DennisNov 20, 2022
Chris Trottier
EDIT: DO NOT BOOST!

This post is nearly a year old, and boosting will simply spread misinformation. Mastodon now has substantially more funding, and has enough scale to handle its many users.

I would delete this post but my server is not letting me so I'm editing this to reflect that I wish for you to NOT BOOST!

---
Right now Mastodon is only receiving appr. $21,000/month through Patreon.

This is not enough to handle the 1 million new accounts that will be made this week.

Currently, only 4,720 patrons are donating to Mastodon.

However, if everyone chips in $2/month, this will ensure the continued survival of Mastodon!

Be a hero! Donate now! https://www.patreon.com/mastodon
Get more from Mastodon on Patreon

Creating Mastodon

Patreon
Nov 18, 2022 at 7:19pmWeb
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
Also, if it's not already clear: donate to the instance that hosts you. This will also help out a lot!
Show threadKilterer🇪🇺Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet @Johann_v_d_Bron done
Show threadSqueeNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet if I can only pick one, which will have the biggest impact?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@squee On you or the Fediverse as a whole?
Show threadSqueeNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet the fediverse. Support my instance or the whole idea?
Show threadigrir - Wishlist AfterLove:EPNov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet I already asks my admin, and he said it's fine, but I'm so worried 😔
Show threadAdmiral Craymen 🏳️‍⚧️Nov 19, 2022
@atomicpoet I would if there was a Ko-Fi account where I could pay when I can instead of paying every month, which I can't really do.
Show threadNetizenSNov 21, 2022
@atomicpoet second stupid question: where to lookup the instance.
Show threadHamish's mumNov 22, 2022
@atomicpoet I just signed up but I have no idea his to donate to my server!
Show threadRairii Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet you might want to add a sarcasm tag
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@Rairii I'm not being sarcastic. Mastodon is a non-profit, and doesn't currently have the resources to replace potentially 100,000,000s of Twitter migrants. It needs funding, new staff, and moderation for the instances that it runs.
Show threadopal hartNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet no, be a hero by not enabling a supernode to grow even larger on the network. spread out on other instances.
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@opal Read my other posts. I've already been telling people to spread out. Nevertheless, Mastodon needs more funding.
Show threadopal hartNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet i can't read your posts when you fucking decide to block me, dumbass. and no, eugen does not need funding.
Show threadopal hartNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet all i gather from this thread is that you're awful at communicating your intents. everyone was confused by what you said. you made a mistake, own up to it instead of getting pissed at everyone else.
Show threadFrederik BraunNov 21, 2022
@opal What is wrong with you?
Show threadopal hartNov 21, 2022
@fredoB how am i supposed to answer that? you seem to have made up your mind about me already, so why bother?
Show threadopal hartNov 21, 2022
@fredoB and i don't use mastodon at all
Show threadAlistair DavidsonDec 17, 2022
@opal @atomicpoet this employs the developers who work on the core software plus two of the instances
Show threadopal hartDec 17, 2022
@moh_kohn @atomicpoet i don't use mastodon or those two instances so i have zero stake in their success
Show threadtyNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet joined!
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@tylerweir You're a hero!
Show threadEvan 🌿Nov 18, 2022
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the burden of those new accounts will mainly fall on server admins, will it not?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@evan Clarify what this question is about.
Show threadEvan 🌿Nov 18, 2022
"Right now Mastodon is only receiving appr. $21,000/month through Patreon.

This is not enough to handle the 1 million new accounts that will be made this week."

I guess I am confused how new accounts affect the resources needed by Mastodon, since it runs in distributed infrastructure
Show threadSanne HoekstraNov 18, 2022
@evan @atomicpoet
Evan, you are right that the huge influx of new users puts a lot of burden on the instance admins right now and they need support (donations) for the server upgrades.
At the same the Mastodon software development, improvement and security also takes a lot of effort and also relies on donations.
Show threadBobby Johnson: v1.49.0Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet Done. Pitched in for my part.
Show threadMaxi 12x 💉Nov 18, 2022

@atomicpoet Why should the Mastodon server network (not to mention the wider Fediverse) cease to work with more accounts on Mastodon.social, the overflown instance of the main dev? This make no sense whatsoever.

Yes, donate to the Mastodon development team.
But first donate to your instance!

Show threadTheCoolestNov 18, 2022

@atomicpoet Also donate to the admin of your instance! Donating directly to Mastodon will help the developers and the people who run the few "flagship" instances like mastodon.social and mastodon.online but it won't help all the other instances people are flocking to.

👏donate👏to👏your👏admins

Show threadPaulo LaureanoNov 18, 2022

@jorgecandeias @atomicpoet

The "donations model" is not sustainable both in the short-term burst of arrivals and the long term.

You can only go so far, leveraging on volunteers. They will accommodate some of those users.

But I think VIP instances that charge for speed, quality, and instant access are needed. A euro per month (or so) per incoming user paid annually would fund those paid servers.

Believing Twitter's user base can be accommodated "as is" is insane.

