Padlock / DM FAQ

All about how I deal with padlocks and DMs on Fediverse:

“Why did you reply to my padlocked post with a DM, unlisted, or public post?”

Because conversations between two people using padlocked posts become super confusing since those who only follow one of the two people (and aren’t “mentioned” in the posts) will only see half the posts and I hate that!

I’d rather no-one saw (DMs) or everyone saw (unlisted or public).

“If you hate padlocks so much, why did you reply in padlock-mode yourself?”

That was by mistake. I never ever do this intentionally but it’s unfortunately really easy to do by mistake.

“If you hate padlocks, why did you make a padlock-post?”

My hatred of padlock mode only applies to replies and threads, not starting posts. Starting posts in padlock-mode a.k.a. follower only are fine. (It’s not very secure so don’t post your bank account on there.💁🏻‍♀️)

“Why did you DM me? I ask people not to DM!”

People post padlock mode when they don’t want non-followers to see. My replying in DM is a way to try to respect that. To reply in a way that doesn’t leak your secrets. It’s always a difficult call knowing what of the three scopes to reply in and I get it wrong often.

“That’s for replies. What’s your excuse for non-reply DMs?”

Again it’s usually because I want to avoid you getting doxed or to avoid myself getting doxed. I don’t have a pseudonymous account on Fedi.

“Can I DM you?”

Sure but I block tons of people on Fedi already and I’m super trigger happy with blocking on there. Email is the best. Or just let it be because I hate internet 💁🏻‍♀️

“How do you feel when someone replies to your posts in padlock-mode?”

It fills me with anger, scorn, and pity 💁🏻‍♀️