⚠️ Important headsup if you are on the server mastodon.cloud:
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@FediTips oh, I see, my mistake. When I click Preferences on the main page, I see an item on the left labeled Preferences, and I was expecting Account to be under that. Truth is, time had passed since I’d navigated to the Preferences page, so I forgot that’s how I got there. Nothing to see here.
Aaah, yeah, I see what you mean!
It is sort of confusing that there's a main "Preferences" option in the general interface but then also a "preferences" section on the Preferences page.
Maybe they should rename it "Settings" for one and "Preferences" for the other?
Thanks for this, it is really useful to hear how people see the interface from their point of view.
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It's not a dependable instance. Its software isn't up to date, there may be bugs that put its users in danger.
The admin hasn't posted in 2.5 years, that is not a sign of dependability.
Quite often instances where the admin stops communicating for years may vanish without warning.
"Brigading isn't punishing a negligent admin "
It's not about punishing anyone, it's warning people that they are on an abandoned instance. Would you rather they weren't warned?
@FediTips I would have preferred a warning that there’s no official contingency plan if a large instance is abandoned—users are left to safeguard their data and reputations against norm enforcing vigilantes. This seems at odds with the promise that Mastodon and ActivityPub are people-centric.
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@FediTips I would have preferred a warning that there’s no official contingency plan if a large instance is abandoned—users are left to safeguard their data and reputations against norm enforcing vigilantes. This seems at odds with the promise that Mastodon and ActivityPub are people-centric.
The stuff being posted on mastodon.cloud is vile, utterly disgusting sewage. It is saying certain racial groups are subhuman, it is saying that skin colour reflects intellectual ability.
If mastodon.cloud are unwilling or unable to moderate ethnic hatred, even when it's been reported to them by many people over several months, then they shouldn't be running an instance at all.
If my instance was allowing such crap, I would want to be told about it so that I could leave.
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️ Important headsup if you are on the server mastodon.cloud:Mastodon.cloud no longer seems to be moderated. Its admin account hasn't posted since Feb 2023, its code of conduct is blank and there are vile racists posting from there. The racists have been reported many times but their accounts are still active.
Because of this, other server admins are starting to block mastodon.cloud completely.
If you're on mastodon.cloud you might want to move to another server ASAP: https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server
@FediTips mastodon.cloud, mstdn.jp, and pawoo.net are all run by the same entity, Sujitech LLC.
All three are running outdated versions of Mastodon, but the Pawoo support team seems to have been active as recently as May.
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p.p.p.s. Mastodon.cloud seems to be running a very out-of-date version of Mastodon's server software. This is a bad sign as it means there may be unpatched security holes etc.
This lack of technical updates is another reason to leave mastodon.cloud as soon as possible.
It's never clear how long unmaintained servers will continue. If it disappears without warning, it will be too late to move your account.
If you want help moving, feel free to ask! Also see the guide at https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server
@FediTips thanks for this! Is there really no way to transfer one's posts to the new server? That seems like a major limitation to changing servers..
Sorry if this has already been asked -
@FediTips thanks for this! Is there really no way to transfer one's posts to the new server? That seems like a major limitation to changing servers..
Sorry if this has already been asked- If the server stays online, you can leave your old posts there and they will redirect people to your new account. So, they don't disappear as long as the old server keeps running. More info in transfer guide at https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server
- You can download an archive of your posts and either keep it for your private records or upload these to a website (there are some services that let you do this for public posts). More about archives at https://fedi.tips/how-to-download-your-mastodon-post-archive
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@FediTips thanks for this! Is there really no way to transfer one's posts to the new server? That seems like a major limitation to changing servers..
Sorry if this has already been askedp.s. Just to add to why there is this situation, servers are run by volunteers who have to pay for all the server's running costs, they don't run ads or sell any data or have any investors.
If accounts move to a server and suddenly upload thousands of posts with perhaps hundreds of images etc, that can be quite a drain on the server's resources.
There was a Fedi platform which experimented with uploading archives, but it slowed down badly when big archives were uploaded.
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@FediTips mastodon.cloud, mstdn.jp, and pawoo.net are all run by the same entity, Sujitech LLC.
All three are running outdated versions of Mastodon, but the Pawoo support team seems to have been active as recently as May.
Good god... are you sure?
Pawoo is apparently defederated by many servers for illegal material: https://tweaking.thebad.space/location/7f2309f1-a833-4442-a657-da0eb0f4007e
Is it really being run by the same people as mastodon.cloud? That's horrifying.
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It's not a dependable instance. Its software isn't up to date, there may be bugs that put its users in danger.
The admin hasn't posted in 2.5 years, that is not a sign of dependability.
Quite often instances where the admin stops communicating for years may vanish without warning.
"Brigading isn't punishing a negligent admin "
It's not about punishing anyone, it's warning people that they are on an abandoned instance. Would you rather they weren't warned?
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- If the server stays online, you can leave your old posts there and they will redirect people to your new account. So, they don't disappear as long as the old server keeps running. More info in transfer guide at https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server
- You can download an archive of your posts and either keep it for your private records or upload these to a website (there are some services that let you do this for public posts). More about archives at https://fedi.tips/how-to-download-your-mastodon-post-archive
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p.s. Just to add to why there is this situation, servers are run by volunteers who have to pay for all the server's running costs, they don't run ads or sell any data or have any investors.
