@VTDARKSIM computer science - computer systems. But I've been focusing on computer networks and network science. I should finish my Masters spring 2027.
that’s my target date, too. I was hoping to have already finished but the sequence and availability of certain classes stretched me out another year. Maybe I’ll see you in the ATL next year!
I haven’t. I’ve actually only been to Atlanta once, back in… 2004? Went down with some friends for a weekend roadtrip in undergrad, but haven’t been back since then.
I was really debating between city and instance. Settled on instance because I've moved so often (across Québec), I'm not sure which city I can identify the most! My instance will follow me, wherever I go. 😁
Fedi by a wide margin, followed by city (only in as much as a city is a collection of people anchored to a place, and not with regard to the actual place or the local government), followed by university (even though I don't have one.)
I have no loyalty to any US political party, although I could conceivably find some loyalty to a syndicalist party if one had any chance of participating in US pol.
Being in the edge case of running on an instance that I myself run for only my wife and I, it happens to be that “My fediverse instance” is synonymous with “my household”.
A difficult choice because I hold them all extremely loosely.
Sure, I have some affinity toward my alma mater, but hardly loyalty.
Same with my city, it's a fine town, but my only loyalty is to the friends I have made here, not the city itself. Similarly with my fedi-instance, @stefano does a wonderful job making bsd.cafe a welcoming place, but it's precisely because it would be a non-issue to move to another instance that I remain comfortable here, largely because of the people. If either the tenor of the users/barista changed, there's no particular loyalty to the domain itself.
Political party is the weird one. I've never fit into the shapes of the big parties, so I chose my political party based on the least-unaligned with my values. But my loyalty is to those values, not the party itself, should they change values (glares at what I've witnessed the GOP doing…my Regan-voting ancestors wouldn't recognize the current disaster)
University: That I didn't go to? City: Honestly wish I could support a nomad lifestyle. Political Party: I will abandon them without a second thought if they start acting up. Instance: These peeps are wonderful, and if someone shows up who isn't I can just prune that immediately.
The reason? So many people just post complete unproofable things. Or, in other words, factual bullshit.
I also don't have a "Your political party". I like SOME things from almost all german mainstream parties, and I detest SOME things from the same ones. And keep in mind that we have plurality, not a system of two bad parties like in the USA.
In Germany, a university is just a place to study. We don't do such a heckmeck like "MY university", don't do alumin-stuff or t-shirts with uni logos an them. You studied elsewhere? Be my friend!
I moved a lot, so some loyality with a town is an abstract concept to me. Loyality has to be earned IMHO.
So, all in all, your poll didn't make sense to me.
I don't have much "loyalty" to any of the above choices. Since the only flag I've ever purchased for of any of those was for my university, (and only because the neighbors were flying their school flags!) that was my top choice.
Pretty partial to kind.social. I feel more at home there than I’ve ever felt in the town I’m in, especially recently, since others here keep electing people who think two of my kids don’t exist.
I’m party-free and have been for a long time. We recently visited our Uni and the state and the entire downtown in the formerly relatively left-leaning city seems to have been taken over by Trump-humpers, so I couldn’t care less about that any longer.
I feel strongly in favour of Boston because sports but I've never been there, and it's a personal instance so that can't count. Hate where I live so politics it is!
My school and my city genuinely don't do much for me, and my political party doesn't really exist since I am an anarchist.... I am not saying I would die for Wet Dry dot World, but....
to my values! Or to my friends. The closest option to values is "party". "City" is a good runner-up, since my city (Berkeley) reflects my values pretty well.
I mean, partying is worth fighting for too. You know, you gotta fight for your right.
Nominally, I just picked Fediverse Instance, except that's the one that comes closest, but none of those is the true object of my loyalty. When I gave it a moment of thought, the *loyalty* applies to a human or community of humans. I don't remain "loyal" to an institution or organization in the absence of a higher-order connection to it. Like, if a political party I have supported shifts badly in a direction I can no longer support, the brand is not what'll keep me there.
I interpret "my political party" a bit differently than most people. I usually don't vote at elections and am not a member of any parliamentary party. I think of the things I most deeply belive in and the values I feel loyal to as my party. Those who join me in those beliefs and values are in that party with me. One of the things that give me the most hope is when I discover how many people there are. Unfortunately, "our" party mostly still needs to be built.
