Mastodawn

OHWACHACHA ⌨️ 🖱️Dec 24, 2022

One of the things I would miss here on Mastodon was all of the alerts from my local infrastructure and government twitter accounts. These will likely take a very long time to make the migration.

With https://bird.makeup, you can create bot accounts that put those tweets in your Mastodon timeline. For instance, I follow the Washington State Patrol account for regional weather related road closures and accident reports:

@[email protected]

EDIT: I Should have tagged the project's creator: @vincent

bird.makeup - Home

@awilbert this is fantastic for filling on those few accounts that I miss, thank you!

Town vs. Beagle Killer Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert Help- I did it but don't know how to use it

Femme Malheureuse Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio Could ask WSPD if they have an RSS feed for the content they tweet (it's not in their main website). Government agencies should be using open platform/noncommercial communications methods first before commercial platforms.

Good example why this is necessary: during recent mass shooting at UVA students didn't know whether to trust local police dept. Twitter feed, relied on ad hoc method instead.

smellythief Dec 30, 2022

@femme_mal @awilbert @wspd7pio
I was thinking that each government should host their own instance. Considering they'd want to moderate differently, it would be interesting to see how the atmosphere changes as you browse different countries' instances.

Femme Malheureuse Dec 30, 2022

@smellythief I don't think US local, state, or federal governments will launch and operate instances to do anything more than host official accounts.

Moderating non-official speech by individuals would violate the First Amendment's prohibition of government regulation of speech even with Sect. 230's protections for hosting entities like ISPs.

smellythief Dec 30, 2022

@femme_mal I don't think they will either, but also not sure it would be a bad idea. With all the talk of Twitter as a public square and the associated concerns about it being privately held, national instances make a certain sort of sense. Verification could be tied to a national ID.
Re: 1A, the FCC already limits speech around certain topics for OTA broadcasts. New laws or carve-outs could allow limiting at least amplification of messages that denigrate protected classes of people, for eg.

Femme Malheureuse Dec 30, 2022

@smellythief @smellythief For other countries what you suggest works. But the US doesn't have a national ID and likely won't. We shouldn't have the REAL ID for voting as it is since it is merely another layer of voter suppression.

As for FCC regs: now you're looking at an entirely different kettle of fish because this would mean legislation changing status of internet services to match that of publicly-owned broadcast bandwidth, or telecom which is common carrier.

smellythief Dec 30, 2022

@femme_mal I was just giving an example of an exception we accept to the 1st Ammendment. I personally don’t think it should be absolute, and that was one example of how we currently don’t treat it as such, though we come closer than other countries of course. But legally allowing oversight of speech on one government-operated internet-base service would actually not require the same application to all internet services, esp if the law was written that way.

Raymond Barbour 🇿🇦Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert thanks for developing this @vincent https://sr.ht/~cloutier/bird.makeup/

How's it coping?

bird.makeup: Twitter bridge to the fediverse

Vincent Cloutier Dec 24, 2022

@RaymondBarbour @awilbert It is getting busier that's for sure! Right now it takes a few hours to cycle through accounts, but I have lots of ideas to improve this.

CautionWIP 🎃+🇨🇦+🏳️‍🌈=

@awilbert This is not only clever but quite thoughtful, and really addresses one of the critical issues a lot folks have with leaving Twitter. kudos!

Pulin Kothari, MD Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert Thank you, this is the exact use case I would need something like this

Pulin Kothari, MD Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert doesn’t seem to be working? Bot account I created didn’t show a tweet that the corresponding twitter account just tweeted out

punditpending Dec 24, 2022

@pinkoos @awilbert
Click the saturation stat - it’s over the limit for API activity, so that means not every tweet will come across. It’s unclear how effective this tool will realistically be

Sungjin 성진 Dec 26, 2022

@pinkoos @awilbert same

Kin Lane Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio I think it will take community work to help automate and replicate. I worry state and county agencies wont have skills and resources to navigate mastodon without help. Sad, because we had such a groundswell of activity on twitter. I really depended on during Covid.

