Doc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 6, 2017
An administrative announcement.
Motherfuckers.
https://mastodon.cloud/media/oxNPAqhKHeUAAvMv1X8
Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 9, 2017

Q: What's this "Federation thing?"

A: A bunch of communities, on different servers, sharing /some/ but not necessarily /all/ of their traffic. Or, in some cases, none. It depends.

The User Guide has a good section:
https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/blob/master/docs/Using-Mastodon/User-guide.md#decentralization-and-federation

Show threadDoc Edward Morbius ❌​Apr 9, 2017

Q: It sounds as if that's complicated. Do you have a picture you can share?

A: @vhf made one: https://techn.ical.ist/users/vhf/updates/102

It misses a few edge cases, but mostly, that's how the spice flows. Er, toots.

Show threadDan YorkApr 9, 2017
@dredmorbius @vhf Interesting. I did not understand that if someone is not followed by *anyone* on an instance, then *none* of their tweets appear in the federated timeline. So the "federated timeline" is only those users who have some connection to your instance. This means that the larger instances (ex. mastodon.social, mastodon.cloud) will have a bigger and richer federated timeline by virtue of having more people who will follow others on other instances.
Show threadAswath RaoApr 9, 2017
@danyork @dredmorbius @vhf This is an important restriction that allows for "Live and let live" aspect of federation. Total "open" federation will be polluting; strict "following" federation will restrict organic growth. This is a happy medium while maintaining a happy medium. I think we shouldn't focus on "larger" instances; instead instances that have a well defined "tribal" attribute.
Show threadAswath Rao
@vhf @dredmorbius @danyork Each instance is neither an island nor a bar; but a moat which opens for a friend of a friend
Apr 9, 2017 at 2:06pmWeb