When I was on Mastodon— the instance I joined allowed me to choose when to reveal or hide an image. For example, if I was enjoying a cocktail & shared a pic— a social norm encouraged was to put a hashtag such as booze & cover the image to respect those who were struggling with alcoholism.

Easy, I thought.

But then— every time I posted— I asked myself— should I cover & place a hash tag.

Another example, “I better cover my books”— and it felt diminishing after awhile to cover what brings me joy.

Or if I dressed up for a night on the town & felt like sharing a pic— “I better cover

to avoid ‘the ones’ (but that also felt strange).

No one made you cover images— but it became an internal battle for me—

I liked the choice— not criticizing— but for someone like me— it became “a thing”

I like on Damus it’s either/or— but for other users images.