Darius KazemiJust a reminder to new Mastodon folks: if you want to join an instance where the only letter you can use is "e", I run https://dolphin.town and registrations are open!
| Pronouns | They/Them |
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ElizabethI have seen a lot of misconceptions going around about the Fediverse (esp Mastodon, but that is not the whole Fediverse, and whoever has told you it is has an agenda or is ignorant). You can replace "Fediverse" in any of these points with "Mastodon" and it would be just as true. Here are some of my favourites.
1) The Fediverse does not have Nazis
LIES.
Your instance admin blocked them, most likely. But there are Nazis. In fact, there are people hiding on mainstream instances who are Nazis or alt-right, if such a distinction can possibly exist in anything but the minds of the most twisted.
Some Nazis have historically used Mastodon, even on mastodon.social, back before it had CW's and private posts (yeah, it wasn't always like it is today).
2) The Fediverse is basically nothing but Ancoms
BULLSHIT.
The Fediverse is a lot like your college political science class, in a bad way.
I am nothing if not living proof the Fediverse is not just ancoms. I'm somewhere left of the Berniecrats, but I am certainly no Communist.
There is also a *sizeable* tankie population here (authoritarian leftist) who have managed to blend in pretty well by avoiding the kind of violent rhetoric that will piss people off. Just talk about the kulaks, then you'll expose them.
3) The Fediverse is nothing but queers
NOPE.
Yes, I am definitely queer. I am not conventional at all in identity. But, the Fediverse is predominantly cisgendered white males. There have been multiple surveys done which back this up. Just like everywhere else on the Internet.
4) The Fediverse is more welcoming
LOL NO.
Absolutely not. Just TRY to be someone like me, who isn't an anarchist, and you will be blocked just for not being a fucking Communist or being a class traitor or whatever thing they've come up with today.
The Fediverse has problems with dogpiling, a LOT. It happens quite often. For example, I know an admin of a major respected instance who got dogpiled because a major feminist on the platform directed her rage towards him. He didn't deserve it. He was none of the things she claimed.
And just wait until you forget to CW something (and stupid shit like food too). People get so vicious over a simple lapse of judgement. I'm not here to argue the merits of the CW. I am just pointing this out.
And although most of them are blocked by major instances, there are lots of 4chan trolls who see fresh meat and lots of vulnerable targets on this thing.
This is on top of the occasional enbyphobia others and I have experienced. An admin of a now-dead instance was notably enbyphobic and went on a deeply hurtful campaign against one of my friends, for being non-binary. She also told me to jump into traffic once. Classy.
5) The Fediverse welcomes minorities
BZZT.
Trust me, being a minority alone will not make you feel welcome or accepted.
There are plenty of people who will consider your identity completely invalid, if it's anything but conventional. For example, I have it on good authority transmasculine people have had a rough ride on here, probably because transfeminine people outnumber them.
And see also enbyphobia above.
Granted, I feel more accepted than I do in other parts of society, but there is still a long way to go.
6) The Fediverse has better blocking tools
INCORRECT.
They're basically the same as everywhere else.
7) You are not a product on the Fediverse
IT DEPENDS.
Gargron, who btw is not Communist Jesus, sees this as a personal project to replace Twitter. That means each user is one more brick in his vision. You're a product, just not a conventional one.
8) The Fediverse development model is open
IT VARIES.
There are two current Federation servers that anyone gives a shit about: Pleroma and Mastodon.
Pleroma has a reasonably open development process, but Mastodon definitely does not. Gargron is Dictator For Life at Mastodon, and that's because that's how he makes his living now. Yeah, he monetised open source, in a way that reminds me of proprietary software. Remember shareware asking you to donate to the author? Yeah. It's like that. But trust me, he doesn't care what you think, and he is very closed-minded. Changing his mind is impossible. He's an Ulrich Drepper, if you know who he is, but somehow worse. At least Ulrich Drepper could be convinced.
I would not consider the way the ActivityPub spec is developed to be a very open process though. The only voice who matters is Mastodon and the W3C's.
9) The Fediverse is safe
IT IS NOT.
It is not a safe space. It is an open-world network of servers which anyone can join. It can NEVER be a truly safe space. You have to be prepared for seeing things you will not like. And what constitutes offensive varies. There will be some point you feel unsafe here. And that's just reality. It's like a major city: have your wits about you, and you'll be fine, but random awful things can happen at any time. Watch your back.
1) The Fediverse does not have Nazis
LIES.
Your instance admin blocked them, most likely. But there are Nazis. In fact, there are people hiding on mainstream instances who are Nazis or alt-right, if such a distinction can possibly exist in anything but the minds of the most twisted.
Some Nazis have historically used Mastodon, even on mastodon.social, back before it had CW's and private posts (yeah, it wasn't always like it is today).
2) The Fediverse is basically nothing but Ancoms
BULLSHIT.
