Seb Potter

A reminder for all #astrodons.

Some mastodon instances exist for the sole purpose of giving the worst of humanity the chance to harrass others, to spew vile hatred, and to try to make the world a worse place.

If you see them in your replies, if you have to interact with them in any way here, please report them. Report early and often, so I can block them and their servers.

For those of you having to deal with this, I wish I had a fraction of the patience and courage you have. You're amazing.

Nov 9, 2022 at 8:27amWeb
Show threadAwesome AstronomyNov 9, 2022
@sebinthestars thanks for all your efforts! It is appreciated
Show threadstill aetios anywayNov 9, 2022
@sebinthestars I just wanted to say that it's so great to see that newcomers 'here' are already running servers and what not. You really went off the deep end! As you've already noticed it's not always easy to find your way but it'll become easier with time :) Are you following #fediblock yet? There's often block suggestions shared under that hashtag. Probably useful for server admins!
Show threadSeb PotterNov 9, 2022

@aetios Thanks for the sugestion. I've noticed in the past week #fediblock has become drowned in off-topic discussions and finding domains to block is that much harder. I'm considering forking mastodon to federate this task.

The hosting I'm using doesn't have terminal access, so I can't manage domain blocks in bulk, and adding them one-at-a-time in the admin interface is a poor experience. I'm testing 4.0 to see if it makes some of the admin tasks more accessible before moving host this week.

Show threadstill aetios anywayNov 9, 2022
@sebinthestars I'm personally wary of federated blocklists because in the past instances I've been on have been blocked for reasons of (I quote) 'weird german instance name' or 'federating with wrong instances'. I think it is in the nature of the fediverse to properly consider what to block or not. OF course there are often clear-cut instances that are solely for harassing users and that's where most of your blocking will be. but thankfully that doesn't seem to crop up all-too-often.
(unless I misunderstood you)
Show threadSeb PotterNov 9, 2022
@aetios I agree - I wouldn't dream of automating the task of actually blocking, just in sharing the data so it's up to individual communities to decide what to use.
Show threadstill aetios anywayNov 9, 2022
@sebinthestars sounds good! looking forward to see what you'll come up with :)
Show threadmushroom 🍄Nov 9, 2022
@aetios @sebinthestars as a rule of thumb, always make your search and not follow blindly block lists
(it's valid for several other things too  )
Show threadschuh has movedNov 9, 2022

@sebinthestars You are most probably aware of this list of instances that one of the friendly larger instances around has blocked? https://github.com/chaossocial/about/blob/master/blocked_instances.md

They also refer to https://toot.cafe/about/more#blocked-instances

Not suggesting automated adoption, but this should help cover a lot.

about/blocked_instances.md at master · chaossocial/about

Contribute to chaossocial/about development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadXerz 💗Nov 14, 2022
@sebinthestars Hey there! Would like to ask, what’s your instance’s blocklist? I have a friend who is considering joining either your instance or one to follow accounts of yours from, and they’re worried that they won’t be able to see your stuff or other friends when signing up, thx in advance!
Show threadSeb PotterNov 14, 2022

@xerz So at the moment I block servers that would have an impact on our community based on hate speech, harassment, and other such egregious behaviour. I don't block mainstream servers based on lack of content moderation, but will aggressively block and suspend individual users when I receive reports from the community.

To summarise: your friend is welcome here and will be able to interact with the majority of the fediverse if they follow our server rules.

Show threadXerz 💗Nov 14, 2022
@sebinthestars Shared back the answer and they don’t feel very confident without an explicit list, but thanks for the reply nonetheless!
Show threadSeb PotterNov 14, 2022

@xerz The reason I won't share an explicit list is that it makes it much easier for bad actors to identify avenues of attack. Many server admins won't make their block lists public for this reason.

I respect your friend's position, and wish them the best of luck finding a home instance. I love that we can all make these decisions and still be part of a community!