From Chicago. I made the plunge to Mastodon (and here) after the Reddit shenanigans and just seeing the repeated bad-faith policies by Twitter. I have been using redirector and libredirect for the last month or two to actively decide who I give my data to just as a fun experiment into best practices.

I think it's slowly starting to be clear that this type of setup will be the way forward for the more tech-savvy, privacy-focused users, and hopefully/eventually it hits the mainstream as well, but otherwise, it's just self-selecting into the type of people I want to be around, which will probably be better for my mental health anyways.

I'm into cycling, trading, sci-fi and FOSS. Currently reading The Expanse and taking a sabbatical year from work

Edit: Just want to encourage people to engage w/ and create content over the next few weeks. Activity and friendly faces are probably the most determining factor in whether someone becomes an active user or just browses for a few minutes

Morning everyone. Chicago suburb native of 42 years who doesn't really feel like leaving. Working at one of the many data centers in the Chicago area, if you can call it work, because I enjoy technology in general. I joined because I've been migrating from legacy social media to the Fediverse; Reddit's API nonsense helped that process along.

Contrary to what my parents and sisters drilled into my head as I was growing up, I've been leaning more and more left as I age. At some point, someone decided that giving our children a better life meant making them suffer. Seems like teaching my kids to be grateful for the opportunities they have, respect others' beliefs, accept people from all walks of life, stand up for marginalized groups, foster positive mental health outcomes, not expect anything to be handed to them, and just be good people in general makes me a communist in the eyes of many, including my own parents. I'm gonna have to pass on whatever ideology came up with that and work toward dismantling it.

Beyond that ... I'm pretty low key most of the time. I like PC (Linux) gaming, physical computing, 3D printing, video editing, analog media preservation, listening to open source-related podcasts, road trips, dogs, glamping, grilling, beer, grilling while glamping and drinking beer and hanging out with my dogs, etc. I listen to metal but have been on a Sleep Token kick since the newest album was released.

I don't speak up often because someone else typically said what I want to say first, posting responses like "This" is annoying, and upvotes are silent. At any rate, nice to meet everyone, hope to be able to contribute something useful at some point.

55/m from the Downriver Detroit area, Michigan. 17-year R*ddit user, been around forever (started with BBSes, moved on to Usenet). Black Guy on the Internet. a2.mi.social member.

Used to run a freeform streaming radio station. Apple user since the ][+, love music.

Hey everyone, started exploring Lemmy the other week and really jumped in after the Apollo news broke.

I’m gamer/podcaster/dad/wannabe bourbon enthusiast from Michigan.

I have a tech role in logistics and am just looking for a chill community to be a part of.

Currently consumed with exploring Hyrule.

Yet another reddit refugee, but the only thing I will miss is the niche animal husbandry subreddits.

My main interests are critter genetics & habitat management, and a lot of husbandry n enrichment on the side. Always been a bit of a pain to be lefty & interested in livestock, most of the old forums such as they still exist are full of people that are pretty aggressive in their disapproval of my sort. But maybe I'll find a niche eventually!

I do other science n tech reading and cruise some of the hobby stuff (carpentry, mini terrain, jewelry making... I like a little bit of a lot of things) but don't usually post as much as lurk those areas.

Hello! I live in Kalamazoo, MI and grew up in Muskegon, MI. I'm a part of the mass exodus from reddit. So far I'm enjoying the fediverse and was glad to see an instance dedicated to midwesterners. I work in mental health and enjoy cooking/baking, crafting, painting, kayaking, gardening, gaming (DnD, Zelda, board games) and spending time with my loved ones. Excited to be here!

Hello! Quad Citizen reporting in, pretty active in the /r/Iowa and /r/QuadCities subreddits and poking around to see who's popped up in Lemmy.

MOST of our buildings are solid.

Here's my "me too" post.

Reddit refugee fleeing the third party app bullshit. I'm in IT, HPC to be more specific, at a well-known university in the Midwest. I play lots of video games, and by lots I mean mostly Terraria.

Thanks for your work @seahorse. I'm pumped to talk regional sports again. Big Ten, NFC North, NBA Central. Adios Reddit.

Hey, all. Like many, I'm bailing on Reddit given the drama and sheer disrespect for everyone, trying this community with a few friends.

I'm an Iowan, soon-to-be dad, equally-avid gardener and range time enthusiast, software engineer, gamer, etc. Based on the other intros, seems like I'll fit in well enough.

I wish I was consumed with exploring Hyrule; the pre-baby DIY crunch is too time-consuming.

Former Reddit user who is jumping ship after 13 years, I live in the Twin Cities I’ve been in IT for more than 10 years trying to jump ship to programming interest our programming fanfiction litRPG‘s and audiobooks not necessarily in that order.

Hi! Just joined because of the BS happening over at Reddit right now (RIP Apollo 😞). I've enjoyed my experiences on my friend's Mastodon instance and figured a Reddit-adjacent service on the Fediverse could be fun too. Librarian and researcher from Michigan, into social computing/inclusive design, hiking in the woods, collections development, Melee, Dwarf Fortress, etc. Nice to meet you all 👋

Another former reddit user from the Twin Cities here. Enjoying learning about lemmy so far, still trying to figure out how it works! Big fan of disc golf, board games, books, and video games.

Howdy! I'm Evan, I'm from STL, and recently graduated from S&T with a BS in CS, going back for an MS. I'm a linguist, software engineer, musician, FOSS contributor, and Fediverse enthusiast. I build computers, run servers, write music, and get angry at the US/MO on the daily.

P.S.: call me scum, because I've only ever used Reddit via their official app, but at least I jumped ship!

