I have a copypasta that I’ve been using to suggest that my fellow Canucks open a Mastodon account, along with suggestions with good CanCon follows.

I’d like to hear anyone’s suggestions for further Canadian news or just prolific posters that I might have missed.

It does open with a listing of Canadian Mastodon instances, which I think is secondary. It only matters for a Canadian focused Live feed, which does help with discovery. Still, if there is a Canadian instance I missed I’ll add.

I know there is some irony in talking about Canadian Mastodon on Canadian Lemmy without promoting Canadian Lemmy, but I think Mastodon is better for just following news sources. Lemmy is more for discussion and has a little bit more of a barrier to entry.

Edit: Updated 2025-03-07 based on feedback.

Consider making an account on a Canadian Mastodon instance. Mastodon is a decentralized open-source social media platform similar to X/Twitter. There are several Canadian based general interest “instances” where you can make an account: Mstdn.ca, TheCanadian.Social, CoSocial.ca or SocialBC.ca.

There is no one company fine-tuning an algorithm to entertain you, sell you crypto, and radicalise you, so you’ll need to do some work on setting up your feed. Check out Fedi.Directory, Interesting Accounts to Follow on Mastodon and the Fediverse and Fedi.Tips- An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse.

For some Canadian themed news sources, I recommend the following Mastodon follows:

Following #Hashtags is also a good way to stay in the loop on a topic. For now, I’d suggest #Canada and #CdnPoli .

There are also Canadian instances and other Federated services, but Mastodon is probably a good gateway. If you would like to explore the Canadian Fediverse further, join the discussion over at Lemmy.ca or Sh.itJust.Works (kind of like Reddit) or check out the scenery at Pixelfed.ca (kind of like Instagram).

Even if it isn’t your primary social media, at least you’ll have a backstop of news and a way to connect without the algorithms manipulating what to show you. Hope to see you out there.

  • sbv@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    3·
    5 days ago

    Consider making an account on a Canadian Mastodon instance

    Do readers know what Mastodon is? If not, would it make sense to lead with that?

    A one sentence pitch saying why the reader will like Mastodon would make sense:

    • Stop promoting controlled by American billionaires by… or
    • Support Canadian Internet culture by…

    Providing a list of instances to join is good.

    There’s not so much of an algorithm to entertain you, so you’ll need to do some work

    Telling people they need to do work isn’t a great way to spin it. Can you put it positively?

    • Mastodon allows you to control what you see… or
    • Instead of a capricious tech bro promoting his posts into your feed, you decide exactly…

    Thank you for proselytizing. I find Lemmy much more accessible, but that’s just me.