Mastodawn

(The reason we’re starting with the apps and not the web is because the necessary data to run this experiment is already provided through the app store. It is more complicated to do this right for the web, and we want to think carefully about how to do this in a way that respects privacy.)

2/6

The experiment will be designed to ensure that server admins remain in control: meaning they will have the power opt-in and opt-out as needed, or reduce the percentage of sign-ups flowing their way.

3/6

Starting now, we’re recruiting general purpose servers with open sign-ups. To be eligible, servers must:

- Run default Mastodon (for now)
- Agree to the Server Covenant
- Have existed for 1+ year
- Have shut-down & disaster plans

4/6

https://forms.gle/7uRui5VnMPfEYAgq8

If you’re interested in participating in this experiment, please let us know by filling out this form.

(sorry it’s in Google docs)

5/6

Default Server Recommendations - Interest and Newsletter Sign-up

Register your interest in participating in the Default Server Recommendations program. Filling out this form is not a guarantee that your server will be selected for participation. Your data will be handled in accordance with GDPR.

Google Docs

The Default Server Recommendations experiment is a first step in reimagining how Mastodon onboarding & server discovery work.

Our team’s intent is to work with the community to build new onboarding pathways that support the entire network.

We can’t wait to get started 💜

6/6

MasterEmit Jan 31

@Mastodon Really great news 😍

Paul Versluis Jan 31

@Mastodon
@ruud

Sounds like a really good idea. I am very excited to see the first results.

Ruud Jan 31

@NoOnesRival
Yes I am talking to them about this right now at #fosdem #mastodon
@Mastodon

@ruud @NoOnesRival @Mastodon

Stuck Here Jan 31

I'm in the USA but was happy to discover that my choice to be my instance was based in Europe. Serendipity.

I like the idea of having more laws in place for my privacy.

Mastodon Belgium Admin Jan 31

@Mastodon
Interesting experiment!
Before I fill in the form:
Is there anything in particular that should be done or followed-up server/admin side for this?

@admin @Mastodon hey! The only thing to do for now is make sure you’re meeting these eligibility requirements:

- Run default Mastodon (for now)
- Agree to the Server Covenant
- Have existed for 1+ year
- Have shut-down & disaster plans

Besides that, stay tuned!

Sam Jan 31

@Mastodon It's amazing seeing these sorts of things play out across the Fediverse. Making sure we make a better internet that is centered around Privacy and staying decentralized for all.

Keep up the good work and can't wait to see where we all are in several years to come.

Riquiñez

Jan 31

@Mastodon It sounds really good, especially to avoid overcrowd Mastodon official servers and strengthen the Fediverse philosophy!

contrasocial Jan 31

@andrewblasco @Mastodon

It's a double edged sword. Yes, mastodon.social is large and unweildy, but as the default it kept me from ignorantly joining a toxic instance like beigeparty. I'm for change, but it's yet to be seen how this plays out in practice.

A better solution might be something like an official introductory instance where you get 6 months to get your footing and then it prompts you to migrate and gives you a selection of vetted servers. Like pushing a baby bird out of the nest.

@contrasocial @andrewblasco @Mastodon

Sassinake! ᑐ ∪ ∩ ⊂Jan 31

Twitter Refugee Camp

@contrasocial @andrewblasco @Mastodon

Juho Mäntysalo Feb 1

Nice idea about the kicking from the nest, even if it were just a prompt without stick behind it.

Even better if you could take a bit more with you when you leave: copy the stats (first registration to Fedi etc), archived version of your posts, or copy some of your content (shares, posts with most likes etc).

gnate Feb 4

@contrasocial I'm curious what seems toxic to you about beige.party. It's friendly and well-run in my experience.

Jörgi Jan 31

✅already answered, no more need for reposts

@Mastodon
How about also interest based?
There are some for special interests
Like punkstodon.de for punk music, metalhead.club for metal heads, infosec.exchange for tech security interested people and so on.
So just the region is maybe too less?
At least it's something to be considered after the first iteration

@joergi @Mastodon hey! This experiment will be for general purpose servers only, but we'll be looking into running other onboarding experiments—including for special interest servers—soon.

