• Sea Cadets. I am now the Officer in Charge of Worcester Unit and although it has been extremely busy, I am finding it very rewarding. Whilst on the subject, I am further along with the officer programme and and now just waiting on my commission which is real personal landmark.
• I have changed jobs. I left the university in December and am no longer an outdoor instructor. It was a difficult decision as I miss the work and the people but my new role is proving very rewarding. I am now helping to develop a training centre that delivers qualifications related to the UK’s Confined Space Regulations (1997). I am hoping to add to our portfolio but until then I am busy studying, qualifying and deliver a whole new range of skills.
• No new cameras yet. However I am still taking lots of photographs in both digital and film and so new videos are on the way.

Hopefully you’ll see much more of me here and on my various Social Media platforms.

The post A Round-Up appeared first on @sccjono.

A while back I had high hopes for Mastodon, but it does not seem to have attracted the attention of many. Of course there is also Threads but I’m not entirely sure that model won’t differ too much from Elon’s before long. Bluesky however is a joy. It is entirely free and you don’t have to be famous to get verified. The biggest thing going for it though, in my opinion, is it is just like what Twitter used to be like in the beginning. If you haven’t already, go check it out.

The post Bluesky appeared first on @sccjono.

So to this end I have turned to the Fediverse, or more specifically Mastodon. Prior to the World Wide Web I spent a lot of time on Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) and communicated by way of Fidonet. This means that I am very familiar with the federated model. I understand that people get frustrated that it is not like Twitter, but it is not supposed to be. Below I have losted some things to consider if you’re considering joining.

• It is not Twitter and does not pretend to be.
• Don’t keep talking about Twitter. Most of us don’t care.
• It doesn’t really matter which instance you join unless you have a niche interest.
• Use hashtags. It’s the only way your posts can be searched.
• The native Mastodon apps don’t seem too good. Look for alternatives (there are plenty) for your OS.
• There is no algorithm. Liking a post is just for you. Boosting is the way to go to help promote posts you like.
• Be nice to each other.

The post Mass Move to Mastodon appeared first on @sccjono.

The Problem

In the early days I was begging my friends, both Facebook and real, to watch. In addition I was of course Tweeting and Instagramming, but these methods only took me so far. Then there was Facebook groups and Reddit subs, but although they might be focused on content like yours, they will often discourage self-promotion. What I needed was a place I could promote my content naturally so that the it didn’t go against any ToS or algorithms.

The Solution

I had a vague idea what Discord was but no real experience of it. But I received an invite to join a Discord Server called CreatorHub. This server was an absolute revelation for me. I won’t deny that I had to quickly learn the basics of Discord but being a veteran of Internet Relay Chat (IRC), that didn’t prove to be too difficult. However, any minor issues were more than outweighed by the benefits. The owners, moderators and users were all super welcoming and friendly. The chosen platforms and topics are varied, but then so is the knowledge and expertise that the members are willing to share. I had the opportunity to share my content and get genuine constructive feedback in return. I also get to do the same for other creators.

Graphics, audio, streaming, hardware and all aspects of your channels are regular topics. OK so I’m no PewdiePie yet, but my analytics are rising steadily. In addition I am making friends and having some fun along the way, with some like-minded folks from around the world. So if you think your content would benefit, click the button below and join us.

The post CreatorHub appeared first on @sccjono.

The problem was, that when I decided to start my channel etc. I already had a personal Facebook page, which used the username of @sccjono. Because the Facebook don’t provide anything in the way of support, I referred to various blog posts, Reddit threads etc, to try and find out how best I could transfer the username to a public page. Overwhelmingly, the advice was to relinquish it from the private page and wait for a couple of weeks and I would be allowed to add it to the public page. It has now been nearly year and I am still not allowed to transfer it, as it is “in use”.

I have tried the support pages and the support inbox but there is no option to contact them. So instead, I have decided to delete the page.

The post No More Facebook appeared first on @sccjono.