Jim Parkin @ParkinJim@qoto.org

When following back people here, I’m noticing a lot of people haven’t posted anything yet.

If you can’t think of anything to write just yet, then do consider just reblogging (=retweeting!) good content that you see around. You could start with this post, for example, to encourage more people to start sharing content around here.

BTW, as we get the Bylines publications going on here, that will provide ample good news content for the community. 👍👍

More loveliness. How amazing that the poor guy named John Lewis in the US not only gets a heads-up from the John Lewis company that their famed Christmas ad is about to drop and flood his mentions, but it's about fostering. And it turns out HE HAS FOUR ADOPTED KIDS. 😭

Someone in a group called Twitter “$8chan” 🤣

I see a lot of people talking about how Mastodon "Feels like the Internet I remember from 20 years ago."

That's no accident. That's Federation. That's UseNet, IRC, Email, Message Boards, etc. What do they all have in common?

Federation: Users congregating around watering holes of common interest, but still being a part of a larger whole.

THIS IS HOW THE INTERNET WAS DESIGNED TO BE. And I am HERE for it.

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

Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.
Election Day should be a national holiday.

In case you’ve ever felt like your vote didn’t matter.

I admit, I was confused about CW's here at first. I couldn't quiet understand why there where so many of them, especially for things that didn't seem overly controversial.

But now I find that I love them.

I understand now that they are not only for protecting people from content that could cause them distress, but it gives more choice about what we read when scrolling, & they can be used to tidy up feeds - a 'TLDR' for mastodon so to speak.

#ContentWarnings #MastodonTips

If you're new to #mastodon and the #fediverse like me and have come over in our droves from #Twitter, perhaps consider the people who were here before us and reading this pretty amazing article from a 4 year user of mastodon. It helped correct my behavior level and aligns with the vibe we first got when we arrived here. I don't want another birdsite.
https://www.hughrundle.net/home-invasion/

UK electricity supply just now:
49% generated from wind power.

🧑‍⚕️Average salary of an NHS nurse: £33,384

💼MP basic salary: £84,144. Plus £67,505 if a Cabinet Minister.

🧑‍⚕️NHS canteen prices: £7.25 for macaroni cheese

💼House of Commons Members' Dining Room: £5.67 for a gourmet roast rump of beef dinner

🧑‍⚕️NHS parking: £25/day

💼MP travel: expensed

NHS nurses have been refused inflation-matching pay rises for 12 Tory years. It’s time to pay them properly.

#NHS #UKpolitics #nurse

Amazing chart on the growth of Mastodon.

Graphic by @estebanmoro

@Paulos_the_fog Check the About page of this server to see the extra features Qoto has to offer. And yes, that does include this generous character limit. :)

And everybody can your full posts, even the ones with a low character limit.

Welcome to Qoto!

Shadows in low, raking sunlight emphasise the substantial #earthwork boundaries (15m high x up to 10m wide) between 2-3 hectare #BronzeAge / #RomanoBritish #fields that extend up to 600m across the N-facing slopes of Burderop Down, Wilts. The field system is overlain by a #PostMedieval earthwork enclosure - perhaps a #SheepFold. Today’s happiness.

#Landscape #Archaeology #History

Source: https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/educational-images/burderop-down-wiltshire-3011

@ParkinJim yeah… jeez… a totally bonkers policy that has dangerous consequences. It’ll likely turn more people off it than raise money.

I can’t see how there are going to be *any* issues with the bird app’s new “paying for a blue tick” system:

Rewatching this video of Matt Hancock makes me so angry.

He tells the select committee "There's no evidence that a shortage of PPE provision led to anybody dying of covid."

How dare he!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-57426153