Mastodawn

ragrum Nov 21, 2023

The self-verification system built into Mastodon should be one of its greatest selling points. This is especially true for journalists and everyone else for whom evidence of identity has huge value in the social media realm.

But anecdotally -- and I would wager for real -- most people in the craft, even a lot of technically adept folks, don't seem to know how easy self-verification can be here.

If you are trying to persuade a journalist you know to join up, please highlight this feature.

Robert Thau Nov 20, 2023

@dangillmor The problem is that it's actually verification by some other website, and people who need to rely on verification don't know whether that other website is the kind of impostor you've probably seen in high-quality phishing attempts. I could register imreallytaylorswift.com right now (as I write, it is available), and verify my account with that; that doesn't make me really Taylor Swift.

Martin Vermeer FCD Nov 20, 2023

@rst @dangillmor This is true in principle, but the example you give is a bit contrived. Using, as I do, my web site under a university domain ought to be 100% safe if the IT security folks at that university know their métier (as they do, it is Aalto University).

FinchHaven sfba Nov 20, 2023

Where does the "imposter" issue come from when it's initiated by the specific Mastodon user themselves, and employs either a web site over which they have direct html-write authority or is a third-party web site on which the Mastodon user is previously known and verified?

Not seeing the problem - for those who understand the process

Femme Malheureuse Nov 20, 2023

@rst @dangillmor It should NOT be a problem for media entities because their website/IT personnel should handle adding the code to the business's site.

Take either NYT or WaPo journalists — if their personal Mastodon accounts are verified on NYTimes.com or WashingtonPost.com, it is only because authorized personnel with access to those sites' code have added the verification coding.

If anything, the verification process should encourage media outlets to run their own instances.

EDIT: typo

Steve Barnes Nov 21, 2023

I agree that's the situation. But since domain names are affordable and purpose-fit to represent identity and build trust around that representation, I think the actual problem is the awareness and willingness of people of wider public interest not to have availed themselves of this. When that's solved, Mastodon will already have been ready for some time.

Peter Butler Nov 20, 2023

@dangillmor One problem I think is that many reporters don’t have their own site or blog, just their publication (e.g. Philadelphia Inquirer or Newsweek, etc)

And those *publications* themselves aren’t doing the (simple) work of adding that verification code to the writer bio pages (although I’m sure it’s simple to add a Twitter profile link)

Shoq 🌿Nov 20, 2023

@dangillmor I stand by my still untested theory that if we can just identify or create an activity, mission or tool here that they are compelled to participate in or with, and which they cannot get over there, a migration might be much more organic and less contentious than it is now. I have one such an activity in mind, but I think there must be many more to be thought of out there.

Jim Vernon Nov 21, 2023

@shoq @dangillmor I think it's mostly a matter of numbers. If there were 140 million Mastodon users instead of 14 million, more folk would make the switch. People generally want to be wherever other people are.

Dan Gillmor Nov 22, 2023

@jimvernon I have slightly more than half of the followers I had at Twitter, and (conservatively) 10x the genuine engagement here. @shoq

Shoq 🌿Nov 22, 2023

@dangillmor @jimvernon I have the same experience. And even if the numbers weren’t there, the quality is far better. But I really don’t think quality of engagement matters to brands trying to keep their audience. I doubt we’ll ever compete on numbers, but we can on activities. Open APIs could/should give rise to indigenous products, services and collaborative repos that many journalists would then depend on, and which would only be found and accessed here.

Thomas Guyot-Sionnest Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor on top of that news orgs could run their own instances... Just like they do for emails. Verification will be implicit when you can trust the domain.

Howard Rheingold Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor A single page URL that describes exactly why and how journalists should use Mastodon could be sent to journalism schools and others.

Dan Gillmor Nov 21, 2023

@hrheingold Want to work on that with me?

Howard Rheingold Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor happy to help

Eugen Rochko Nov 21, 2023

@hrheingold @dangillmor Would be happy to turn it into an official thing 🙂 Have been doing the pitching manually up till now.

Howard Rheingold Nov 21, 2023

@Gargron @dangillmor So what do we need.

1. Why journalists should join Mastodon

2. How to join

3. What to do upon joining.

4. Someone or someones to answer onboarding questions

Howard Rheingold Nov 21, 2023

@Gargron @dangillmor This would be useful: list of journalists already on Amazon:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13No4yxY-oFrN8PigC2jBWXreFCHWwVRTftwP6HcREtA/edit?pli=1#gid=132089

There are a number of guides like this. Which one is the simplest for getting started?

https://indubitablyodin.medium.com/a-respectful-guide-to-everything-you-need-to-know-about-mastodon-f726d8181e48

Journalists on Mastodon and Fediverse (Responses)

Form Responses 1 Timestamp,What name do you wish to be listed by?,What is your Mastodon handle (@[email protected])?,Do you have a Twitter handle you would like to share? (This can help people you know on Twitter to find you on Mastodon) ,What are your main areas of focus for your journalism? ,...