Apostolos K.Dec 24, 2022

@kin @awilbert @wspd7pio skill may be an issue. Time is also an issue as many employees do this kind of thing as an add on to their regular duties. As such they probably tend to focus on what gets the biggest bang for their buck (aka where most of their constituents are)...and I doubt they are on the fediverse. I am talking about people like bill and Anges from next door, not the tech enthusiast that's everywhere. RSS, PA hile it works for us, doesn't work for bill and Agnes

husbandpanda 🐼Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio ooo nice tool, naming convention is entertaining too!

Hammancheez Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio one of the actual good used cases for twitter that I’m not sure translates as well over here

W6KME Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio

The usefulness of this cannot be overstated. Wow.

Edit: I've copied all of the remaining emergency info accounts that haven't made the migration and haven't been turned into a bot by people like AI6YR. It really completes my move off the bird.

I've copied a few personal follows as well-we can't interact or reply to their tweets, but at least I will know if they tweet something that makes it worth logging into the bird to see.

Amazing tool.👌

David Miller 🇺🇸 🗽Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert
I'm definitely going to check that out because there are definitely useful Twitter accounts that are unlikely to migrate anytime soon.

The only other thing I'd like for Mastodon is the ability to @ public officials (that means they need to get over here)—I don't want to lose the ability to have the productive/direct conversations that sometimes happen over there.

Twocee Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert thank you. I just tried it for one of my essential accts on the birdsite, hope it works. If it does I may be able to totally ditch twitter.

John Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @[email protected] tbh institutions should be standing up their own mastodon installations already for communications.

Adam Wilbert Dec 24, 2022

@jnavarra Agreed! There's no reason that civic organizations should rely on a private company for dissemination of public information.

psefsu Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @deandad
I have been thinking the same thing. One of my primary use cases for the birdsite is following other #highered / #communitycollege institutions and #emergencymanagement accounts for news alerts.

punditpending Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio This is incredible

DimerHunton :toucan:Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert Wow, if this works as intended, it’s incredible.

@awilbert Brilliant! The server looks overloaded (red bar at 277% in attached image)… is this a POC to get others to run these bridges or is this server going to be a ‘public service’ instance?

Adam Wilbert Dec 24, 2022

@christopher I'm not sure about the load status bar, @vincent is the owner of the project.

@awilbert @vincent Thanks. The source code page https://sr.ht/~cloutier/bird.makeup/ talks about the official instance.

Thanks @vincent for making this.

bird.makeup: Twitter bridge to the fediverse

Vincent Cloutier Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @christopher Yes, it is designed as a big instance. That bar comes from the original @BirdsiteLIVE . I'll switch it during my holiday break to the time of the last fetched tweet + the time it takes to iterate on all twitter accounts that are followed.

Just curious, should I expect twitter posts to start making their way into my feed by now? I followed some accounts on your server yesterday. Some have posted today, and nothing is showing up yet.

Merry Christmas.

Jon Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @[email protected] I created a couple but it's not showing anything. Does it take time before they start showing the tweets?

Adam Wilbert Dec 24, 2022

@BikingViking @[email protected] It may take some time for the bridge to start pulling content from twitter. That seems to be the nature of federation? The project's creator @vincent would have better insight into how often tweets are brought across.

Jon Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @[email protected] @vincent Thanks!

Vincent Cloutier Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @BikingViking @wspd7pio Thank you for doing user support for me! That is right, the service iterates on all twitter accounts that are followed, then forwards that to fediverse users. That whole process takes (for now) a few hours.

Jon Dec 24, 2022

@vincent @awilbert @[email protected] thank you.

@vincent @awilbert @BikingViking @wspd7pio

Thanks for the timeline update. I’ve seen a couple of Twitter posts and I’m waiting to see them populate over here. For the broadcast-only accounts I follow on twitter, this should completely replace twitter.

