Hrefna (DHC)

"Choosing an instance isn't difficult, I think people are overstating that."

Okay, now find an instance that:

* Isn't defederated from some significant portion of my friend group.

* Isn't defederated _from_ by the same.

* Doesn't defederate from major news sources running on their own instances.

* Has reasonable moderation.

* Will actually be here tomorrow and not just fold.

* Has reasonable uptime.

* I can trust to not to keep an unencrypted copy of the database on a personal device.

Jul 31, 2023 at 6:09pmWeb
Show threadHrefna (DHC)Jul 31, 2023

Note, virtually none of these have anything to do with the kinds of people I will find there.

Not saying: "find a cultural fit" or "find a group that aligns with my values." Not "find a group with shared interests," or a group that has overlaps into some part of my identity. Not "find a group that allows NSFW content, possibly with light restrictions." None of those considerations. The things people _tell_ you to look for.

Just the very basic constraint problem.

Show threadRaccoon🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈Jul 31, 2023

@hrefna
One of the biggest problems I see with the Fediverse Right now is the lack of any sort of codification for how quick these servers are to block other servers.

I left .Art because they were blocking several other servers with people I wanted to follow (hachyderm was the last straw), and replaced that account with one on Writing.Exchange, which is still pretty well moderated but doesn't seem to be blocking over minor things, but I had no way of knowing that when I first made the .Art account.

At some point I made a triangle graph of this issue, and I keep thinking I should write something on it, but I keep not getting around to doing that. I really think some form of standard, easy to understand codification would be good here though.

Show threadRaccoon🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈Jul 31, 2023

@hrefna
There's also a matter of trying to change the culture of some of these administrations, which is going to be an uphill battle because some of them are hardliners running these extremely entrenched instances like .Art. (let's be clear, they seem to be the ringleaders of this block-heavy group)

I'm not saying it's not okay for them to decide that their server needs to be squeaky clean like that, and quick to defederate, but they need to at least be honest about that. There was also the recent issue of a popular streamer Nano, over on YiffLife, getting in trouble for making jokes on the "Fediblock" tag. That's bad, but the handling of blocking them from several servers people were following them from, without even making the attempt to correct the behavior, is even worse: this nearly drove off a good faith content creator.

In general, I think that needs to change. We need to be better at working together to make this a welcoming community, not scare people off.

Show threadsmolwaffleJul 31, 2023

@hrefna
I've run into media limit issues on #UnionPlace but not yet defed issues.

Though I suppose I could have gotten silently cut off from someone and not noticed.

Yeah Mastodon has some serious design issues around moderation, outside of the cultural issues.

Show threadmasukomiJul 31, 2023
@hrefna i so wish i could disagree with anything in this post. :/
Show threadStefan BohacekJul 31, 2023
@hrefna Adding to this that most of this wouldn't be that much of an issue if migrating your account to another instance wouldn't mean losing all your public posts and private messages, at least on Mastodon.
Show threadCarlos SolísAug 1, 2023
@stefan @hrefna One of the few things that Calckey/Firefish has done right. And then there’s Friendica, only issue being that the poor thing is slow as molasses
Show threadMartin HerrJul 31, 2023
@hrefna My issue is that, say when you joined there were no moderation/defederation issues, but subsequently there are. How are you supposed to know, besides noticing things have been quiet, and investigating?
Show threadCubeOfCheeseJul 31, 2023
@hrefna how do you even check what servers are defederated?
Show threadMike FraserJul 31, 2023
@hrefna Choosing an instance is easy. You just go to https://thecanadian.social and hit the sign up button.
TheCanadian.Social

Politics, sports, current events and laughs from Canada and across the fediverse.

Mastodon hosted on thecanadian.social
Show threadgavinisdie Jul 31, 2023
@hrefna wait, do you lose your account if the instance you are on shuts down?
Show threadA Shiny Blue ThingAug 2, 2023
@gavinisdie @hrefna Yes, it's happened to me once.
Show threadClifford AdamsJul 31, 2023

@hrefna
I think a minimal attempt at the first couple items could be to list the (approximate) percentage of fediverse users that a site blocks/defederates from. (Or is blocked by.)

To make this fairly accurate one would only need to consider the top 50 or so instances.

For example, a site might have good reasons for defederating from mastodon.social and universidon.social, but it would be good for beginners to know that this means losing contact with over 20% of users.

Show threadBen TohAug 1, 2023

@hrefna “alright let’s just direct people to mastodon.social”

NO NOT LIKE THAT this is un-fediverse and sellout we will defederate it till the oblivion!

Show threadPieter Kuiper 🌍🇳🇱Aug 1, 2023

@hrefna
Exactly. I was on a Swedish server, contributed some money. Then another Swede started a campaign against it.

The admin had good leftist credentials but was in favour of free speech. He was defederated, was accused of being a cryptofascist. Then he decided to stop with it.

I have found this place at least as toxic as the birdsite. I have just left the Swedish scene for the time being.

Show threadEvanAug 1, 2023
@hrefna I see many people complain of these kinds of problems, and I have trouble understanding because I haven’t experienced them myself. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, just that I’m either on a particularly well-run instance or that the way I use mastodon is unlikely to reveal its shortcomings. For what it’s worth, I use mastodon more like a news aggregator with a comments section than a communications service. For actually discussing things with people I know I use discord
Show threadKaladin 🧑‍🦽💨Aug 1, 2023
@hrefna toot.community ticks all the boxes. Thanks @jorjin
Show threadEat My Wings To Keep Me TameAug 2, 2023
@hrefna honestly mastodon has been much simpler in that respect, i can find radical leftwing groups and tech ppl here but lemmy instances all seem to defederate with leftwing instances.
Show threadCarlos GuerreiroAug 2, 2023
@hrefna

I run my own instance. Mostly because I like to play around with stuff now and then. But not having to choose an instance is a plus. I made one instead.
Show threadDiego Elio PettenòAug 2, 2023

@hrefna I have made peace that by being on m.s I'm going to miss most decent UX improvements, and won't be reaching anyone on a hardliner instance, but at least it's relatively balance.

But honestly the self-eating nature of the "Fediverse" (quotes because of the fragmentation) keeps getting my goat, and one day I'll probably say goodbye myself.

Show threadWhite_Rabbit 🐇Aug 3, 2023
@hrefna
... so what? the world is mainly messy and it does not reflect some perfect ideal. There is no physical reason why such an instance should exist, so it does not exist. Stop whining and stop demanding some perfect system and maybe start building what you want.
Show threadMatt SickerAug 3, 2023
@hrefna @Luketoop my instance. Admin is great.