watching my son try to decide which instance to join made me realise that we need a way to preview instances local/federated streams. So I made one: http://www.unmung.com/mastoview?url=mastodon.social&view=local

http://www.unmung.com/mastoview?url=toot.cafe&view=local

@kevinmarks could've shown him some gnu social instances, they're on the same federation and have a publicly visible timeline.
@kevinmarks Pretty neat. Having a mooch around with it as we speak.
@kevinmarks This is awesome. Thank you!
@kevinmarks Merci, excellente idée !
@kevinmarks And this is why TWKN is public by default in GNU social :P

@kevinmarks

I like this idea. My son wants to join too, for a place to hang out with his Minecraft buddies - but I'm hesitant to allow that unless I can figure out a way to make it a PG-13 experience.

@kevinmarks I'm happy with my instance but this is pretty rad! 🙌
@kevinmarks @danyork If it matters which instance to join, then I am afraid that this seed will blossom into a handful hegemonic instances which will further consolidate their positions by restricting federation.
@Aswath @danyork it matters insofar as it defines what 2 of the stream options look like, and yes, who you are federated with

@kevinmarks I also find this useful for looking for like minded people in other instances. The community appreciates this work!

Now to get my kids interested. At least they are avoiding FB like the plague so I am doing something right.