Mickaël Rémond
Kelsey HightowerAfter using Mastodon for just one day, I gotta feeling this platform is going to give Twitter a run for its $8.
yuvipanda@kelseyhightower Kelsey pickin winners as always
Angie@kelseyhightower I agree it could. Still many waiting to see when twitter will finally die before they commit to being here.
Lars Karlslund 
@kelseyhightower it's pretty crazy, same people, different mood altogether ... well, perhaps not *all* the same people, maybe that's the difference. But it feels more personal
Levi Strope@lkarlslund @kelseyhightower crazy what the lack of quote tweets does for a platform
Carrie Beesley@lkarlslund @kelseyhightower It is so much _kinder_.
The elder millennial / cynic in me remembers when the internet in general was a nice place to be. We will have to really work to keep this place pure in its intentions and hold users accountable *somehow* without controlling “freedom of expression”.
I guess that’s the big question of our time, how we divert the power of these platforms towards a general “good” without all the awful stuff.
@sugarandmagic @kelseyhightower as I'm way too sarcastic for my own good, I really have to restrain myself here ... which is probably a good thing ;-)
@lkarlslund @kelseyhightower now I want to know 😅
Atz@sugarandmagic @lkarlslund @kelseyhightower
Mmm, that's a little rose-colored look at the past. Ever hear of the "Eternal September"?
A platform can be nice with a small population full of decent people. As it expands it is doomed to be overrun with trolls.
I'm not sure how mastodon will deal with that in a way that is better?
@atzanteol @sugarandmagic @kelseyhightower yes, I agree, it's a matter of time. But the federation idea works for that. It's up to each instance to ensure reasonable behaviour from their users, otherwise the well behaving instances will simply defederate them. I know this will put the work on the instance moderators, but there is nothing that prevents an instance from requiring account validation as part of their sign up process in order to strengthen accountability, closing sign ups entirely or whatever they think is appropriate if the problem becomes too big.
@lkarlslund @sugarandmagic @kelseyhightower
It will be interesting to watch. I think if the "federation" becomes a "balkanization" that will help. Like if Gab and Truth form their own network separate from the mainstream. It can be helpful to isolate toxic people while still giving them an outlet.
The 500 char limit also helps tremendously. It's hard to be *polite* with 240 chars so even innocuous tweets sound hyper-aggressive.
Exiled New Yorker- Connie@atzanteol @sugarandmagic @lkarlslund @kelseyhightower
I signed up agreeing to my host’s term of service.
If a troll joins an instance they will soon out themselves and be gone.
If there is an instance full of hate there is a way for hosts to make sure they can’t connect with their instance. I forget the word.
Recent escapee trying to help, stumbling along, where I have no place being.
Please forgive the mixed terminology.
I signed up agreeing to my host’s term of service.
If a troll joins an instance they will soon out themselves and be gone.
If there is an instance full of hate there is a way for hosts to make sure they can’t connect with their instance. I forget the word.
Recent escapee trying to help, stumbling along, where I have no place being.
Please forgive the mixed terminology.
@Pagan_Activist @atzanteol @sugarandmagic @kelseyhightower I think defederation is the word you're looking for
@lkarlslund @Pagan_Activist @atzanteol @kelseyhightower https://hachyderm.io/@xian/109380317580580624 I don’t know if this works as a “quote tweet” analogue or if that’s even desirable
helmingstay (@[email protected])
@TheIdOfAlan @[email protected] @nova Someone pointed out last night that Usenet (and similar) was a federated network that allowed for simultaneous building of local "structure" plus long-range connections. https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2018/217/Usenet
@sugarandmagic @lkarlslund @atzanteol @kelseyhightower
Yes, that whole new neighborhood feel.
I’m reading, reading, reading, and soon I swear I’ll be taking notes.
Yes, that whole new neighborhood feel.
I’m reading, reading, reading, and soon I swear I’ll be taking notes.
@Pagan_Activist @sugarandmagic @lkarlslund @kelseyhightower
Yeah - the issue I see is that different instances with different users can still interact. So my post may meet my instance's TOS but not yours. But you can still see my posts. Instances can be de-federated (which happened with "gab" I believe). But that's pretty heavy handed. And it might be good enough to keep things civil?
I suppose I don't see the point in servers having slightly diff TOS yet.
@atzanteol @sugarandmagic @lkarlslund @kelseyhightower
I understand your point and position.
I’m not quite getting the content warnings and when I should and shouldn’t use them.
Isn’t moving to new neighborhood fun?
There is/are some really great content/creators/people here.
I understand your point and position.
I’m not quite getting the content warnings and when I should and shouldn’t use them.
Isn’t moving to new neighborhood fun?
There is/are some really great content/creators/people here.
@Pagan_Activist @sugarandmagic @lkarlslund @kelseyhightower
It is fun. 😄
The Content Warnings (CW) are a very interesting idea to me. It seems there are a number of norms around them (e.g. CW on political posts) that people will expect. But I've seen them used in lots of ways (people CW discussions of Musk/Twitter).
It's an odd form of "self-sensor-but-not" that I hope remains useful, but I fear will fall by the wayside as it relies on "good actors" to implement. Fingers crossed though!
Ziggy the Hamster ☎️ 4ZTH
Nicolas Noble 
@kelseyhightower don't forget that donating your $8/mo to your Mastodon instance is probably the right thing to do.
ScottCate@kelseyhightower I think it’s still too nerdy for mainstream. All the servers and login difficulties are show. Stoppers. But for us nerds! It’s a competition for sure.
