Jeremy TiceJul 8, 2023
FediTips has moved!

Mastodon accounts can reach people outside the Fediverse by using posts with public visibility. There's a guide to post visibilities here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/who-can-see-my-posts-in-mastodon-how-do-i-send-dms-in-mastodon/

Anyone can see a public post through links to the post, or posts embedded on a website. Here's how to embed a Mastodon post on a website:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-embed-mastodon-posts-on-a-website/

Mastodon accounts can also be followed by non-members through RSS readers, just add .rss to the end of a profile's web address (for example https://mstdn.social/@feditips.rss).

Who can see my posts and replies in Mastodon? How do I choose post visibility settings? How do I send DMs in Mastodon? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

Jul 8, 2023 at 4:34pmWeb
Show threadElizabeth Wrigley-FieldJul 8, 2023
@feditips Is there a way to change visibility after the fact? I haven’t been able to edit past posts in this one respect.
Show threadFediTips has moved!Jul 8, 2023

@wrigleyfield

No, because it would cause complications if someone had replied to you who was no longer allowed to reply to you.

For example if you start out in Public mode, anyone can reply.

If you changed it to Followers-only, then this would cause problems for non-followers who had replied to you.

Show threadElizabeth Wrigley-FieldJul 8, 2023
@feditips I’d like to be able to go in the opposite direction! But also, why can’t you change something to private and people who’ve already replied will lose access to the post they replied to, but not their own comment?
Show threadFediTips has moved!Jul 8, 2023

@wrigleyfield

I'm not a developer, so I cannot give a technical answer to any possible barriers here.

However, the issue has been raised on the Mastodon github at:

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/23034

The thread goes into more detail about the technical possibilities/drawbacks.

If you are comfortable using github, you can vote to request this feature by giving a thumbs up to the first post in the thread.

Allow changing post privacy when editing · Issue #23034 · mastodon/mastodon

Pitch At the moment, editing a post allows changing everything about it other than the privacy. This field should be editable as well. Motivation I first noticed this not being an option in a serve...

GitHub
Show threadElizabeth Wrigley-FieldJul 8, 2023
@feditips thanks!
Show threadRalf RottmannJul 8, 2023
@feditips ... if the king of your instance doesn't decide to block half of the network that is. Be aware, that you're always a puppet of your instance admins ideology. The only way out of this is to stay on a single user instance. There are services out there offering this, like masto.host (not affiliated in any way).
Show threadFediTips has moved!Jul 8, 2023

@ralf

That's how all internet services work, you are always at the technical mercy of the person or organisation running your service. I wouldn't call anyone a "puppet", but if you use someone else's service they do technically control what happens on that service.

However, if you look at their track record and rules, you can usually find a reliable and reasonable person or organisation to get services from.

That's why the Fediverse lets you choose a server, to find one that suits you.

Show threadAndiJul 8, 2023
@feditips
Apparently he's got not much better to do to than shit on this network while being on this network. I don't really get it, the pretty much unfiltered remains of Twitter seem like a better place for him.
@ralf
Show threadRalf RottmannJul 9, 2023
@a_ho @feditips Andi, calm down. I only point out Mastodons obvious and significant flaws. No reason for applying morality.
Show threadAndiJul 9, 2023
@ralf
Not much morality applied here, looking at your posts there's just a lot of "instance defederation bad", "node owners are censoring", "mastodon sucks, threads great". No idea what went down on your own instance, but this seems like a personal crusade. I just don't get it, seems like a waste of time.
@feditips
Show threadRalf RottmannJul 9, 2023
@a_ho @feditips Yes. It was a complete waste of time, unfortunately. When I initially launched the instance, which became the home for more than 40k users, I believed in the core concepts of the fediverse. When I experienced the hidden toxicity, double standards and the tendency to do far reaching censorship decisions instead of leaving these up to the users, I decided it being a waste of time and no longer supporting it.
Show threadAndiJul 9, 2023
@ralf
You keep repeating that over and over, but what _exactly_ happend that e. g. your userbase dropped to 5k before you shut it down? Were you defederated? If so, why? What exactly did you think was being censored? Care to elaborate? Genuinely interested.
@feditips
Show threadRalf RottmannJul 9, 2023
@a_ho @feditips I informed all users of the instance going down weeks ahead, obviously causing a drop. Whether the instance got defederated and to what extend? I don't know. Mastodon has no means for transparency around the censorship it encourages. Hence, everyone remains in the dark.
Show threadAndiJul 9, 2023
@ralf
I'm still not following, what exactly was/is being censored? Sorry, but you're being pretty vague. You must have some concrete example(s), or not?
@feditips
Show threadRalf RottmannJul 9, 2023
@a_ho @feditips There are tons of it and even a dedicated hashtag. I'm sure you can dig it up yourself. The epitome of it being admins here proactively censoring all of Threads future Activity Pub feeds and even priding themselves with it. But, we can end the argument here. Mastodon might be a good communication platform for niches and that's 100% okay. It'll never be globally relevant and never become a twitter competitor. That's also okay. Threads might.
Show threadAndiJul 9, 2023
@ralf
So, nothing then? Okay, thanks. If it's so easy, you could just point me to the hashtag. I didn't find anything after a quick search, and I'm not going to dig up your evidence for you. You made your decision weeks before the threads announcement, that's why I'm curious.
@feditips
Show threadLucJul 9, 2023
@feditips I use the @tooot app, which also makes a difference between 'public boost' and 'unlist boost'. But what this does to visibility… maybe the second option means (in practice) followers only?
Show threadFediTips has moved!Jul 9, 2023

@Lucseleventje @tooot

Unlisted is on the web interface and pretty much all apps except the official apps.

It means the same as public, but it doesn't appear on Explore, Local, Federated or hashtag searches or hashtag follows.

Show threadLucJul 9, 2023
@feditips So, an unlist boost will not appear in Explore etc., but people who follow me will see it in their home timeline? (Before using Tooot I didn't know you could change boosts visibility, but it's interesting to know!)
@tooot
Show threadFediTips has moved!Jul 9, 2023

@Lucseleventje @tooot

Yeah, unlisted means your followers see it but it stays out of the discovery timelines.

And if someone shares it, all of their followers see it too. (It's still a public post so anyone can share it.)