Eubie Drew (QOTO 🦣) @EubieDrew@qoto.org

To this extent I'm really interested to know how the age breakdown of people on the #Fediverse. On one hand it would seem to make sense to me that most people here remember the "old internet" before the centralization and they're here to rekindle that flame of independence. On the other hand the youths are generally pretty up on this whole technology thing. I grew up on the internet and since then smartphones have become even more ubiquitous.

(Please boost for reach)

I mentioned this in a private message to someone recently about why a small handful of servers block qoto. I wanted to reiterate it here for the new comers on QOTO who dont know the history:

So there are some servers out there that demand every server int he network block every instance they do, and if a server doesnt block an instance they block then they block you in rettatliation.

Their reason for this is quite flawed but it goes like this.. If we federate with a bad actor instance and we boost one of their posts then their users will see it and defeat the purpose of the block. The problem is, this isnt how it actually works. If they block a server and we boost it, they wont see the boost, thats how blocks work.

The issue becomes even more complicated when you consider the fact that these servers, by virtue of their policy, have huge block lists where they block tons of major servers. So in order to satisfy them we too would have to block a huge number of servers.

This means you have a choice, you either join a server that isnt blocked, but has a huge block list themselves, or, you join a server that doesnt block and be blocked by a small handful of servers. Obviously that means on QOTO you will have bigger view of the world than you would on any of these others servers. In fact QOTO has onne of the largest federation footprints of any server in the network.

I want to also explain why we choose the decision we did. Years ago when this controversy started and servers across the fediverse started blocking there was a divide of people taking sides. WOTO was one of the few servers that didnt take sides and allowed people read content from any server (but with strict hate speech rules). This caused a huge influx of people,s pecifically from the LGBTQ community, onto our server. It turns out many people relied on us not-blocking for their physical safety. There were big name biggots (like milo yanappolus) who were on the network. They used their accounts here to watch his account for doxing so they could warn themselves and their community and protect themselves accordingly. In fact we added a feature just for them called subscriptions which allowed them to monitor accounts without following them so they could do so anonymously.

In tthe end for the safety of the LGBTQ community here we refused to engage in mass server blocking and instead encouraged our users to block servers on an individual basis and provided access to block lists for them to do so. But some really misguided servers blocked us anyway.

Thankfully the servers blocking us are few and far between and are limited to only the most excessive and aggressive block lists. As I said, QOTO has one of the largest federation footprints on the fediverse,

#mastoadmin

The thing about Twitter is that it really lacks a lot of the features you'd expect from a true Mastodon replacement.

For example, there's no way to edit your toots (which they, confusingly call "tweets"—let's face it, it's a bit of a silly name that's difficult to take seriously).

"Tweets" can't be covered by a content warning. There's no way to let the poster know you like their tweet without also sharing it, and no bookmark feature.

There's no way to set up your own instance, and you're basically stuck on a single instance of Twitter. That means there's no community moderators you can reach out to to quickly resolve issues. Also, you can't de-federate instances with a lot of problematic content.

It also doesn't Integrate with other fediverse platforms, and I couldn't find the option to turn the ads off.

Really, Twitter has made a good start, but it will need to add a lot of additional features before it gets to the point where it becomes a true Mastodon replacement for most users.

#twitter #mastodon #twittermigration

I'm happy to say that I've now onboarded another iOS developer for our app, and we are set on making another update to the app as soon as possible. I've also onboarded the first batch of new moderators for this server.

A few years ago I made this flow chart of which Mastodon posts end up in which timelines!

So, you can see how each instance will have a different local timeline, and even a slightly different federated timeline - and you can see why the federated timeline moves so much faster than the local one, too.

This is why it's important to boost good posts and use hashtags - the fediverse is fragmented and harder to search by nature.

[ #mastodon #meta #tootorial #howto #mastopedia #mastotip ]

Let’s try this again. Where you at #fediverse? Boosts welcome so we can get the best sample size.

The planets to scale in every way... plus dwarf planets Ceres and Pluto, the only two mapped dwarf planets.

The material from which all planets grew was orbiting the Sun. When growing planets attract this material, they get larger but also faster, as they also take on the material's momentum. That's why large planets like Jupiter are generally faster!

Pretty soon @TheConversationUS will have more followers on #mastodon after 9 days than we have accumulated on TikTok in 18 months.

Could you help us get to 1159 by boosting this toot and telling your friends about the work we do?

(We're a nonprofit news organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge of academic experts with the public)

https://theconversation.com/us/10-ways-we-are-different

ANNOUNCEMENT: If you're interested in having your Twitter Verified account verified for use in the fediverse ("Fedified"), please follow the instructions on this very short form: https://forms.gle/Ynzdwz39nHtxD1Li6

The response to the #Fedified program has been overwhelming, and I haven't slept for over a day. There are over 200 persons on the list already, and I'm getting DMs every few seconds. Thank you for your patience and for helping to combat misinformation

#TwitterMigration

Re @ianbogost's provocative essay, it's worth nothing that Twitter & Facebook are not fading because the users are running away but because they are run by incompetent leaders, one of them downright dastardly and stupid. Twitter, especially, enabled communities too long not heard in white mass media to have their space & connect at last. If Musk burns Twitter down & Zuck makes Meta meta, gone are the places where #BlackLivesMatter rose & George Floyd's murder was exposed.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/11/twitter-facebook-social-media-decline/672074/

I agree about moving past scale & argue the same is true of mass media, which is the source of the net's business model and corruption: the attention economy. Big, old media should hold its Schadenfreude at the fall of social media & examine its own roots in scale, attention, sensationalism, addiction, manipulation, division, & racism--all the things so-called social media is accused of.

Let's see what we can make next, perhaps here. I do not think we will move past wanting to connect with each other, converse, collaborate, and entertain each other. Mass media's monopoly is over. The culture can now speak for itself--with lessons learned about corporate centralization. We shall see. What follows is not up to the next tech or technologist but instead us.

honestly Jupiter same

"Mastodon Is 'Antiviral' Design"

My essay on this: https://clivethompson.medium.com/mastodon-is-antiviral-design-42f090ab8d51

Twitter (and most big social media) is laser-focused on creating virality -- i.e. training the joint attention of millions of people on one hot post/meme/story/event happening *right this instant* ... and doing it over and over and over again

Mastodon really isn't -- for lots of rich and interesting reasons

It's why some emigres from Twitter find Mastodon so baffling

This place embraces slowness and useful friction

Decided to look at network stats again. There are 1M more people using #Mastodon today than there were on October 27.

@varl42 Question: Is a science or scicomm specific instance preferred in order to have an already curated space for this type of content that interested parties can find. Or is it more of a fellow scicomm writer support space?

I’m reluctant to say this prematurely… but I have a feeling that the fever has broken. Many challenges ahead in the near and long term, but reality is starting to assert itself: election deniers, crypto, and Russia are all evidencing signs of collapse.

At some point, “manifesting” has to be backed up by facts. No lie lasts forever.

Discovering #SheepOfMastadon has made my day. This is Yoda, a orphan lamb I adopted when I first moved to #Shetland.
At first he was terrified of other sheep, running if they came near or trying to butt them with his tiny horns. Some older yowes from my neighbors flock were kind to him. Even when he didn't know how to respond they nuzzled and groomed him and slowly, he learned to be a #sheep and went to live with the flock.