hannah aubryNov 18

I am thrilled to share the news that I joined @Mastodon's leadership team as Community Director alongside @mellifluousbox, our new Executive Director, and @renchap, our Technical Director.

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/11/the-future-is-ours-to-build-together/

The Future is Ours to Build - Together

We’re pleased to introduce Mastodon’s new leadership team, and to share some other important updates.

Mastodon Blog
Show threadhannah aubry

@Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap

Thank you, @Gargron, for taking this step and for building #Mastodon

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/11/my-next-chapter-with-mastodon/

My next chapter with Mastodon

Reflections on my time leading Mastodon and what's to come next.

Mastodon Blog
Nov 18 at 9:15amWeb
Show threadhannah aubryNov 18

@Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron

As I move into this new role, which includes leading the operation of Mastodon's flagship instances (#MastodonSocial and #MastodonOnline) it's crucial to the team and I that our plans reflect the needs of the community.

Our door is always open to hear your ideas.

https://hannahaubry.online/im-joining-mastodon

I’m joining Mastodon

I am thrilled to share the news that I am joining Mastodon's leadership team as Community Director. Today’s societal structures—includin...

Hannah Aubry
Show threadEvan ProdromouNov 18
@haubles @Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron great news!
Show threadwoe2youNov 18
@haubles @Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron Great. The community needs the flagship instances to not be pushed so heavily at sign up that they hoover up the vast majority of new users and make federation meaningless.
Show threadhannah aubryNov 18

@woe2you

Thank you for sharing this feedback. This is definitely something we want to address near-term. We're going to take the time to do the research, and work with the community / instance admins on getting the design and implementation right, but we will look at evolving this. What do you think should happen instead?

@Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron

Show threadwoe2youNov 18
@haubles @Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron Something more like this would be great: https://jaz.co.uk/projects/startheresocial/
StartHereSocial

Hundreds of apps around the world offer Social Web accounts. No matter which one you choose, your new account can still connect with people using any of the others. Filter by country, language, or …

jaz-michael king
Show threadJames M.Nov 18

@haubles first, big congratulations! Looking forward to seeing what the new organization can do.

Regarding the overpopulation of the flagship instances: If changing instances is made seamless-- including post migration!-- then the onboarding workflow could be:

1) someone starts on dot social;
2) they take some time to get the lay of the land and see which communities they gravitate towards;
3) they switch to another instance, now that they know where they want to be.

I think this is more beginner-friendly than asking them to choose their instance up front. Dot social could just be treated as the transition instance for new users. With this approach, I think there would be less objection to new users being steered toward dot social.

But post migration is critical for this to work.

Show threadnachtetNov 19
@jamesmarshall @haubles I like these steps and would have appreciated them when I was new. 👍
Show threadIFTASNov 18
@haubles congratulations, an excellent and welcome addition to the team! Looking forward to seeing increased community involvement and hearing more as you get settled in 👍
Show threadAgyei GyasiNov 18
@haubles @Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron Splendidly stated - best wishes!
Show threadMarsh Gardiner 🌱🐝Nov 18
@haubles This is great news! I'm excited for Mastodon and for you. 🎉
Show threadBecca 🌳🚀🛀Nov 18
@haubles
Congratulations! In my wishlist two major points:
1. How can mastodon org support federation to make sure that more people move onto smaller instances.
2. Improve moderation on the flagship instances, so smaller instances don't feel the need to defederate from them to not drown in spam and nasty users.
@Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron
Show threadhannah aubryNov 19

@rlcw

Thank you for sharing this, Becca, and for your kind words! These are both on our roadmap, stay tuned :)

@Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron

Show threadPaulaToThePeople 😷Nov 28
@haubles @Mastodon @mellifluousbox @renchap @Gargron Close your registrations. Please!