Question for more experiences Mastodon folks: I've chatted w/ a few folks about sports fandom here. Some (e.g. a WNBA team owner) are considering leaving birdchan for safety and values issues, but don't know what awaits them here. I can advise on a near-term plan (just find a server and come on over), but is there a future (or present?) of sports communication and fandom on Mastodon that I can point them towards? Or something we/they could build here?
@katestarbird don’t know if this helps or not, but a quick search on hashtags might reveal some of what some of the discussions and such are here already. I glanced at #wnba and found folks already engaging in conversations.
Seeking sports related instances may also be possible by using keyword searches on places. I might be able to help more if a full report is sought.
@davidaugust That’s helpful, thanks! Would there be any benefit for standing up a server/instance for teams and athletes (and even fans) for a league or set of leagues? Or would that be unnecessarily complex and lead to (negative) unintended consequences?
@katestarbird There could be great benefit. Vital to keep in mind that opening an instance means taking on the admin and moderation details. Not an endeavor to be casually done.
Having a league or a team have their own instance could have big benefits, from branding, fan engagement and more. Properly provisioning and staffing it takes some planning, to avoid unintended consequences as with most things in life. I think a lot of sports could prosper in it, or even initiatives short of it too.
@davidaugust @katestarbird Given lack of a central verification mechanism, to me, it seems like businesses should run their own instances so that their people have that stamp of authenticity their domain provides. There's probably a lot of money to be made consulting on this.
@katestarbird @acjay I agree, both in that giving context and authority to company and org accounts and that there is work to be done well consulting on it.