I kinda wish I liked Mastodon, but I think the very format of Twitter-like social media was a bad idea from the start. Mastodon just feels like the least bad version of it.

I kind of agree, I think it would serve a good purpose as a way to post quick ideas about something but I absolutely don't want to be bombarded by that from everyone and their mother's. I'm just starting on mastodon and micro blogging in general, so I don't have a strong opinion on it yet.

I don’t think humans do well with access to a stream unfiltered, nearly-contextless random thoughts from other people.

Yeah, I'd really like someplace where all the people doing things post about the doing of things, so I can keep up with what's going on and get involved, while also not being subjected to randos posting inane slop. Which I can't see happening while also allowing anyone the opportunity to be heard.

I never had a Twitter account because I felt it was full of just thoughtless statements by people who wanted attention, but I did make a Mastodon account because I do want to get the short random posts by people who are doing the things I'm interested in that Twitter did make popular. I think the barrier of entry for Mastodon is just high enough, and the popularity is low enough that a lot of people who just want attention don't go there, yet.