Already paid Patreon myself

Show threadPaulo LaureanoNov 18, 2022

@jorgecandeias @atomicpoet

I self-host my instance and have a few friends in there for the ride (less than 20)... it's a great experience, unlike being bundled into a system stretched to its limits.

In time they will move, either by picking up some great alternative instance or set up their own.

Show threadJeremiasDec 8, 2022
@pls @jorgecandeias @atomicpoet goblin mode: 
Show threadbdsNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet donated!  #lfg
Show thread@[email protected]Nov 18, 2022

@atomicpoet

I’m quite confused. I joined the @mastonon.Green server and have been looking for how to donate to support it. No luck but may be looking in the wrong place.

Is this a way of donating to support ALL servers? How does it work?

Show threadsefNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet @Fascinatorfun Your server’s admin is @JohanEmpa . He’s got details on how to donate.
Show thread@[email protected]Nov 18, 2022
@sef @JohanEmpa
got it. Thanks. Set up a SO!
Show threadJohan EmpaNov 18, 2022
@Fascinatorfun
Thank you and welcome as a member 😃
Show threadMichael Downey 🧢Nov 19, 2022
@Fascinatorfun No, it's just for the one guy and the single-person-board company he created. Not for the other local servers.
Show threadMx. Alba  Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet which instance are you tooting about?
Show threadTim Trautmann 📷Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet just joined the $10/month tier.
Show threadstefanNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet I don't really think this is a matter of survival. $21.000 should be plenty of money for mastodon to go about really. The Problem here is not that the users are coming to the fediverse.

The problem rather is the users tend to register on the bigger instances like mastodon.social, which is unsustainable.

The effort should really go to spread the users out through this federated network
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@stefan $21,000 is not enough to build an app that replaces Twitter.
Show threadstefanNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet as you can see it is. Building the app is really the cheaper thing tbh. I would bet most of the money goes into hosting. From $21.000 a month you can easily found a few devs.
Show threadstefanNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet Another factor is also that patreon certainly is not their only revenue stream. Its just a guess but I am fairly mastodon also got some government funds here and there as well.

I don't the software mastodon really has a problem with funding. We don't really know which other revenue streams the company has (especially from other donations that are not patreon)

If you want your money to help the fediverse I would advise helping your server-admin out with their bills to keep the servers up. I am pretty sure Eugen is fine for now.
Show threadSanne HoekstraNov 18, 2022
@stefan @atomicpoet
Stefan, I think there is nothing wrong with having a very big Mastodon instance in the fediverse.
For one thing that will add to the development of better scaling Mastodon instances, with benefits for all Mastodon admins.
If your worry is that one Mastodon instance will get too dominant, then I don’t share your worry. Users can and will migrate to other instances if that benefits them.
With this trend, scaling is key.
Show threadstefanNov 18, 2022
@smhoekstra @atomicpoet Well I mean there is certain stuff that kicks in when you have such a big instance really. Having one huge instance kinda goes against the goals of the fediverse of being a *federated* network. The idea really is to have lots of small (maybe medium-sized) instances that share the load of the network and distribute. Way harder to take down a proper federated sevice fully.

Also you could clearly see in the last weeks what impact a big instance even has on smaller ones. Flooding them with activities when stuff happens. Also being generally slow since hardware would not keep-up with demand.

For me instances should not really scale over a certain limit. It just centalizes stuff to much taking away what makes the fediverse great.

Also it is not a fear that an instance gets to dominant. It is a thing. mastodon. social is a powerhouse in this portion of the federated microblogging services. So they certainly can excert pressure on smaller instances, especially since that is a "flagship instance" (Though I can't think of a concrete example right now).

You could a whole other route instead of scaling one instance to just scale on the network and get more nodes online so users spread out. Thats the way I would prefer really
Show threadMatthiasNov 19, 2022
@Politikos ☝️mastodon n’est pas une app centralisée comme twitter, faisons la promotion d’un réseau décentralisé en expliquant que chaque instance indépendante a besoin de soutien. Ce sont ces petits serveurs qui portent le poids des nouveaux utilisateurs. Pas le proprio/main dev de mastodon. Il faut éviter de refaire l’erreur de twitter en s’inscrivant tous sur une seule même grande instance.
Show threadBananas Nov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet do you accept the impoverished £Sterling? 🤔😂
Show threadTHALREXNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet remeber that you should chip in to the server that's hosting your account, the donation to Mastodon is great, but that doesn't help keep the individual servers alive
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@thalrex Yep, already said that.
Show threadTHALREXNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet My bad! the threading view isn't always that intuitive
Show threadJason GormanNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet How does the money get to all the independently hosted instances?
Show threadChris TrottierNov 18, 2022
@jasongorman Every instance that runs Mastodon benefits from continued developments and improvements that the Mastodon non-profit makes to its code.

For example, there was a recent update that allowed users to edit their posts. That's a big deal.
Show threadJason GormanNov 18, 2022
@atomicpoet And who pays for the hosting?
Show threadMr. FahrenheitNov 18, 2022
@jasongorman @atomicpoet the one who hosted it. Many of these and have a homepage and a donation link. ;)