Hi there! I'm from Colorado, which is almost the midwest! I saw the community and decided to pop into Lemmy through here, though, since it seemed to be friendly and welcoming. I write queer fantasy romance and love a good book!

Ohioan and electrical engineer here. Not exactly a refugee from reddit, since mostly all I did there was lurk, but excited to be here and distributed anything makes an engineer happy. At least this engineer.

Chicago leftist here! I like to play games, do Mutual Aid when I can, and read a lot of theory. Came over here to find a new community and more opportunities to network with other lefties.

Hi, Chicago resident primarily occupied with left-wing politics, board games, biking/public transit, and functional programming :)

Love the regional community server

Hey all! Lifelong Midwesterner and current Chicagoan. Refugee from r/Chicago and Reddit user of 11 years. I love baking, gardening, and currently engrossed in the new Zelda.

Sup nerds. I'm Miah, I'm from Western Michigan. I'm a UNIX/Linux nerd, Right to Repair advocate, and transgender woman. I've been working on our cars by myself and would love to make some car nerd friends. My wife and I have 24 chickens, and a budding garden.

Minnesotan and architectural designer here. I'm giving lemmy a try after deciding to leave that other site, and I feel like this midwest instance has the right vibe for me. Looking forward to spending all my time here instead of helping a faceless company make more money on their IPO!

Fellow from Lansing, MI here. Joining as part of the reddit exodus, and because I like the concept of the fediverse.

Hello everyone. 26/m living in Peoria IL metro, working in a small evangelical church leading music and trying to not be outed as a leftist and an exvangelical. Interested in movies, Lego, urbanism, fantasy football, and craft beer with a new budding hobby of cocktails. Grew up in Champaign though, so by default I’m into college sports as well.

Hi everyone! Like a number of new users here, I’m coming over from Reddit due to the recent changes there. I grew up in central WI, and currently live in Milwaukee. Work as a software engineer, and in my free time, I love to nerd out on rollercoasters, hike, and whatever tech projects I get myself in to.

Hoping to find a community as nice as people are in the Midwest, as well as a place to see pictures of everyone’s cats

Hello from /r/iowa!

Hello, moved from Reddit like many others. Deleted my 8 year old and 12 year old accounts this morning. This already feels like what I always wanted Reddit to be.

Hello! Originally from southeast Oklahoma, currently in southeast Wisconsin. I moved to Wisconsin from Oklahoma a two years ago and I'm really glad to be here. I'm liking Wisconsin so far. Both of my little ones were behind in language skills and education in general. (especially coming out of COVID) and the care and attention they've gotten from our school here in WI is so much better than what we had back home. I myself am an electrical engineer and software programmer. I came here looking for a better job. Most of my friends had already fled OK or would like to soon. I enjoy retro gaming and game console mods. I also recently became a certified ham radio extra class operator.

Hello, another redditor joining up here. Intermittently into Linux and other FOSS stuff. Gamer, mostly pc, into boardgames, reading, many other things. Located in metro Detroit area, currently excited about Street Fighter 6

Hey everyone. I am yet another migrant from reddit hoping for c/kansascity to grow into a full, active community like we once were on reddit.

Hi y'all! I'm from Indiana. Nice to meet you all!

Hi there from Madison, WI! I am the developer of Voyager :)

MI here!

Hoping for regional news and weekend mini-vacation discussion

Reddit user since 2011, already I feel right at home!

Hello hello. Redfugee, St Paulite, night shift worker in healthcare, vaguely leftist, spend far too much time thinking about ttrpgs and video games. Popped into Beehaw first, but something about this place really drew in in. Maybe we really are as parochial as they say :D

Hello, Lemmy! Hikeandbike here. I'm an IT network administrator from Michigan.

I was never quite active on Reddit... So can't quite say I'm a refugee. But, heard about Lemmy on the Self Hosted podcast and thought I'd give it a try!

As my username says, I enjoy hiking, and more specifically, mountain biking. Just backpacked the Manistee River Trail and trying to find some time to backpack the trails along the Pictured Rocks.

Besides that, self hosting, rock climbing (mostly indoor,) and Linux & open source are how I spend my free time.

Hi from Topeka, KS! I'm a software engineer who loves games, cooking, and his friends. Thank you seahorse for starting this up!

Howdy! I'm from NE Ohio,I've to see more midwesterners on fedi!

Yet another long time Apollo refugee joins the instance. Greeting from Omaha, home of the Henry Doorly Zoo, Runza and… uh… Berkshire Hathaway? M/39 software dev with some young kids and a dog. Looking forward to the same bullshit on Lemmy I enjoyed on Reddit: D&D memes, programming, college basketball (Rock Chalk) and video games.

Hello from Northern MN! I like memes, gaming and tech stuff!

I joined a while back (after the rise of Mastodon following some edgelord's purchase of Twitter, although I had heard about both that and Lemmy long before), and I still probably won't be active on Lemmy until Reddit dies off; I joined this instance because it's the most relevant (nothing akin to Mathstodon, where I have the same username) and I was advised against just flocking to the main one.

I was most active on /r/learnmath and /r/Buttcoin and I might go to refugee communities related to both, and to things like /r/learnjavascript (where I was active until a few years ago, also as an answerer of questions) and /r/badmathematics.

Hey! Saint Paul MN here. Architectural designer, interested in tech, board games, movies (film if you're nasty), and a 12-year Reddit vet. Happy to be here and contribute!

hello! I'm a non-binary Chicago-based cyclist, film photographer, 3d artist, and open source contributor when I get the time.

slowly getting my bearings out here in the fediverse; like many others I am yet another longtime Reddit refugee. stoked for Sync for Lemmy soon—that'll feel like I've officially switched over.

Hello from St Louis! I love baseball and reading nonfiction books. I also watch a lot of Law & Order and The Simpsons