Mastodawn

Nadine Patterson May 28, 2023

Lauren Weinstein

So it seems like there's a pretty clear enhancement needed to the #Mastodon blocking paradigm. When a remote user (or the instance a remote user is on) is blocked system-wide by a local admin, any users on that local system who currently follow that now blocked user (or any other users on a now blocked instance), should be *notified* of this action, so they can determine if they wish to stay on that local instance given the policy decision of its admin. If they aren't informed, they cannot make informed decisions, and may simply assume remote users that they follow have stopped posting.

I sense a need for a #tool.

It should retrieve a list of the people you follow, and then check their origin instances for their latest post. If it doesn't show up (within a reasonable period of time) in your feed, you've detected silent blockage.

I wrote a small client using the #Mastodon API for posting my epic-length threads; most of this is easy. I don't remember seeing anything in the #API to find "messages in my feed from user X", but I wasn't looking for that either.

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@cazabon This should not require "checking" by a user. The user should be informed by their instance if the instance is now blocking a user that they've been following. No action by the user should be necessary to check status.

@lauren Oh, I agree with you 100%.

I'm thinking this tool would be useful for users who aren't positive that their instance is actually giving them these "we blocked X" notifications.

"Trust, but verify" kind-of-thing. The question isn't "Am I paranoid?". As always, it's "Am I paranoid *enough*?"

John Breen May 28, 2023

@lauren This seems exactly right to me.
If I followed someone from another instance, and the admin of that site had blocked that person, I'd hope #Universeodon would let me know.
Got a notify today about a suspicious follower request.
It's better than being at the mercy of Elon Musk, I can say that for sure.

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@jab01701mid In fact, when my block was dropped today at that site (after I discovered the block today, months after it was imposed), I shortly thereafter today got a note from a follower there telling me he had been wondering why I "hadn't been posting." Yep.

John Breen May 28, 2023

@lauren But it does beg the question, why would someone be on an instance that blocked them ? Can't they move to another instance ?
I'm not sure I completely understand, but I think we mostly agree. I don't want anyone muted, without an audit trail and notifications.

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@jab01701mid OK. Here we go. User A is on instance A. User A follows user B on instance B. Admin of instance A either system-wide blocks user B or blocks system-wide the entire instance B. User A doesn't know that this block has been put in place by their instance A admin, and assumes user B isn't posting anymore. Since user A wasn't informed of the block, they don't suspect anything is amiss, and don't realize that they might want to leave instance A.

pgcommunication May 28, 2023

@lauren Agreed! I also deeply appreciate it when an instance publicly lists all of its blocks along with the reason for blocking (qoto.org comes to mind).

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@pgcommunication Right, but notifications are necessary so that relevant users on the instance are informed of new blocks that affect users they follow. Users can't be expected to keep checking that list.

Lea de Groot TZ+10 May 28, 2023

@lauren I resepctfully suggest that suggestions like this should be sent here:
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues
No value in yelling into the void :( )
(by all means then post here that you've done so, so we can vote it up.)
Valid call though!

mastodon/mastodon

Your self-hosted, globally interconnected microblogging community - mastodon/mastodon

GitHub

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@leadegroot Thanks. Frankly, I don't have the time nowadays to be pulled into the ongoing debates over such suggested changes in a formal sense. Been there, done that!

Lea de Groot TZ+10 May 28, 2023

@lauren :nods: your choice, but nothing will happen if you only mention it here!
I would suggest that your audience is broad enough here if you post the issue and then mention it here, the resulting upvote might well be enough without you doing anything further :)

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@leadegroot Apparently one aspect of this is on the roadmap. Which may mean something. Or not.

Adam May 28, 2023

@lauren
You're in luck! It's already "planned" on the roadmap.
"Notify users when relationships are severed due to domain block"
https://joinmastodon.org/roadmap

Public Roadmap

Learn what we are working on in Mastodon

Lauren Weinstein May 28, 2023

@breakfastmtn That's encouraging, but it needs to be extended to notifications when an admin blocks individuals from an instance, not just when entire instances are blocked.