You guys probably haven't the dangdest what I'm talking about ... problem is ... StormlightTech doesn't yet have a Mastodon account anywhere since we'd rather do that on our own server. I'm sure that one of the folks here can fill me in, but is running your own server a good way to get noticed? I'm trying to find all ways for our social media accounts to be noticed without having to resort to buying followers with cryptocurrency, like I've done in the past. It makes me feel icky.

@cambridgeport90 When you first start your own server no one will see you post because no one is following you and the server isnt federated with anyone. However if you use an existing server (preferably a popular one with lots of users) it will already be federated with much of the network. As such when you post you will show up in the federated timeline of other servers.

Federation can be expensive and time consuming to establish for a server. The way it works is this. When someone follows anyone on your server, then the entire server your follower on is now federated with you. This means that any posts you make will show up int he home timeline of your follower but the federated timeline of the server your follower is on.

So by using an already established server it means you will have a much "louder" voice than running your own server. For this reason single-instance servers arent the best idea if you want the widest audience.

@freemo @cambridgeport90 Ah OK cause I was wanting to do my own Hubzilla server.

@freemo @cambridgeport90 And later fork hubzilla to add more Writer focused social networking options.

@LWFlouisa @freemo what is the difference between that, and some of the other networks such as other Friendica or diaspora? I've heard of all of them, but never did seem to get the hang of their differences.

@cambridgeport90
The difference is in the UI and the standards employed for federation. Mastodon uses OStatus, ActivityPub. A lot of other networks (like diaspora) just use OStatus which is older and on the verge of becoming obsolete but still used.

Mastodon and QOTO seem to cover the most standards so it allows for a larger audience IMO.

@LWFlouisa

@freemo @LWFlouisa @cambridgeport90 Diaspora does not use OStatus.If it did,it would be compatible with Mastodon because that still has OStatus support additionally to ActivityPub.Diaspora has its completely own protocol.That's why it doesn't federate with many softwares.As far as I know only with itself and Friendica which has support for the Diaspora protocol,too.Friendica and GNUsocial are good examples for OStatus implementations.And they still federate with Mastodon.

@nipos
It uses OStatus in a sense, it would be more accurate to say it uses the diaspora-dialect of ostatus. It was just different enough from the standard that mastodon cant talk to it.

@LWFlouisa @cambridgeport90

@freemo @cambridgeport90 @nipos Its weird though, sometimes you'll find people that also have a Mastodon along with a diaspora.

@LWFlouisa @freemo @nipos the big question. How did you guys implement the extended features on the server? Like the nearly unlimited number of characters of posts, for instance? That's pretty cool.

@cambridgeport90 @freemo @LWFlouisa On Mastodon the char limit is unfortunately hardcoded as far as I know but Qoto uses GlitchSoc,a Fork of it.The char number is just a simple variable there and it's easy to change.The limit isn't defined by the protocol but only by the Mastodon software.

@nipos @cambridgeport90 @freemo I'm curious what makes it hard coded. Here the limit is around a little less than 66000 (characters, not words).

On Hubzilla, what I'm considering forking just to learn how it works, doesn't have any limit, as far as I know.