HierarchyFeb 8
FediThing 

⚠️ PSA for anyone still on the mastodon.cloud server, you might want to move off there ASAP.

The server's admin hasn't posted since February 2023 and the server software is so old it's no longer supported for security updates.

There have been cases of extreme abuse posted by mastodon.cloud members and the admin took no action after months of reports. It is possibly an abandoned server, so you might want to transfer your account elsewhere while you still can.

If you need help transferring your account, there's a step-by-step guide at https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server

If you need help choosing a new server, see https://fedi.garden

Transferring your Mastodon account to another server | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

Feb 7 at 4:46pmWeb
Show threadPaulaToThePeople 😷Feb 8

@FediThing

A: Big, open signup servers are bad for the Fediverse.

B: At least my server will be around forever, which cannot be said about tens of thousands of smaller servers that have died.

Tens of thousands of small servers that have died: Tens of thousands of admins that left the Fediverse or moved and tens of thousands of users that had to move their accounts in the last decade (my guess: around 20% of servers were just for testing, 50% were single user servers, 20% still had one or two active accounts and 10% were a bit more active - usually with 6-12 months warning before shutting down).

mastodon.clod being abandoned: 1 admin left and 278.1K users have to move their accounts at once. + hundreds of thousands of spam, troll & AI accounts terrorizing and scraping the Fediverse (signups have spiked since word got out that the server is abandoned).

Show threadJess RobinsonFeb 8
@FediThing @theorbtwo
Show threadHierarchyFeb 8

@FediThing hello i have question. I am on the mastodon.social instance but i see alot of bot (ai generated) accounts spamming onto my feed via hashtags.

How do I prevent this? It is annoying and someone told me not to block them but instead mute so that the bot accounts wont get notification for being blocked. Is this true?

Sorry for venting but I hate that these bots dont have any morals. Today my feed was ruined by a bot that had posted spammed to one of the tags I follow

Show threadDentaku (Thomas Renger)Feb 8
@Hierarchy Block them, there is no notification for being blocked. Also report them so moderators have a chance to do anything about it.
Show threadDaveFeb 8
@Hierarchy Just in case you need a second opinion: @dentaku is completely right.
One small distinction though: When reporting, check the "Also notify admin of remote server" checkbox only if you assume that the spammers' server admin is legit (and not in cahoots with the spam account). The quick check would be "if you remember that server name, you can notify the remote admin". If in doubt, leave that box unticked, and your own admin can figure out how to deal with it.
This small edge case in combination with the old email adage "never reply to a spammer" might've produced the idea of "you'll notify the spammer if you block him".
Show threadrugkFeb 9
@anathem
That made me write down an idea here on how this could be solved technically somewhat by offering a way for admin to decide their default aka whether to forward or not a report: https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/18518#issuecomment-3870770094
@Hierarchy @dentaku
Require admins to decide whether reports are forwarded · Issue #18518 · mastodon/mastodon

Pitch I think requiring the remote mods to "forward" the original report (instead of users being able to do it without oversight) would be a good compromise here. (this was how the feature was orig...

GitHub
Show threadHierarchyFeb 11
@dentaku @anathem okay thank you for elaborating. I appreciate. I will report now too. Sometimes I'm afraid if I burden the admins somehow (irrational fear) but when I think about it its their 'job' to keep the instance safe
Show threadHierarchyFeb 11
@dentaku okay thank you. I will block them now
Show threadirina 🐇🌷Feb 8

@Hierarchy @FediThing Take a look at the people you follow and interact with, and consider moving to one of the instances they're on.

You're on an instance notorious for spam (because it's the biggest one, and has open signup), so the only other alternative is to block and report those accounts, which is almost futile.

Show threadHierarchyFeb 11

@FediThing @irina okay I didnt know. I only went to the biggest one because my initial thought was that they would have enough of admins to keep it out of spam

How do I find good smaller instance and if you havw any recommendations let me know

And thank you for letting me know

Show threadFediThing Feb 11
@Hierarchy @irina I run a site at https://fedi.garden which helps people find nice well-run reliable smaller instances to join 🙂
Fedi.Garden – An easy way to join Mastodon and the Fediverse

Highlighting nice servers on Mastodon and the Fediverse

Show threadHierarchyFeb 11
@irina @FediThing thank you I will give it a visit!
Show threadFediThing Feb 9
@Hierarchy If they're using irrelevant hashtags, report them for spam by clicking ... on their post and then "report". They will not know who has reported them.
Show threadHierarchyFeb 11
@FediThing okay thank you and I will 
Show threadD. OlifantFeb 8

@FediThing It's been an issue for a while now:

https://oliphant.social/@oliphant/110771001707911831

Oliphantom Menace

I've been running on Limit against mastodon.cloud because there are literally no server rules, no moderation.That's going to be upgraded to a Suspend soon.If you're on that server and want to follow people over here, I suggest you move literally anywhere with some baseline level of moderation.Cool, good talk.

Oliphantom Menace
Show threadJoseph QuattrocchiFeb 8

@FediThing @haubles @mellifluousbox @Sujiyan
When high-influence pseudonymous accounts repeatedly call for instance evacuations or mass-blocking, reputational authority substitutes for network governance. That impacts all users.

A constructive alternative is transparent, official instance health monitoring with remediation paths and full data portability so users aren’t pressured into irreversible moves.

Show threadDirkFeb 8
@FediThing 🤯 I moved from there in 2020 after an announcement that the instance would be shutting down ...
Show threadCurioFeb 8
@FediThing
fedi.garden is a good recommendation for new users, thank you!
Show threadHallo?!?Feb 12
@FediThing
Already talked about this a few days ago, but here for my admins (in german)
@moderation Könnt ihr Mastodon[dot]cloud und die Zombieserver blockieren?