Jörgi Jan 31

@haubles
Great.Looking forward for it.♥️
@Mastodon

Juho Mäntysalo Feb 1

@joergi @Mastodon

Correct if I'm wrong, but a special interest -server where majority of the people speak a language foreign to you and refer to irl -events far from you locale, might not be the nicest first experience even if you live for the subject.

This onboarding -thing sounds like a newbie-feature: someone said mastodon would be worth trying, and they try to cut it by themselves.

People who want to get to a hobby server would mostly have the server researched beforehand, right?

https://hachyderm.io/@haubles/115990234163826144

Jörgi Feb 1

@iju maybe.
but !@haubles already explained it pretty good!

I'm fine with it. and also: everyone is different. I prefer the community of my interest, others like you described.

it doesn't matter, as long as the people join the Fediverse ;-)

Zekovski 🧣Jan 31

@Mastodon
I really enjoy this news wich will make the Fediverse healthier and more resilient in my opinion.
Thank you.
🥳 ♥️

Aurora 🐌Jan 31

@Mastodon I suggest a rule:

That the number of servers that defederate this specific server in her language is low.

To prevent toxic server.

Troy Jan 31

@Mastodon I’d be interested if it didn’t require open reg. Reality is, opening up registration creates a massive headache. I’d like to see us get a trial signup mode where someone can join still use the service but be in a read only state until approved. Would solve the drop off problem registration reasons cause.

Graham Downs Jan 31

@Mastodon I presume by "default Mastodon", you mean that if a server has so much as changed the max characters per post from the default 500, they won't be eligible?

Otherwise, I think this is a fantastic idea!

@GrahamDowns @Mastodon good question! We’ll get back to you on that

Graham Downs Feb 1

@Mastodon @haubles ❤️

Stomata Jan 31

@Mastodon finally!

Orion Ussner kidder Feb 1

@Mastodon Question: why go geographical? I personally would rather be funnelled into a server by theme.

Janne Moren Feb 1

@OrionKidder @Mastodon
Language I guess. This is the default mechanism for those that don't know or care about picking a special interest server. But you probably want a server with people posting in your own language and local subjects.

Orion Ussner kidder Feb 1

@jannem @Mastodon That doesn't quite make sense, though. Lots of places on Earth speak English or Spanish, for example, and there are non-geographical populations speaking, say, Cantonese. I mean, it's not an unreasonable guess, but I suspect it's something different.

Janne Moren Feb 1

@OrionKidder @Mastodon
They said they will base the server on your location and app language setting.

@OrionKidder @jannem @Mastodon

Juho Mäntysalo Feb 1

There's more to server than just understanding the language. Consider talk about politics, promotion of irl-events, or asking help with something.. these are all topics where a hobby is a secondary concern to location.

That isn't to say a hobby couldn't be a reason to pick a server, mostly that I wouldn't recommend a hobby server for a noob at fedi, even if I knew they lived for the subject.

Of course, ymmv.

hannah aubry Feb 1

@iju @OrionKidder @jannem @Mastodon well said, Juho! This matches our reasoning well.

This is just a first experiment in how we will evolve onboarding, but it will not be the only one. We are starting to look at how to evolve Server Directory too, including adding more kinds of server classifications and categories. We also want to move that to a PR-based backend so it’s more manageable to keep updated. We think this will be a good first step to help with interest-based server discovery, and we’ve got some other ideas too. More soon…

Razvan Stanimir Feb 11

@Mastodon I think you should encourage some form of server side verification. And maintain a list of servers that have robust verification.
This would allow official institutions to have their own server and announce verification.
(1/3)

Razvan Stanimir Feb 11

@Mastodon Then we would know that all accounts “@usgov.social” are official, at a glance. It would also allow collectives to be built: some journalist open colective, Hollywood celebrities etc. this would bridge the gap - users can easily understand which accounts are official (for public persons) and verification would be managed by their respective communities.
So we would have 2 server types: the ones mastodon recognised as having public interest and robust verification any the rest.
(2/3)

Razvan Stanimir Feb 11

@Mastodon Some check mark identification on the profile page would be relevant. Blue checkmark for the trusted server, purple checkmark for the rest.
And yes - domain ownership verification should stay.
I think the ability to easily tell which “Taylor Swift” account is the official one is critical for wider user adoption.
(3/3)

@Mastodon
Cool that you crowdsource.
But no need to use g forms and then apologize for it.
I like to use https://framaforms.org/

Framaforms - Créez et diffusez vos formulaires facilement…

Créez et diffusez vos formulaires facilement…

simzie Jan 31

@sebzuen @Mastodon

Yeah! Merci! Das hab ich schon lange gesucht.

