Senza Tempo is our latest online fashion feature, and it would not have come about if not for Fashionsocial.host, a fashion-specific Mastodon server.
I don’t recall this happening with Big Tech: getting a story because of dialogue on social media.
But with the more social of social media—Mastodon—we were introduced to Kristen Fanarakis of Senza Tempo, on the Fashionsocial.host server. As we chatted, it seemed Kristen would make the perfect subject for a Lucire story. (It’s live online today, though it appeared in print earlier this year.)
On Facebook and Twitter, some people seem to dumb down dialogue or politicize everything in order to “own” the other side, and the discourse becomes a time-waster. On Mastodon—or at least on Fashionsocial.host—there’s a collegial atmosphere among peers, a network of professionals and fashion and luxury lovers who support each other. It reminds me a lot of Vox, the blogging network of 2006, that predated Facebook’s rise among the general public.
There was a network where people could curate and cultivate their followings and while far from perfect—early politicization reared its head there with some contentious issues—real friendships were forged among some users.
Fashionsocial.host is definitely similar, where you get to know your host, Dr Jessica Quillin, as well as some of the regular posters on the domain.
The server notes state: ‘FashionSocial.host is an open, inclusive Mastodon instance for the fashion and luxury community. Targeted to fashion pros and aficionados alike, this group is devoted to exploring, discussing, and supporting the art and business of fashion in its many forms and guises.’
In the year or so that we’ve known of this corner of the fediverse, Jessica has run a civil, pleasant community, one that is free from angry admins trying to impose their tech-bro view of the world on their users.
We also highly recommend her and her husband Bryce’s newsletter, Fashion Strategy Weekly, as well as the many blogs and sites you’ll find from fellow members on the Fashionsocial.host local timeline. (For instance, there’s the Fafafoom Studio Newsletter, and Secure, in Style. Also check out photographer Cynthia Anderson and the wonderful French-based American Summer Emacs.)
We’ve found it more comfortable than our previous Mastodon home, after shifting there in late 2022. We’ve been on Mastodon in various forms since 2017, and on the fediverse since 2016, so we like to think we have a good idea of what works there.
In under a year we’ve already found useful content and, despite a fraction of the followers, considerably more engagement than we ever found at Twitter or Facebook over the same time period.
Pop by and look out for us inside Mastodon at @lucire or from the web at fashionsocial.host/@lucire.
Jack Yan is founder and publisher of Lucire, and one of three team members with access to the Fashionsocial.host account.
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