Please please please stop telling new folks to join mastodon.social, there are so many problems with that instance and this advice.
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It's not about being techy, it's about protecting this place from disappearing. If people keep joining mastodon.social this whole place could cease to exist.
New people don't have to learn about instances, they just have to join an instance that isn't mastodon.social. For example the experience of joining mas.to would be practically identical for a new person, but it won't be threatening the existence of the Fediverse.
Also, mastodon.social's moderation is very bad.
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It's not about being techy, it's about protecting this place from disappearing. If people keep joining mastodon.social this whole place could cease to exist.
New people don't have to learn about instances, they just have to join an instance that isn't mastodon.social. For example the experience of joining mas.to would be practically identical for a new person, but it won't be threatening the existence of the Fediverse.
Also, mastodon.social's moderation is very bad.
@FediTips @hollie If mastodon.social ever vanishes, a new primary instance will organically take its place.
I don't mind people using custom instances, I'm just saying let's not overcomplicate social media for mortals. I like that the Fediverse is a very welcoming place for transgender autistic/ADHD software developers, and I tick some of those boxes myself. But sometimes I yearn for more diversity, and forcing people to think about instances at signup is a deterrent for everyone else.
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@FediTips @hollie If mastodon.social ever vanishes, a new primary instance will organically take its place.
I don't mind people using custom instances, I'm just saying let's not overcomplicate social media for mortals. I like that the Fediverse is a very welcoming place for transgender autistic/ADHD software developers, and I tick some of those boxes myself. But sometimes I yearn for more diversity, and forcing people to think about instances at signup is a deterrent for everyone else.
The entire point of Mastodon is that there are no such things as "primary instances" and "custom instances".
There are just supposed to be lots of instances with equal status. Watch their own promo: https://fedi.video/w/cbQE3NRw76FayQCSdb14TU
"forcing people to think about instances at signup"
They don't have to force anyone to think about instances. All they have to do is recommend a different instance instead of mastodon.social. It could say "Join mas.to" instead of "Join mastodon.social".
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@FediTips @hollie If mastodon.social ever vanishes, a new primary instance will organically take its place.
I don't mind people using custom instances, I'm just saying let's not overcomplicate social media for mortals. I like that the Fediverse is a very welcoming place for transgender autistic/ADHD software developers, and I tick some of those boxes myself. But sometimes I yearn for more diversity, and forcing people to think about instances at signup is a deterrent for everyone else.
You are also missing the point, it's not about mastodon.social vanishing, it's about this whole place vanishing.
If most people are on mastodon.social, the Fediverse would no longer be a decentralised network, it would be just another centralised network like Twitter/X or Bluesky.
Mastodon.social is particularly bad to centralise as it owns the main branch of the software, official apps, official website and trademark.
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The entire point of Mastodon is that there are no such things as "primary instances" and "custom instances".
There are just supposed to be lots of instances with equal status. Watch their own promo: https://fedi.video/w/cbQE3NRw76FayQCSdb14TU
"forcing people to think about instances at signup"
They don't have to force anyone to think about instances. All they have to do is recommend a different instance instead of mastodon.social. It could say "Join mas.to" instead of "Join mastodon.social".
@FediTips @hollie The point of Mastodon for me is that it's a nonprofit social medium, safe from the perverse incentives of Big Tech.
I think what you're getting at is that Mastodon means different things to different people. The most diehard tech geeks will be most excited about the federation part. I mostly want a noncommercial Twitter-like service that actually brings me joy.
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@FediTips @hollie The point of Mastodon for me is that it's a nonprofit social medium, safe from the perverse incentives of Big Tech.
I think what you're getting at is that Mastodon means different things to different people. The most diehard tech geeks will be most excited about the federation part. I mostly want a noncommercial Twitter-like service that actually brings me joy.
"The point of Mastodon for me is that it's a nonprofit social medium, safe from the perverse incentives of Big Tech."
No, that's not true at all.
The point of Mastodon is that it is spread out on so many different servers that no one can buy or sell it. Mastodon's creators specifically say this in the promo I linked above.
If it's all on one server, it would be very easy to buy or sell, and it would no longer be safe from big tech at all. Look at Mozilla and Google.
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You are also missing the point, it's not about mastodon.social vanishing, it's about this whole place vanishing.
If most people are on mastodon.social, the Fediverse would no longer be a decentralised network, it would be just another centralised network like Twitter/X or Bluesky.
Mastodon.social is particularly bad to centralise as it owns the main branch of the software, official apps, official website and trademark.
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@FediTips @hollie The point of Mastodon for me is that it's a nonprofit social medium, safe from the perverse incentives of Big Tech.
I think what you're getting at is that Mastodon means different things to different people. The most diehard tech geeks will be most excited about the federation part. I mostly want a noncommercial Twitter-like service that actually brings me joy.
"The most diehard tech geeks will be most excited about the federation part."
Federation is literally the ONLY thing that is keeping Mastodon and the Fediverse safe from big tech.
It's not some optional extra, it's the foundations keeping this house standing. Take those away and it all collapses.
I've done an entire article (in non-technical language before you ask) why federation is vital for everyone who uses this network: https://fedi.tips/why-is-the-fediverse-on-so-many-separate-servers/
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It's not about mastodon.social vanishing.
It's about rest of the network vanishing and mastodon.social being sold.
The danger scenario is this:
1. Everyone goes onto mastodon.social
2. Mastodon.social is sold and turns into a conventional Twitter-style thing
3. The other servers can't easily recreate network, because mastodon.social also owns the official apps, site, main branch of server software and trademarks. Others would have to start from scratch with new name. -
It's not about mastodon.social vanishing.
It's about rest of the network vanishing and mastodon.social being sold.
The danger scenario is this:
1. Everyone goes onto mastodon.social
2. Mastodon.social is sold and turns into a conventional Twitter-style thing
3. The other servers can't easily recreate network, because mastodon.social also owns the official apps, site, main branch of server software and trademarks. Others would have to start from scratch with new name. -
100% agree, totally agree on that