Google Docs

MylesRyden Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor
It has seemed to me that self validation is not the feature that large organizations should use, but rather setting up their own instance.

Then only people who actually work for say, Newsweek have a Newsweek address. it becomes like a name badge, when the person leaves, they can no longer log into their Newsweek account.

As long as you know the real address base, you know who works there.

For goodness sake, Internet Archive has their own instance.

Vint Prox Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor Well, outside Mastodon, nothing beats good ol' looksy-look for backlink on both pages. But it is a nice feature seeing green ticks before even clicking, such a no-brainer to verify someone! 😉

Be careful if you don't self-host and check on third-party's potentially own instance: an equally no-brainer to fake it.

In case anyone needs this, here's a guide to self-verification and a list of troubleshooting tips:

https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-verify-my-account/

How do I verify my account on Mastodon and the Fediverse? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Another unreadable web page where someone thinks it is cool to put a light grey text on a white background.

@cmeier @dangillmor

It should be in a thick clear black font throughout. It's definitely not supposed to be light grey?

I try to make the site as accessible as possible for everyone. If there's a problem with readability please let me know.

Just wondering if it renders differently for different people?

@cmeier @dangillmor

This is what I see, is it displaying differently for you?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Ah. That is what I'd like, but the article was a faded grey that was very hard to read.

@cmeier @dangillmor

Really? Oh no, that's not good.

Could I ask what you're using to view it?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Firefox 115.0.2esr on Linux.

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Oh, and thanks for listening. I see way too many faded grey texts on white backgrounds and I've been thinking it is some kind of cool new graphics designer thing. Now I wonder if it is my browser or something local to my machine.

Except that other friends have complained of this, too, so it is hard to tell what the cause is.

@cmeier @dangillmor

I feel the same way about grey on white (especially thin fonts!), if my site is doing that I'll try to fix it!

@cmeier @dangillmor

I think it should be set to totally black text now, is it any better at your end?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor One more data point -- I've set FF to use an 18pt font (old eyes) and not let the website use its own fonts. Might be something to do w/ that. I'll try in a moment to set that to the default and see if that is the issue.

Thanks for looking! It is really annoying to see an essay you'd like to read and then have to squint at the screen.

@cmeier @dangillmor

The font I use is set to 19pt throughout! 😁

Wonder if it's trying to shrink it?

@cmeier @dangillmor

I've beefed up the font weight, it should be a lot thicker now. Is that any better at your end?

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Yes!. The piece under the photo -- "Example of a Mastodon profile with a verified official ..." is still light grey. The text is easily readable. Thanks!

@cmeier @dangillmor

Fantastic! Thanks so much for bringing this up, hopefully other people now find it easier to read too.

I’ll have a look at the image captions later, they are a bit too small/thin.

cmeier Nov 22, 2023

@FediThing @dangillmor Needs basic solid black on white for many of us with eye site issues. Maybe it is just me getting old, but text v background is one of those issues where things really are, or should be, deep black on white, even if the issues being discussed are more grey.

@cmeier @dangillmor

"Needs basic solid black on white for many of us with eye site issues. "

I thought it already was! Possibly my laptop isn't displaying it correctly :/

Hang on, I'll fiddle with the colours...

ferricoxide Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor

Not everyone reading your post is doing so from Mastodon account, though.

WINGS_radio Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor What does self-verification mean, and how would one find it?

Grandpa Don Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor
It is easy if you have access to a we site where you can get a single line embedded ina web page. Not displayed, but in the html source of the page. But many people who ha e been active users of websites have never had that access.
If you don't have, or know someone who has the tools and access, it would be daunting.

TAJ Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor It's a great platform

Offbeatmammal Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor the one tricky thing that I missed in the instructions is needing to update your profile on Mastodon to pick up the rel=me, couldn't work out why it didn't show up! But really nice feature and better than $8="verified"

Karmalakas Nov 21, 2023

I've seen some folks have GitHub profile verified. How do I do that? How do I add `<a/>` to a GitHub page?

JoYo Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor in my experience they just get super defensive about it.

Diego Elio Pettenò Nov 21, 2023

@dangillmor @hook and yet again because https://flameeyes.blog/2021/10/05/reader-is-dead-but-what-about-writers/?mtm_campaign=social&mtm_kwd=mastodon most WordPress themes make it more miserable than necessary by stripping rel attributes from links inserted via Customize.

Reader Is Dead, But What About Writers?

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