If accounts move to a server and suddenly upload thousands of posts with perhaps hundreds of images etc, that can be quite a drain on the server's resources.
There was a Fedi platform which experimented with uploading archives, but it slowed down badly when big archives were uploaded.
I understand that many servers are in closets and run on residential energy rates, but identity on social media networks includes posts and images. We are what we wrote and we are what we will write.
It's good to design for the cheapest hardware and internet speeds but to be perfectly honest, some servers can afford it but choose not to because the low hanging fruit is to offer only the bare minimum as long as they can
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@elduvelle
@FediTips
It's not a thing in base masto or glitch, as far as I'm aware, but not for any good reason - one could upload the archive and backdate all the posts even if they wouldn't be treated as the same as the originals by other instances/wouldn't have replies/interactions -
I understand that many servers are in closets and run on residential energy rates, but identity on social media networks includes posts and images. We are what we wrote and we are what we will write.
It's good to design for the cheapest hardware and internet speeds but to be perfectly honest, some servers can afford it but choose not to because the low hanging fruit is to offer only the bare minimum as long as they can
The posts and images don't disappear, they remain on the server where they were posted and their username directs people to your new account.
If someone suddenly uploads thousands posts and a similar amount of images, that will cause a strain. If many people do that, it will be even more strain.
The Fedi platform Firefish did actually try this, and it did cause problems. It's mainly to do with the amount of computing resources required to deal with many tasks at once.
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I understand that many servers are in closets and run on residential energy rates, but identity on social media networks includes posts and images. We are what we wrote and we are what we will write.
It's good to design for the cheapest hardware and internet speeds but to be perfectly honest, some servers can afford it but choose not to because the low hanging fruit is to offer only the bare minimum as long as they can
p.s. Anything that you host online on other services will disappear at some point (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/18/myspace-loses-all-content-uploaded-before-2016).
If you need to make sure all your posts stay online, you can set up your own server. It doesn't require tech skills and it doesn't require much money either.
Managed hosting costs $5 per month for a single person with the hosting company doing all the techy stuff for you. I encourage people to do this with help and links to providers at https://growyourown.services/grow-your-own-social-network/
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@elduvelle
@FediTips
It's not a thing in base masto or glitch, as far as I'm aware, but not for any good reason - one could upload the archive and backdate all the posts even if they wouldn't be treated as the same as the originals by other instances/wouldn't have replies/interactionsThis is possible and it has been done by Fedi platforms such as Firefish which accepted Mastodon archive uploads, but AFAIK they had problems with instance resources?
(For what it's worth, the uploads created new posts with no connection to the old threads but the content was the same.)
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p.s. Anything that you host online on other services will disappear at some point (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/mar/18/myspace-loses-all-content-uploaded-before-2016).
If you need to make sure all your posts stay online, you can set up your own server. It doesn't require tech skills and it doesn't require much money either.
Managed hosting costs $5 per month for a single person with the hosting company doing all the techy stuff for you. I encourage people to do this with help and links to providers at https://growyourown.services/grow-your-own-social-network/
I love the tips, but making the case that it's cheap enough for an individual to do it only strengthens my case that institutions can and should offer this service for free
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@quattrocchi @FediTips @Sujiyan @TheAdmin
I understand that moderation is necessary to maintain a safe place for healthy accounts. I also realize that much of the appeal of Mastodon lies in its decentralization. Blocking instances versus accounts seems like using a broad brush instead of a finer touch. Don't unhealthy accounts come and go? Might blocking the instance harm the instance's healthier accounts? Harm accounts on other instances that want to come and see the unhealthy accounts? -
I love the tips, but making the case that it's cheap enough for an individual to do it only strengthens my case that institutions can and should offer this service for free
It would be great if they did that, yes. It would be a bit like in the early days of the web when people were often given free web pages by ISPs, universities, community groups etc
The price per instance also becomes a lot cheaper if a provider hosts lots of instances.
I guess question is which institutions would offer this?
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This is possible and it has been done by Fedi platforms such as Firefish which accepted Mastodon archive uploads, but AFAIK they had problems with instance resources?
(For what it's worth, the uploads created new posts with no connection to the old threads but the content was the same.)
This is a solved problem with GoToSocial.
First, they allowed backdating statuses.
Which allowed importing old statuses.
One of the devs created a tool, Slurp, for this purpose. It uses your existing Mastodon archive.
At this time, GoToSocial is the only platform I'm aware of that can handle not just account migration, but post migration as well.
This page talks about migrating to GoToSocial and using Slurp to migrate posts.
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@quattrocchi @FediTips @Sujiyan @TheAdmin
I understand that moderation is necessary to maintain a safe place for healthy accounts. I also realize that much of the appeal of Mastodon lies in its decentralization. Blocking instances versus accounts seems like using a broad brush instead of a finer touch. Don't unhealthy accounts come and go? Might blocking the instance harm the instance's healthier accounts? Harm accounts on other instances that want to come and see the unhealthy accounts?If a server's moderation team is not responding to requests to moderate, and it hasn't posted in over 2 years, and its server software is running on a very out of date version, that implies the server isn't being actively maintained.
If the material to be moderated is extremely serious, and the server admin doesn't respond to multiple reports over several months, then the next step is typically defederation.
There is no other option if the server itself won't respond.
