work toward dismantling it.

    Beyond that … I’m pretty low key most of the time. I like PC (Linux) gaming, physical computing, 3D printing, video editing, analog media preservation, listening to open source-related podcasts, road trips, dogs, glamping, grilling, beer, grilling while glamping and drinking beer and hanging out with my dogs, etc. I listen to metal but have been on a Sleep Token kick since the newest album was released.

    I don’t speak up often because someone else typically said what I want to say first, posting responses like “This” is annoying, and upvotes are silent. At any rate, nice to meet everyone, hope to be able to contribute something useful at some point.

    • WithMeDoctorWu@midwest.social
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      1 year ago

      I’m gonna have to pass on whatever ideology came up with that and work toward dismantling it.

      That’s been my outlook for a while too. There’s only so much influence you can have over people are set in their thoughts and ways, but we can help with the larger generational change. For a lot of us, turning a corner for the sake of our kids might end up being our best legacy.

      Also I can appreciate your tendency to read more than you post. Usually that characteristic leads to better quality posts when you do make them, because you are going to tend to read them yourself before submitting! I sometimes feel cheapened when I read “I CAN TYPING” posts that the authors clearly didn’t take the time to read through.

      • methodicalaspect@midwest.social
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        1 year ago

        Thanks, that means quite a bit. It took me several hours and restarts to type that post.

        I took the shotgun approach back in the ol’ vBulletin/phpBB days and ended up with some stupid post counts on forums but didn’t really feel like I contributed much of anything. Over the past 20 years, keeping my big mouth shut has helped me more than anything else.

  • Type 1 [Missouri]@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Howdy! I’m Evan, I’m from STL, and recently graduated from S&T with a BS in CS, going back for an MS. I’m a linguist, software engineer, musician, FOSS contributor, and Fediverse enthusiast. I build computers, run servers, write music, and get angry at the US/MO on the daily.

    P.S.: call me scum, because I’ve only ever used Reddit via their official app, but at least I jumped ship!

  • Azrael@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Former Reddit user who is jumping ship after 13 years, I live in the Twin Cities I’ve been in IT for more than 10 years trying to jump ship to programming interest our programming fanfiction litRPG‘s and audiobooks not necessarily in that order.

  • Roflkopters@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Chicago leftist here! I like to play games, do Mutual Aid when I can, and read a lot of theory. Came over here to find a new community and more opportunities to network with other lefties.

  • Guthix@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Another former reddit user from the Twin Cities here. Enjoying learning about lemmy so far, still trying to figure out how it works! Big fan of disc golf, board games, books, and video games.

  • miah@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Sup nerds. I’m Miah, I’m from Western Michigan. I’m a UNIX/Linux nerd, Right to Repair advocate, and transgender woman. I’ve been working on our cars by myself and would love to make some car nerd friends. My wife and I have 24 chickens, and a budding garden.

  • archomrade [he/him]@midwest.social
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    1 year ago

    Minnesotan and architectural designer here. I’m giving lemmy a try after deciding to leave that other site, and I feel like this midwest instance has the right vibe for me. Looking forward to spending all my time here instead of helping a faceless company make more money on their IPO!