@ScottCate @kelseyhightower I think you're probably right and also probably why crypto won't take off.
Darrel Miller@ScottCate @kelseyhightower I think the servers/login issues are just growing pains. When I joined mastodon.social the sign up was simpler than Twitter.
@kelseyhightower who owns the data? And, how does this comply with different regulator laws regarding data collection and privacy?
Gustavo Garcia@devguru @kelseyhightower I read someone promoting one server because it was in Germany (for data protection) but with all the “federation” thing, I guess one toot will end up in many different servers.
Well, the same happens in twitter with public tweets… they are in thousand different scrapper servers around the world.
Hardy@kelseyhightower really happy you're here kelsey! You're one of my favorite follows on Twitter
@hardyrarso thanks for the kind words.
April King@kelseyhightower maybe, but seeing all my non-tech friends fleeing to cohost or hive after trying to figure out mastodon doesn’t fill me with too much hope. it’s really great for what it is, but I think it needs to fix onboarding and provide a really great and intuitive app first.
slim_vim@april @kelseyhightower Yeah, Mastodon is a pretty hard sell to the less tech centered crowd, for the reasons @april mention.
Discoverability of topics/people to follow also seem to be a challenge, especially from within the app.
Discoverability of topics/people to follow also seem to be a challenge, especially from within the app.
Karl Matthias 🇺🇦@slim_vim @april @kelseyhightower I know a bunch of non-technical people that have managed it without issues. George Takei posted about how it was no issue for him at all.
I think a little more explanation up front is all that is required. People once had to figure out how to use Twitter, Instagram, etc as well. Neither of those services is much like it started out now.
@april I think this friction is going to present opportunities for a centralized service to step in and fill the gaps. It will come with a trade off for sure, but at least there will be a migration path and plenty of competition.
Jesper Dr.amsch 
@kelseyhightower A few of the Mastodon server Patreons I've seen specifically added a $8/month tier... for no apparent reason.
Stephen Masters@kelseyhightower This migration from Twitter seems to be giving it that critical mass that all social media networks need. The feeling that a good number of our friends are here too, and not only our tech friends.
@kelseyhightower still getting into it honestly but I think this might be a great opportunity to 'spring clean' my following list. While everyone is super interesting my interests ( or theirs ) have evolved over the years.
What is the best way to discover content on mastodon, especially if your not on a particular server?
Dave@alistairbush @kelseyhightower Hashtags are, by far, the best way to discover new content. If you use a third-party app on your phone like Tusky you can even pin hashtags to your menu bar.
@kelseyhightower so happy to see you here!
@sugarandmagic happy to be here.
Henning Kilset@kelseyhightower I set up a repeating $6 donation to @nova. Feel like that's a much better use of money than giving $8 to Musk.
Frederik Raabye@kelseyhightower Made me shell out for server support in two days. Been waiting for many years on Twitter to give me the option for the ad-free quality feed. Good times ahead, if it scales.
@kelseyhightower Agreed, Kelsey! It's pretty nice. We're going to need to help folks make it scale, but it's well on the way.
IPng Networks@kelseyhightower I totally agree! It feels very natural to me in its UX. from a data stewardship point of view I’m thrilled that I can take responsibility back for my own data by self hosting an instance.
Andre FdM 
@kelseyhightower it is a bit of a strange platform... We got so used to the new AOLs and CompuServes that forgot the BBS and FidoNet of life...
I think the fediverse has strong potential, including commercial, but will require people and brands do leave the "lazy faire" behind.
For one:
The fediverse doesn't seem to distinguish twitter from instagram. From what I gather, protocol and civility is what bounds the many islands together.
b10xe@kelseyhightower it’s alright. it feels like if Twitter became a cryptocurrency, but I’m happy to be a user nonetheless.
Rich Sharples@kelseyhightower I’m hopeful it gives a boost to an open federated Web and standards like ActivityPub - more users > faster refinement > more users
Darnell Clayton 
@kelseyhightower It will once people realize they can use a custom domain for their Mastodon account & pay $8/month for hosting.
But I am still not sold that verification on Twitter was a smart move. Advertisers (Twitter’s biggest customers) are fleeing the platform.
Unless Trump joins Twitter, Elon Musk will have no way of funding the site.
But I am still not sold that verification on Twitter was a smart move. Advertisers (Twitter’s biggest customers) are fleeing the platform.
Unless Trump joins Twitter, Elon Musk will have no way of funding the site.
AmiW Streetart ❄️@AmiW happy to be here.
can@kelseyhightower What aspects do you think make it better than Twitter?
@can the ability to host your own server is a game changer. In terms of base functionality, the ability to communicate with each other in real-time, is pretty good so far, and that's the main reason I use Twitter in the first place.
@kelseyhightower I agree. I really hope Twitter also switches to ActivityPub...
@can oh, that would be extra dope.
@kelseyhightower it's far from perfect - the learning curve for example is quite a bit worse than Twitter for non-technical users 🙁 - but I've been impressed so far. It just needs that critical mass of users, and Twitter is doing a good job at helping out there!
@kelseyhightower yeah it feels good.
Nick Scialli@kelseyhightower getting used to the federated setup but definitely seems solid so far!
Elon Musk@kelseyhightower are you saying $8 is too cheap? We can increase the price
British Tech Guru@kelseyhightower The verified tick needs work because it won't work when the domain points to a YouTube account.