@simzie Cool! Ich benutze bisher die main instance komplett auf französisch, was eine nette challenge ist – vlt. ist framaforms selfhostable?!
Aber ich sehe du sprichst FR, dann sollte das für dich ja kein problem sein ◡̈

robtherunt🌱💚Jan 31

@sebzuen @Mastodon
Not heard of Framaforms. I was going to suggest using https://cryptpad.fr/ which also has a forms offering.

CryptPad: end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite

Sebastian Z Feb 1

@robtherunt @Mastodon In general, I like cryptpads offerings because of its simplicity!
But in the same vein, it often looks too rudimentary to me for truly enjoying using or recommending it to friends.
Frameforms (Yakforms) just looks more polished, allows visual materials, and has some nice email options as well.
Still, it always makes me happy to see when community projects offer a cryptpad instance!

robtherunt🌱💚Feb 1

@sebzuen @Mastodon
Thanks for the additional info. Yes, CryptPad does have a certain flavour to it, but I rather like it for being different. Occasionally I have connectivity issues with it - I use the CryptPad.fr hosted offering - but generally it’s fine for my purposes.

Sebastian Z Feb 1

@robtherunt Makes me wonder, if I also encountered connectivity issues with the .fr instance…
Still, its so nice that you get a whole workspace with drive storage and collaboration possibilities with only one sign-up on cryptpad instances!

robtherunt🌱💚Feb 1

@sebzuen
Yes, it’s a nice little corner of the internet where you can quietly get things done.

🇱🇺Pinus Banksiana 🇺🇦Feb 1

@robtherunt

Thanks for reminding me this was out there. The project has come a long way and I plan on using https://cryptpad.fr/ more frequently now.

@sebzuen @Mastodon

CryptPad: end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite

robtherunt🌱💚Feb 1

@JackPine @sebzuen @Mastodon
No problem! Personally, I came across CryptPad on here myself, so always happy to mention it when the opportunity arises.

thomkennon Jan 31

@Mastodon google docs wtf?!... switch asap to Cryptpad comrades for stuff like this

Kackfresh Jan 31

@Mastodon

@mainz_sozial_digital könnte interessant sein?

Mainz Sozial Digital e.V.Jan 31

@potatoes_fall @Mastodon

Danke! Haben Interesse bekundet.

@mainz_sozial_digital
Mainz meine Perle!
Holt mal die stadtverwaltung auf eure instance, ist ja peinlich wie die auf mastodon.social rumdümpeln…

GaLiGrü und weiter so mit der guten Arbeit!❤️

Mainz Sozial Digital e.V.Jan 31

@sebzuen Dankeschön für die lieben Worte ☺️

Wir werden uns bemühen sie von mastodon.social auf eine andere Instanz zu bekommen!

Wir können uns da alternativ zu unserer eigenen Instanz aber auch ganz gut eine Instanz des Landes RLP oder auch der Stadt selbst vorstellen.

@mainz_sozial_digital
Ich könnte mir auch gut vorstellen, dass ihr die Instanz betreibt/moderiert und die Stadt Mainz euch lieb fördert🫢

@Mastodon send!

@stux I bet they were just waiting for you haha

Kiloku - Secretário do Caos Jan 31

@Mastodon we could deal with the form being on Google, but it requires a Google account to fill it, which our instance admin doesn't have. I'm pretty sure this is configurable

@Kiloku @Mastodon ah, thought we had done. You can email me at hannah[@]joinmastodon.org instead

das nächste bitte Jan 31

@Mastodon Since you say Sorry it's in google docs, why don't use other tools?