This is so interesting! My alma mater is closing. My town is the place I spend most of my time, volunteer my time, and occasionally get paid to work here. I do not belong to a political party though I definitely feel loyal about the IDEA of continuing that tradition, and I really like my fediverse instance, and I probably identify the most with them, but I could see belonging to another more than I could see moving.
@Evan Prodromou When you say "your city", do you mean to the government thereof, or the people therein? This distinction drastically changes my answer.
@me I believe these polls are up for interpretation to help you make a choice in the poll. If the poll-maker needs to do the interpreting on our behalf, we will have mostly a meta-Q&A and never get to see people's different answers @evan
I voted My City, specifically the city I was born in and the city my kids were born in. From these choices, my Fediverse instance comes second; IMHO @stux and team are underappreciated instance admins.
city loyalty came pretty high, given fedizens are actually quite proud of their delocalized communities
One of the million ways the fediverse could develop further is every city website upgrades into an instance and locals get an account (if they want 🙈). Technically and economically seems feasible, whether it would be popular and active I have no idea. Occasionally I do hear of proprietary neighborhood oriented platforms, but the only one that made it big in this space was Whatsapp.
Chris Geoghooligan ✊
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Chris Geoghooligan ✊
in reply to Chris Geoghooligan ✊ • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Chris Geoghooligan ✊ • • •Chris Geoghooligan ✊
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Chris Geoghooligan ✊ • • •Chris Geoghooligan ✊
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Chris Geoghooligan ✊ • • •@VTDARKSIM have you been before? I had a layover in Atlanta last year and stayed at the GT hotel and did a campus tour.
Chris Geoghooligan ✊
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Helen
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Paul Reinheimer
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •I had to pick one, that's how multiple choice works. But the amount of loyalty I have to all of the above is pretty close to zero.
If my chosen political party (the one I picked) starts moving in a direction I don't like, I'll find a new one.
May Likes Toronto
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Shantell Powell
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Patrice-Guy Martin
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •My instance will follow me, wherever I go. 😁
a libi rose
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Joseph Szymborski
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •RolloTreadway
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •You're a beige all the way
From your first "not a cult"
To your last dying day
Wendroid 🇺🇦
in reply to RolloTreadway • • •paul
in reply to Wendroid 🇺🇦 • • •@wendinoakland @RolloTreadway
beige brothers (and sisters and siblings)
int%rmitt]nt sig^al. ...~!...)
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •I have never understood such loyalties, as they reek of mindless chauvinism.
Jacqueline
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Jacqueline
in reply to Jacqueline • • •δανσω
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •mtl.rocks
mtl.rocksAndrew (Television Executive)
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Fedi by a wide margin, followed by city (only in as much as a city is a collection of people anchored to a place, and not with regard to the actual place or the local government), followed by university (even though I don't have one.)
I have no loyalty to any US political party, although I could conceivably find some loyalty to a syndicalist party if one had any chance of participating in US pol.
Philip Mallegol-Hansen
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Being in the edge case of running on an instance that I myself run for only my wife and I, it happens to be that “My fediverse instance” is synonymous with “my household”.
So that’s an easy win.
Only Sharts🇨🇦 likes this.
Evan Prodromou
in reply to Philip Mallegol-Hansen • • •Philip Mallegol-Hansen
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Tim Chase
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •A difficult choice because I hold them all extremely loosely.
Sure, I have some affinity toward my alma mater, but hardly loyalty.
Same with my city, it's a fine town, but my only loyalty is to the friends I have made here, not the city itself. Similarly with my fedi-instance, @stefano does a wonderful job making bsd.cafe a welcoming place, but it's precisely because it would be a non-issue to move to another instance that I remain comfortable here, largely because of the people. If either the tenor of the users/barista changed, there's no particular loyalty to the domain itself.
Political party is the weird one. I've never fit into the shapes of the big parties, so I chose my political party based on the least-unaligned with my values. But my loyalty is to those values, not the party itself, should they change values (glares at what I've witnessed the GOP doing…my Regan-voting ancestors wouldn't recognize the current disaster)
Nathan A. Stine
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Jonathan Lamothe
in reply to Evan Prodromou • •like this
Pax Ahimsa Gethen, Carlos Solís and Anton like this.
bakachu
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to bakachu • • •Pax Ahimsa Gethen
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •University: Northwestern. Got a good education there, but no loyalty to them.
assignedmedia.org/breaking-new…
Political party: None.
funcrunch.medium.com/my-gender…
Fediverse instance: @medium. Concerned that they haven't been posting here,* and don't know how long this instance will last.
