Adelbert PeckmanNov 18, 2022
Chris Trottier

Does joining a small instance affect your reach?

Will less people see your posts if you self-host your own instance?

No and no.

On my small single-user instance (atomicpoet.org), I sent this post 2 hours ago. As you can see, it now has:

* 784 boosts
* 354 favorites
* Too many replies for me to count

As I've now shown, size of an instance is no obstacle to spreading your message!

Nov 18, 2022 at 10:02pmWeb
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022

And within 10 minutes, that post now has 926 boosts, 412 favorites.

Again -- this is a self-hosted instance. There's no reach disadvantage.

Also worth mentioning my follower count is low.

Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022

Prediction: today, nothing I post on mastodon.social will reach as many people as what I post on atomicpoet.org.

That's is despite @atomicpoet having 7.3K followers and being on the biggest instance on Mastodon.

This is because what I'm posting about on @[email protected] is world-changing stuff, and what I'm posting about here right now just appeals to stats and metrics nerds.

Show threadSong Gao Nov 19, 2022
@[email protected] @atomicpoet I’m curious how the mechanism works. It seems hashtags are crucial to disseminating content. But when/how does my instance show me the posts tagged with a certain hashtag? Is having one edge between the two instances enough? What if there no edge in between — is there a separate discovery mechanism?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 19, 2022
@songgao @[email protected] Hashtags might help on your instance but not really on everyone else's. Most discovery happens not by search but happenstance.
Show threadSong Gao Nov 19, 2022
@[email protected] @atomicpoet Oh, didn’t realize hashtags are entirely within the instance. It sounds like small instances still have a bootstrapping problem for new users who don’t have influential friends who can boost their content. Perhaps once you have maybe 100 active followers the benefit of discovery provided by large instances start to varnish
Show threadChris TrottierNov 19, 2022

@songgao @[email protected] But not really. Followers don't matter here. And whether you have a small or large instance, it doesn't affect your reach.

Most people here don't really use hashtags, not even on the big instances.

Everything that happens occurs either because it pops into your home feed or you were notified.

Show threadSong Gao Nov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet @[email protected] doesn’t “popping up in your home feed” part require either a follow or a boost from a following?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 19, 2022
@songgao @[email protected] Not really. In home feed, people can read replies to someone else—so they tend to join in.
Show threadSong Gao Nov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet @[email protected] that’s a good point
Show threadVitor de Lucca Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet It's actually the other way even, with smaller instances, more people will see you on local timeline, so more chances of boosts!
Show threadurstbrot1Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet how can you see these stats?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@urstbrot See the attached screenshot. The stats are in a big red border.
Show threadurstbrot1Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet this is federated reach? I only see this on tusky. Do I need to use the website to see global reach?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@urstbrot Metrics aren't accurate if seen remotely.
Show threadJono FergusonNov 18, 2022

@atomicpoet when I stop feeling like shit, I'm quite interested to dig deeper to understand how it all works.

If for nothing else than then when I make comments they are not completely uninformed.

Your drip feed of toots as you feel inclined is awesome for my absorption.

Thank you.

Show threadDave SwerskyNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet Quite the opposite in fact, a smaller well-run instance will not be overloaded and is less likely to be defederated
Show threadlampNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet small instance with no blocks will be able to see more than big instance with many blocks
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@lamp True.
Show threadjrgNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet It still does rely on your instance getting federated which takes a little time on a fresh install.
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@jrg Yeah but there's easy ways to help with that.
Show threadGalacticoNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet nice!
Show threadLordPhantom (Mathew)Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet Does your instance need to be federated for this to work? I'm still unclear exactly how all this fits together:-)
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@LordPhantom Yes.
Show threadBob WymanNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet
If @[email protected] works so well, then why do you use mastodon.social?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@bobwyman @[email protected] Because I can. I've had this account since 2018. And I donate to mastodon.social.
Show threadEeeee WooooNov 20, 2022
@atomicpoet @bobwyman @[email protected] having multiple accounts is a feature. Some of the apps include account switching. Just depends on how you interact the best.
Show threadSimon Lightfoot 🥇💙Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet I agree, however, overloaded instances could effect your reach.
Show threadnawanNov 19, 2022
I think you just need enough followers to spread the posts regardless of how big the server is or whether it's self-hosted or not.
Show thread8lettersukNov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet interesting. I was considering my own instance because if the downfall of Orkut, MySpace, AOL, Geocities etc has taught ke anything it's that unless you are running it yourself it may not exist in 5 years.
Show threadChris TrottierNov 19, 2022
@8lettersuk Exactly!
Show threadGalacticoNov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet amazing! Tell me more about your instance, where is it hosted, cost, etc. Where are all the toots kept?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 19, 2022
@galactico You're going to have to look at the rest of my posts.
Show threadkaiaNov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet
asking people to donate to centralize a decentralized network is a very bad take and I'd rather wish you would not have been boosted that much.
Show threadKoiNov 19, 2022
@[email protected] @atomicpoet exactly this. Telling folks to join other instances seems more feasible IMHO
Show threadChris TrottierNov 19, 2022
@kaia Well, good thing I'm not asking people to re-centralize a decentralized network!
Show threadKevanNov 29, 2022
@atomicpoet Yes they will if you're not followed by anyone on any other instance. I'm sure my instance doesn't get the entire federated timeline.