Some might ask why we decided to ban the posting of links to X (Formerly Twitter) and the answer is simpler than one might think. It's because of Elon Musk and the Nazi Bar parable. Which you can find in it's entirety below.
I was at a shitty crustpunk bar once getting an after-work beer. One of those shitholes where the bartenders clearly hate you. So the bartender and I were ignoring one another when someone sits next to me and he immediately says, "no. get out."
And the dude next to me says, "hey i'm not doing anything, i'm a paying customer." and the bartender reaches under the counter for a bat or something and says, "out. now." and the dude leaves, kind of yelling. And he was dressed in a punk uniform, I noticed
Anyway, I asked what that was about and the bartender was like, "you didn't see his vest but it was all nazi shit. Iron crosses and stuff. You get to recognize them."
And i was like, ohok and he continues.
"you have to nip it in the bud immediately. These guys come in and it's always a nice, polite one. And you serve them because you don't want to cause a scene. And then they become a regular and after awhile they bring a friend. And that dude is cool too.
And then THEY bring friends and the friends bring friends and they stop being cool and then you realize, oh shit, this is a Nazi bar now. And it's too late because they're entrenched and if you try to kick them out, they cause a PROBLEM. So you have to shut them down.
And i was like, 'oh damn.' and he said "yeah, you have to ignore their reasonable arguments because their end goal is to be terrible, awful people."
And then he went back to ignoring me. But I haven't forgotten that at all.
Directly after taking control of Twitter, Elon decided to unban the worst of the worst, he even welcomed them with open arms, and tweaked the algorithm in their favor, and built a whole platform specifically to pay them for their bigotry. We also know that the "views" stat on X (Formerly Twitter) is fake, as is most interactions on the site.
This is the primary reason for our prohibition on X (Formerly Twitter) links.
While Bluesky isn't the best by any stretch it's much better than X (Formerly Twitter) and much better than ActivityPub based social networking, and for both the Bara and Furry communities there is no shortage of websites where you can go and link to an artist.
SoFurry
FurAffinity
Itaku
Furry Network
Weasyl
InkBunny
e621
Bluesky
We highly encourage our community to use these instead of using X (Formerly Twitter). We also encourage our community to engage with artist and writers on these platforms instead of X (Formerly Twitter) so that creators are more incentivized to use these platforms
If want to encourage someone, or some organization to join Bluesky we have a simple email template you can use.
Form Email
Subject: Hoping to see [Organization/Person's Name] on Bluesky!
Dear [Name of Person or Organization Team],
I hope this email finds you well.
My name is [Your Name], and I'm a long-time [fan/follower/customer] of your work. I'm writing today to respectfully request that you consider creating an official presence on the social media platform Bluesky.
I am one of many people who have been moving to Bluesky and have found it to be a vibrant, growing, and highly engaged community. The platform is built on an open and decentralized standard (the AT Protocol), which gives users more control and fosters a more constructive environment.
While platforms like X and Threads certainly have a large reach, many users are actively seeking alternatives. Bluesky offers a refreshing experience that feels independent (unlike Threads, which is tied to Meta) and has a positive, community-focused atmosphere that many find lacking on X. And while Mastodon is also decentralized, Bluesky provides a simpler, more unified experience that's very easy for new users to adopt, while still offering powerful features like custom feeds.
A lot of exciting conversations are happening on Bluesky, and I know that your [voice/updates/content] would be a fantastic addition. Many of your supporters are already on the platform and would be thrilled to follow and interact with you there.
Thank you for your time and for considering this request.
Sincerely,
[Your Name] [Your Bluesky Handle (Optional)]
Remember to edit it to suit your recipient.
Infinite Universe also maintains a few starter packs of Bara/Furry artists on Bluesky if you are seeking artists.