It's actually pretty amazing that a open source product developed by a tiny non-profit, running on a network of servers self-funded by volunteer administrator and moderators has managed to absorb some portion of one of the world's largest for-profit social networks.
It's a miracle the whole thing didn't collapse or catch fire.
Great job everyone.
Alrighty, all the locals have been telling newbies that we need to explore the smaller instances, kinda like how everyone says when you visit a new country to get away from the slick touristy areas.
So I'm taking that advice and moving to social.coop, which is set up as, well, a co-op. I like that structure (and that it expects a member fee, honestly) rather than it being one person and donations. One person owning it all is precisely the problem with the Bird site.
Recent mastodon influx be like: This party is amazing! Much better than that prior party!
5 minutes later: The party food should be served differently. š¤£
I implore other newbies to recall weāre coming into a home thatās been around since 2016, not an empty room. Part of why we love it is all the work people before us did setting up the party in a nice way. Maybe letās defer to them a bit on norms?
Also, please use CW for political discussions, especially in the US this week. Itās better.
Tip 1: Use hashtags. There's no algorithm to suggest followers or shove posts into your feed in the hopes you follow someone.
Tip 2: Boost (re-post) toots liberally. *You* are the algorithm.
Tip 3: Use CW (content warnings / content wrappers) to discuss politics, the meta.
Tip 4: To create "threads", make the first post public and each reply "unlisted" to prevent clogging up your instance's feed.
Tip 5: Provide text descriptions, even just basic ones, when attaching photos or media.
Tip 6: Use the "report" features for moderating trolls so your admins can take action.
I just learned a new word today.
pooptoot
Obviously just a synonym for shitpost, but on Mastodon. Yet somehow it sounds better. I like it here :)
Is there any critical scholarship on #federated information architecture?
I am looking for pointers on the intersection of techno utopianism and notions of decentralized tech and how that intersects with privilege and power.
Here, privilege + power could also be geographical/political/infrastructural.
e.g., having the money to pay for servers, your country allowing payments in foreign currencies to be able to afford said servers.
Mike McHargue
Tamitha
David Carroll
Dr Sam Saunders
Peetz0r
Upol Ehsan