I've decided to make account creations by approval only, which may change to invite only. It's clear such a huge wave of people from Twitter has had an overall negative effect. It's not even about server performance, people just don't read the rules and they complain there's actual moderation here unlike the hellscape they came from. We're incredibly fair and balanced, but this isn't Grindr or FetLife, nor is it supposed to be a Twitter replacement.
@nathan can we just displace these people to another toxic place like, dunno, habbo hotel??
@Metamedia @nathan You can bet they’re probably still there running money scams on children or whatever weird forced virtual labor they’re into
@godisafreak @nathan habbo has altered my brain chemistry forever but at least I had nice furni
@Metamedia @nathan I understand, I cried for 30 minutes when they shut club penguin down 😭
@nathan I can also imagine there's a lot of people with no experience of the BBSs of old - or even forums, all they know is Twitter/FB/IG/what have you. Mastodon is socially different, it's not just the tech stuff, and this probably comes as a bit of a shock for them.
@carto @nathan indeed. Being myself a refugee of CIX and uk.gay-lesbian-bi on Usenet, this already feels far more like home than FarceBook or Birdshite ever have

@carto @nathan what I wouldn't give for a proper revival of a BBS. Feels like there's been a hole in my social life ever since they evaporated - I basically became an adult in large part via the connections I built on various boards.

This place is a good start though.

@SkinnyPigAnnie @carto @nathan someone wrote up a few years ago what I've been thinking about the Fediverse being reminiscent of Fidonet. https://wordsmith.social/rgx/the-fediverse-reminds-me-so-much-of-fidonet
The Fediverse reminds me so much of FidoNet

----- New Year's day, and all is quiet in the land. :-) Time to catch up, and I remembered an idea for a blog post a few days ago....

Musings by @rg
@nathan please be careful with that concept. I’ve had more positive interactions here than I ever did with either Bluebird or FB. It’s different and in a very good way.
@CAman There are thousands of Mastodon servers, people can join whatever one they like.
@nathan @CAman yep they should think about what they love to post the most that's what I did and found the perfect one.
@nathan As one of the migration I had only positive interactions so far. Avery cozy place you have build here. Let’s all keep it that way.

@nathan This is entirely fair. Mastodon isn't Twitter despite what people think, since shouting into the void will actually echo in Local and there's an active decision for having folks *interact* rather than just perform on each other's posts.

To you and the Mods: keep it up. I like it here.

@nathan hi. I am one of your new recruits and i love the way it is run here because it is moderated and the rules fit the experiences I wanted to have here.

I understand this decision and am grateful you gave us a place to be that is so much safer to be. Yanno.. where no one has to block a million accounts by themselves to feel protected.

Plz have another dog photo in tribute.

@nathan there’s some rant by some bloke about CW on topless men and kissing. This is my only socials and I want to be able to use it both at home, in front of my gran, on the bus… you get the picture. So I for one really appreciate the CW. It just seems like it’s being considerate and it’s good manners. Also, too right, if women can’t post topless pics without a CW the. The blokes shouldn’t be able to either. Totally fair, all can or all can’t.

Now back to cats, plants and saxophones :-)

@nathan I saw someone on here the other day post “I think I’m going to go back to Twitter because I want to post nudes without needing consent”

Just like… yikes, dude.

@nathan I expect there's bad actors deliberately trying to stir the pot as well.
@SusanLewis Nah, just gay cis men finding out the status quo they're so used to doesn't exist here and wetting themselves about it.
@nathan I see. Some people just want Twitter:2 I guess!

@nathan @SusanLewis

Wetting themselves definitely needs a CW. 😮

Oh you mean metaphorically 😉

As a twitter refuge I think you do a marvelous job although I did get a little peeved when someone requested a CW on pictures of my home baked pork pies. 🧐

@nathan what's the difference between approval only and invite only? Does that mean when someone wants to join here, they have to be vetted? How does it work for you on your end? ☺ Just curious.
@yassie_j They have to give a reason and have to be manually approved by a moderator. Invite only they just need an invite link from an existing member.
@nathan oooh okay thanks! I think it's a good idea then, esp if you need to keep the workload. IMHO 65k is a nice number, esp since other instances work fine on smaller figures. Thank you and your mod team for the hard work!!
@nathan @yassie_j you could make it invite only but limit each user to one invite per month or smth idk if it's possible or if you'd have to set up like a google form to do it and keep track like
@nathan This is a concern about the sustainability of the platform. One way or another it's going to evolve. I just hope it's for the better, not worse.
@nathan this is a good decision and a good server. Thank you! Have a doggo picture. 
@nathan It's a very specific group of individuals that think the rules don't apply. Oddly it's the same individuals that led to a second pride being formed in the city. Go figure.
@nathan Have a cat pic for your troubles! (Juliette, the gravity-defying loaf!)
@nathan Will the price of admission be "write a 500 word essay in your own words on what the mastodon.lol server rules mean to you and how much you love content warnings on certain content"? (I'm joking. I think).

@nathan This is the intrinsic balance in societies, the independence of the individual and the interdependent good of the whole.

You seem to me, an Oct 31, 2022 Lol newbie, to be doing a difficult job well. I measure this by my answer to this question: Do I feel safe from physical or verbal harm here, and I do.

From an old lady: Thank you, Nathan.

@nathan I'm still trying to figure this place out... I do like that I can type like the 57 year old woman I am, and not have to go back & delete words, or say things like u because I've used too many characters. Lol
@nathan I've been a moderator on the Tweakers.net forum for 10 years and this kinda feels like that. The moderation is present and involved. And that's a good thing.
@nathan I appreciate the guidelines so I’m all for this.

@nathan it's interesting people would join without realising the specific moderation of the server. The REASON I joined this one is because it explicitly was a no-alt-right, no-terf, territory.

Thanks for keeping the server up in its spirit in addition to it's servers

@nathan I am so glad this isn't Grindr, Fetlife, or Twitter. That's why I'm here and not on those other platforms.
@nathan This is really sad. I found your server fantastic, it was a great introduction to Mastodon
@nathan I like moderation. I sometimes make a faux pas and like to he reminded when I do, so I can correct it and learn (I hope). I am glad that here I haven't got freaky people wanting to send me photos without asking or fake accounts etc....