@TomBardout @Mrfunkedude

A lot of server admins do tell their members about support/help accounts, and there is an option within the admin tools to recommend specific accounts to follow for their members.

It's a shame if the mastodon.social server isn't doing this, they are leaving their members in the lurch if so? Maybe as they've grown so big, they've lost sight of doing small but important things like this?

@TomBardout @Mrfunkedude

Yeah, have been having a go at them for years about it being a bad idea to have a default server (https://fedi.tips/its-a-really-bad-idea-to-join-a-big-server/).

It is true that it's simpler to just suggest one server to newcomers, but they could rotate which single server is suggested. It doesn't have to be exactly the same one suggested for years on end.

@TomBardout

I run a website at https://fedi.garden and an account at @FediGarden to help people find such servers.

And to be fair, there is something similar on Mastodon's official website at https://joinmastodon.org/servers (though that tends to emphasise the biggest servers and doesn't list non-Mastodon servers).

@TomBardout @FediGarden

It's very different to centralised social networks, but people do use decentralised networks too, so perhaps people can get used to it if they want to? There's a good short vid about it: https://tilvids.com/w/wx2iLhD3pTipbKFJKLyx5t

Choosing a server is similar to choosing an email provider or phone provider, as the network structure is similar.

"this back and forth experience with dozens of other tabs "

I'm not sure how you are using this place, but most people just use it in one tab? 🤔

@TomBardout

Part of the complications come from people being used to being on locked-down platforms where they have no options at all. So, when they suddenly have choices they aren't sure what to do as they don't have a reference point.

Once you get used to the concepts, it becomes a lot easier to cope with this place.

If someone said everyone has to use one phone model with one network provider, a lot of people would be annoyed because they are used to choice. People can get used to it 🙂

@FediTips
I guess. I for one welcomed the choices but the lack of useful information surrounding it was the problem. Is a choice really a choice if I tell you pick in a random list of names but give you no information around that choice and what consequences that choice will have on your experience?

I had to go find other websites much like yours that gave me more insight about my choice but at that point I had already chosen the main server. And that's where the dark forest effect began...

@TomBardout

What kind of information would you want to see?

@puppygirlhornypost2 @TomBardout

Some third party apps let you follow Local feeds from remote instances, sounds like such a tool would be a variation on that? If so it should be very do-able 👍

@TomBardout

"I have a hard time understanding why it isn't core functionality."

Bear in mind this is a tiny team of mostly-volunteers with a tiny budget based on donations and grants. Part of the reason for open platforms is so missing stuff can be filled in by third parties.

"I'm not interested in following people as much as following communities "

Have you tried groups? They are cross-server communities.

https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-groups-on-the-fediverse

@FediTips
Yes, I meant no disrespect. I don't really know how it all works just yet but mastodon being by far the biggest and oldest on the fediverse block, I thought it would have had time to address this if it were planned. Is there a roadmap of planned features I can consult to better understand what has been planned?

I might have seen a groups button somewhere but I didn't understand it as being a public groups thing and I was unaware they were cross-server. I'll have to look into that!

@TomBardout

There are literally thousands of open issues people have asked them to deal with 😱 The complete list of issues is at https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues

...but this is easier to browse if you sort it by number of votes for each issue at https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20sort%3Areactions-%2B1-desc

There is also a roadmap but it hasn't been updated in a while, at https://joinmastodon.org/roadmap

@FediTips
Yeah, this discussion is indeed one of the top ones dating back to 2019, and with an 8 month old last message to summarize it...
https://codeberg.org/streams/streams
I think third party apps are indeed the best bet at implementation even though incomplete

I also stumbled upon something else mentioned in the suggestions. Do you have any knowledge around this? It seems to try to address cross platform problematics and nomadic accounts that I thought came with the fediverse https://codeberg.org/streams/streams

@TomBardout

I'm not a fan of Streams, it pushed content onto my server even though I wasn't following any Streams accounts. This started filling my server with stuff I didn't want and hadn't interacted with. When I tried to engage with the developer, he eventually claimed it was my fault and blocked me from discussion. 😬

So I ended up having to block all the Streams servers that were doing this pushing.

@TomBardout

I should add the developer is very well-respected and has done lots of Fediverse projects including Friendica, Hubzilla and the Zot protocol which predate Mastodon. I'm not meaning to trash them or their work!

Just for whatever reason, Streams seemed to cause problems. I don't know what its current status is.