I wonder if a bridge service that relays replies back as the twitter user would be a helpful thing. I can see it devolving into a big mess of cross-platform duplication and confusion. But… in some cases it might be a good thing.

@awilbert @[email protected] Thanks. The very info I need right now.

Doug Wade Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio this is incredible! I'm guessing this isn't free, so I won't follow my first urge to add a bot for every account I follow, but I've created five and it's awesome.

Mostly Harmless (Cam Johnson)Dec 24, 2022

@wspd7pio @awilbert wow this is really easy to use, just followed @wallstcynic in about 15 seconds

AcceptableStaff Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio thank you!!

Goran Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @[email protected] @drewharwell what a great bot!!!! Thank you.

Ben Paddon Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert Oh, this is fantastic! One thing I was lamenting when deleting the Twitter app from my phone was that I wouldn't get notifications from the LA Metro Alerts account anymore. Just fixed that! Thanks for sharing, and thanks to @vincent for going to the trouble of making it.

John Refior Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio @vincent
My position on this hasn't changed: https://hachyderm.io/@jrefior/109569549351337370

Organizations should consider the implications of any delay in getting off Twitter.

Most police departments are unlikely to move because they are Trump-supporting enforcers of a racial caste system.

Content warning for image: example of police union supporting and advertising for Trump
--------------------------------
#Twitter #Trump #racism

John Refior (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image · Content warning: birdsite

Hachyderm.io

Ehuff Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio @vincent I miss my HWY 80 Chains Account for Tahoe runs and storm watch!

⊥ᵒᵚ Cᵸᵎᶺᵋᶫ∸ᵒᵘ ☑️Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio been trying to do this in my own server for ages, don't need to now, thanks

shanen Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @[email protected] @vincent

Hmm... From the description I can't decide if this is the kind of feature I wish I could support. It's my old #CSB delusions again...

One feature I wish I could pay for would fix the hashtag warning that seems to oblige me to use global posting... Or most likely I'm not understanding how to use Mastodon or hashtags properly.

Ethan Waldman Dec 24, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio @vincent

This is SO USEFUL! I just made one for my local Department of Public Works. @btvdpw

organik Dec 25, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio @vincent

The lack of authentication options is making it difficult for gov agencies to sign up I think -- they don't know which server they should sign up on the be considered a real deal. Maybe that isn't as important on such a small platform though

Drew Dec 25, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio so when (if) the real account comes online, how do you systematically replace the boy account?

KIT_strong_WING Dec 25, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio german authorities already have migrated or are about to migrate using federal Mastodon instances like social.bund.de :) when hosted in the right instance, it makes external verification of official accounts obsolete as well

Jeremy Gooch Dec 25, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio @vincent Perfect! https://bird.makeup/users/raf_luton 😁

bird.makeup - User

mc.fly Dec 25, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio For the US i assume?

For germany / Europe they are mostly already here (and never were really on twitter)

@awilbert @wspd7pio @vincent
In response to a few questions/frustrations here about BirdSiteLive reflectors:
1) They work
2) Sometimes they get overloaded
3) You can run your own lightly loaded reflector https://github.com/NicolasConstant/BirdsiteLive
4) Only new posts show up once you add a handle to follow
Hope that helps

GitHub - NicolasConstant/BirdsiteLive: An ethical bridge from Twitter

An ethical bridge from Twitter. Contribute to NicolasConstant/BirdsiteLive development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub

Ekas Dec 25, 2022

@[email protected] @vincent @awilbert Very good idea. I tested with 3 accounts, which was easy, but none of them is generating toots from tweets after 24hours.

Aris Teon Dec 25, 2022

@awilbert @wspd7pio institutional accounts should come over here, I don't understand why they stick to the birdsite.

Ulf Dittmer Dec 25, 2022

@aristeon I think you're way overestimating how quickly institutions move. Migration is likely not even on the radar of most of them.