“There’s nothing like a good friend, unless it’s a good friend with chocolate,” I read on a cookie package at the supermarket.
“Unless it’s a friend who arrives with chocolate made by exploited people and animals”, I think to myself.

Trying to live peacefully is a rather lonely affair in this world. Sure, there are plenty of people passionate about human rights, but far fewer who feel the same passion for the rights of non-human animals. To talk to people with different perspectives, I use Mastodon and Pixelfed. Here I meet people who often also weren’t very popular in high school, but who are trying to survive as best they can in this harsh world where mean people have been in power since time immemorial.
We don’t know each other, and that has its advantages and disadvantages. It’s nice to talk to people from other parts of the world and closer to home as often as you like and whenever it suits you. And when you’re done talking, you end the conversation without a formal goodbye. It’s a way that can be safe for people with social anxiety, busy schedules, or whatever your situation. Yet, conversations on social media aren’t always safe. When I was still on Twitter, I left when the interactions started to resemble working in a call center. (Eventually I left Twitter.) Namely: posts about veganism invariably resulted in backlash. I quickly grew tired of Bluesky also, because even there, my “unsalted” opinions about herring and ham were often frowned upon.

I’ve learned to phrase my posts about veganism in a way that minimizes offending people.
On Mastodon, I’ve experienced virtually no aggression after sharing something about veganism. I think most people here are against animal abuse, even if they don’t always live by it. And there’s more of a culture here where if you say something others don’t like, but it’s not right-wing, there won’t be a fuss. People will simply unfollow you. Fine, that’s your right.

So, in my experience, there are a lot of left-wing people on Mastodon. Left-wing people are probably slightly more likely to be meat-reducers, vegetarians, or vegans than average, but still less likely to be vegan than I’d consider logical. After all, you’re against exploitation, but only against the exploitation of humans? Why do you make a moral distinction between human and non-human animals? There are plenty of philosophers who can explain to you in detail that it’s unreasonable not to protect animals from exploitation and violence, but only to protect humans.
Okay, you’re a feminist, a trans activist, or you’re committed to fighting racism. Great! But why don’t you extend your circle of compassion to non-human animals? They also have complex feelings, and many animals are more intelligent than humans, by the way. Or were you trying to say that a pigeon that can find its way back to its loft a thousand miles away is less intelligent than Donald Trump who can’t find Africa on a map?

I try to be considerate of everyone. I usually try not to offend people. So I won’t post a picture of a racist cookie (deeply racist cookies were very popular in my childhood in the Netherlands). Furthermore, I think everyone here agrees that we don’t joke about human exploitation. But why do I regularly see pictures of food made with animal body parts or animal secretions? I find those pictures of roasted animal pieces particularly disgusting and offensive. Why are you posting that? You know we’re all sensitive people here, don’t you? Don’t you understand how hurtful it is to post a picture of my fried friends?

Whether you eat innocent animals is entirely up to you. And what you feed your pet is entirely up to you, and I certainly don’t want to know. I believe that eating meat is very unkind and that drinking cow’s milk is literally insane, and that the fact that people consider it normal is a result of large-scale brainwashing that starts in childhood. Furthermore, I believe that animal husbandry should be phased out. Animals shouldn’t be used for sports or work anyway, and as a companion animal, I have learned that an adopted animal is the best choice, from an animal perspective. And in general perhaps also for the human.

What should you feed your pet? There’s a whole range of vegan food for dogs and cats these days. If you do want to feed your dog meat, that’s up to you, but please don’t tell me in words or pictures… I really love pictures of your cat. But I don’t want to know what you eat, or what they eat. UNLESS it’s vegan. Then I can’t get enough of your stories and pictures. And I think there’s little harm in that. Unless you have an eating disorder, in which case I think social media isn’t a kind place for you at all. (Yes, I did consider adding a content warning for vegan food photos, but that would suggest that it’s… about shocking content, and that’s not the case, in principle.

So what is shocking content for me is a photo of a pizza with cheese and meat on it. Or a photo of chicken legs that you’re about to eat. That sort of thing. If I encounter that, I politely ask that person to use a content warning next time. If they don’t respond or react negatively, I unfollow them. Sometimes I find that a shame. I don’t get it either. I never will. For you, it’s food, and you might find it inappropriate for me to interfere. But for me, it’s offensive to see what you eat. I don’t want to know everything about you. I don’t need to know anything about your dark side. Or about your ignorance. I’d like to have a friendly chat. And I also want to share knowledge about how you can save animal lives and thus bring world peace a tiny step closer. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?