City: San Francisco, one of the few places in the US I feel *relatively* safe as a queer Black trans person.
* I helped manage this instance briefly as a contractor in 2025; almost no activity since then.
On Trading Truth for Transphobia — Assigned
AssignedPax Ahimsa Gethen
in reply to Pax Ahimsa Gethen • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Pax Ahimsa Gethen • • •Pax Ahimsa Gethen
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Pax Ahimsa Gethen • • •Quasit
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •2. Humanity
Evan Prodromou
in reply to Quasit • • •Aria.DNE
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •spacebug
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Only Sharts🇨🇦 likes this.
Open Risk
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •so if all cities where to run instances they'd get 85% loyalty, or is my math wrong?
(instances running cities is a bit too solarpunk)
Some Kind Of Garf
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •University: That I didn't go to?
City: Honestly wish I could support a nomad lifestyle.
Political Party: I will abandon them without a second thought if they start acting up.
Instance: These peeps are wonderful, and if someone shows up who isn't I can just prune that immediately.
Yeah, instance easy.
Montessori Space Programme 🛸
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Patrick Loftus 🖖
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Argie
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Holger Schurig DH3HS
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Definitely not the Fediverse instance.
I'm only using day-wise, then long months not.
The reason? So many people just post complete unproofable things. Or, in other words, factual bullshit.
I also don't have a "Your political party". I like SOME things from almost all german mainstream parties, and I detest SOME things from the same ones. And keep in mind that we have plurality, not a system of two bad parties like in the USA.
In Germany, a university is just a place to study. We don't do such a heckmeck like "MY university", don't do alumin-stuff or t-shirts with uni logos an them. You studied elsewhere? Be my friend!
I moved a lot, so some loyality with a town is an abstract concept to me. Loyality has to be earned IMHO.
So, all in all, your poll didn't make sense to me.
Ed Wiebe
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Jhooper
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •John Deters
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Pomegranate_Stew
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Pretty partial to kind.social. I feel more at home there than I’ve ever felt in the town I’m in, especially recently, since others here keep electing people who think two of my kids don’t exist.
I’m party-free and have been for a long time. We recently visited our Uni and the state and the entire downtown in the formerly relatively left-leaning city seems to have been taken over by Trump-humpers, so I couldn’t care less about that any longer.
AlisonW
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Astra Underscore
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Frang
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Ian Badcoe
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Cy
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Friends, this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of everything you could feel loyalty to.
If your number 1 isn't on this list, pick the thing that's on this list that's highest ranked, even if it's number 3,450,179.
Evan Prodromou
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Jack
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •James M.
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •to my values! Or to my friends. The closest option to values is "party". "City" is a good runner-up, since my city (Berkeley) reflects my values pretty well.
I mean, partying is worth fighting for too. You know, you gotta fight for your right.
Johanna, CanCon variety
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •malte
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Jessamyn
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Jessamyn • • •John Francis 🇨🇦🦫🍁
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •disorderlyf
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •ideaPDish
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to ideaPDish • • •@ipd I think the Beach Boys explained it best... In song!
open.spotify.com/track/37o6qDv…
Be True To Your School
SpotifyJeff Miller (orange hatband)
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Stormy Gleason
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •a good reminder that all of these are transient to a degree.
Although I'm happy with my instance, I chose city, interpreting it as hometown or region more than where I currently live.
Unlike the others, it will always shape me as a person, even if it lets me down.
But none of the choices are top ten.
Ben Overmyer
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Tech Tyrant ᴶᴶᴳᵃᵈᶢᵉᵗˢ
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •James Wynn 🧐
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •sen
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Jonathan Lamothe
in reply to Evan Prodromou • •like this
Sadie and δανσω like this.
malte
in reply to Jonathan Lamothe • • •Chris (Master of Potate) 🥔
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Random
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Pete Prodoehl 🍕
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Lucas Treffenstädt
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Bean 🇺🇸🇻🇪
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Sadie
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Or Fediverse instance
Except I voted too late.
Evan Prodromou
in reply to Sadie • • •Evan Prodromou
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •Open Risk
in reply to Evan Prodromou • • •city loyalty came pretty high, given fedizens are actually quite proud of their delocalized communities
One of the million ways the fediverse could develop further is every city website upgrades into an instance and locals get an account (if they want 🙈). Technically and economically seems feasible, whether it would be popular and active I have no idea. Occasionally I do hear of proprietary neighborhood oriented platforms, but the only one that made it big in this space was Whatsapp.