@katebowles @actualham @Bracken I think we are getting at the formation of communities that might be linked/federated and open-ish, but not absolutely open: a screened-in porch and a front yard vs the middle of public main street that is FB/Twitter.
I don't know Mastodon architecture or code well enuf to say, so I'm only brainstorming (or BS'ing one might say) here. Might there be a way to identify toots as belonging to a particular community. Can't say why yet, but hashtag doesn't seem ..
@katebowles @actualham @Bracken 2) hashtag doesn't seem to do it - too subject specific. I want something that says "all the people in this room" - i.e. my open ed community. Twitter/FB don't do this. For example, I can't separate my family from work colleagues on FB.
Perhaps this is simply an interface issue, with making it easier to assign the people I follow to groups (rooms?) and then have a timeline just for that room and a different timeline for another room.
@actualham @katebowles @Bracken I like your reference to "filters" as an in between open & closed. It's esp attractive if the filters have enormous user-configuration ability.
If I had one suggestion for the Mastodon devs, it would be to create a core/plugin architecture along with frequent releases. IMO, that's the key (along with GPL) that enabled WP to conquer so much of the Web. A common core (not THAT "common core") with stds for user-created/shared plugins. Awesome platform.