The Fediverse is a lot like your college political science class, in a bad way.
I am nothing if not living proof the Fediverse is not just ancoms. I'm somewhere left of the Berniecrats, but I am certainly no Communist.
There is also a *sizeable* tankie population here (authoritarian leftist) who have managed to blend in pretty well by avoiding the kind of violent rhetoric that will piss people off. Just talk about the kulaks, then you'll expose them.
3) The Fediverse is nothing but queers
NOPE.
Yes, I am definitely queer. I am not conventional at all in identity. But, the Fediverse is predominantly cisgendered white males. There have been multiple surveys done which back this up. Just like everywhere else on the Internet.
4) The Fediverse is more welcoming
LOL NO.
Absolutely not. Just TRY to be someone like me, who isn't an anarchist, and you will be blocked just for not being a fucking Communist or being a class traitor or whatever thing they've come up with today.
The Fediverse has problems with dogpiling, a LOT. It happens quite often. For example, I know an admin of a major respected instance who got dogpiled because a major feminist on the platform directed her rage towards him. He didn't deserve it. He was none of the things she claimed.
And just wait until you forget to CW something (and stupid shit like food too). People get so vicious over a simple lapse of judgement. I'm not here to argue the merits of the CW. I am just pointing this out.
And although most of them are blocked by major instances, there are lots of 4chan trolls who see fresh meat and lots of vulnerable targets on this thing.
This is on top of the occasional enbyphobia others and I have experienced. An admin of a now-dead instance was notably enbyphobic and went on a deeply hurtful campaign against one of my friends, for being non-binary. She also told me to jump into traffic once. Classy.
5) The Fediverse welcomes minorities
BZZT.
Trust me, being a minority alone will not make you feel welcome or accepted.
There are plenty of people who will consider your identity completely invalid, if it's anything but conventional. For example, I have it on good authority transmasculine people have had a rough ride on here, probably because transfeminine people outnumber them.
And see also enbyphobia above.
Granted, I feel more accepted than I do in other parts of society, but there is still a long way to go.
6) The Fediverse has better blocking tools
INCORRECT.
They're basically the same as everywhere else.
7) You are not a product on the Fediverse
IT DEPENDS.
Gargron, who btw is not Communist Jesus, sees this as a personal project to replace Twitter. That means each user is one more brick in his vision. You're a product, just not a conventional one.
8) The Fediverse development model is open
IT VARIES.
There are two current Federation servers that anyone gives a shit about: Pleroma and Mastodon.
Pleroma has a reasonably open development process, but Mastodon definitely does not. Gargron is Dictator For Life at Mastodon, and that's because that's how he makes his living now. Yeah, he monetised open source, in a way that reminds me of proprietary software. Remember shareware asking you to donate to the author? Yeah. It's like that. But trust me, he doesn't care what you think, and he is very closed-minded. Changing his mind is impossible. He's an Ulrich Drepper, if you know who he is, but somehow worse. At least Ulrich Drepper could be convinced.
I would not consider the way the ActivityPub spec is developed to be a very open process though. The only voice who matters is Mastodon and the W3C's.
9) The Fediverse is safe
IT IS NOT.
It is not a safe space. It is an open-world network of servers which anyone can join. It can NEVER be a truly safe space. You have to be prepared for seeing things you will not like. And what constitutes offensive varies. There will be some point you feel unsafe here. And that's just reality. It's like a major city: have your wits about you, and you'll be fine, but random awful things can happen at any time. Watch your back.
👻 boo! its chris! 🎃has anyone run into this before or have any suggestions on how I should look into fixing it? I'm combing through my nginx config now but so for everything seems standard
WebSocket connection to 'wss://scifi.fyi/api/v1/streaming/?... failed: Unexpected response code: 502
Community Moderator NoëlleIf you're getting the hang of Mastodon, you might have fun giving other instances a try. Mastodon extends beyond mastodon.social, so you get to choose the kind of people you hang out with!
If you want to hang out with queer furries in a safe environment, try https://computerfairi.es .
If you're an artist, https://mastodon.art might be your style.
If you want #gameing without the stress of Gamers, check out my https://elekk.xyz .
Or use the instance picker at https://instances.social/ !
neville parkcan't wait for the new crowd to discover #smallstories
There are no correct the record, Koch brother, or dnc battle station trolls on here
Hugo GameiroI really really need some Mastodon dev help with this https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/issues/8263
Anyone? Pretty please
Anyone? Pretty please
Frédéric JacobsThe Mastodon "Remote follow" feature could be so easily used to phish the average Mastodon user into signing into a fake instance.
⚠️ Important security reminder: Always make sure the URL shows your "home instance" when logging in.
gator crimesThe undeniable retro-modern appeal of cyberpunk aesthetics are a vector for messaging and culture that must be possessed and maintained by we freaks, lest they be used against us.
wilkie (quilt appreciator)we should all try to appreciate the Borland C++ installation program
