Steve HarozOct 31, 2022

Apparently, the reason I've been having so much trouble with mastodon is that the server is extremely restrictive, and it doesn't "federate" (whatever that means).

1. I can't follow people easily. When I click a link to someone's profile and click "follow", it asks me to login.

2. I have to approve everyone who follows me, which is really obnoxious. (see image)

Will moving servers fix this? Is there a walkthrough? This kind of hostile UX makes people not use a system.

Show threadckohtalaOct 31, 2022

@sharoz welcome to a well moderated instance that takes care of the safety of its members :)

instances that are known to be toxic dumpster fires are restricted and the large instances are restricted because they are not moderated
see
https://scholar.social/about/more

Show threadSteve Haroz
@ckohtala I don't see why restricting who can follow me has anything to do with being well moderated. You can see my posts without even logging in. Why restrict following?
Oct 31, 2022 at 10:57amWeb
Show threadBeneOct 31, 2022

@sharoz @ckohtala I don‘t think its restricting you personally. The admins if this instance do not allow communication (aka federation) between this instance and the instance where your friend is. You not being able to be followed is a side-effect of this blocked frderation.

I am also aware that this does not solve your problem😬

Show threadFlorian KräutliOct 31, 2022
@sharoz @ckohtala I think that the Federated timeline on ones Mastodon instance is populated via the follower lists. There is no centralised source of posts so there need to be other sources for aggregation. Therefore, it might make sense to have some filters in place that require manual approval. Unfortunately, many new users are not aware of the difference in instances or don't know how to go about finding a suitable one.