In this time of uncertainty for Mastodon instance admins I think it’s a good time to again suggest that you consider supporting your instance with a small amount of money each month to help defray costs. These might include legal fees, hardware, and not least, paid moderators. Thank you.
@JamesK Dear #Newbies What they said - #Mastodon isn’t like #Twitter you’ll see no ads but it’d be enormously helpful to “toss a coin to “the Witcher” If it helps to think of the #admins as Geralt well...what ever works, cause THEY are what keeps this working & they’re doing an amazing job. They keep the gears running & the monsters at bay. Make sure it’s your server #instance that you tip & not just Mastodon or you could do both if you want to. 🥰 #twittermigration
There's no algorithm here, directing people to your posts (or sending you ads😀), so be sure to use & #follow hashtags, as well as #FollowBack accounts that interest you. The more you interact with other accounts, the better your feed will be.
Hey fediversians, I just want to gently remind you that your bot and spam battling, moderating admins host this most marvelous free of charge, no advertising, open discourse platform because it is a passion. They give endless hours to this pursuit around the clock. Your social media life is better for all of it. The cost to them is time and money. Please throw some dough, bread, moolah, ca$h, cabbage, dinero, ducats, splosh, etc, their way if you are able. It feels really good to give to them.
@noondlyt Dear #Newbies What they said - #Mastodon isn’t like #Twitter you’ll see no ads but it’d be enormously helpful to “toss a coin to “the Witcher” If it helps to think of the #admins as Geralt well...what ever works, cause THEY are what keeps this working & they’re doing an amazing job. They keep the gears running & the monsters at bay. Make sure it’s your server #instance that you tip & not just Mastodon or you could do both if you want to. 🥰 #twittermigration
So, it is possible for a group to make the collective decision to leave Twitter. Scientists "suffering insults and mass-spam are abandoning Twitter," and setting up shop on Mastodon.
"Glaciologist @Ruth_Mottram had more than 10,000 followers on Twitter but left in February and joined an alternative scientists' forum powered by Mastodon."
Day 1
Where am I? Is this the Fediverse? What is the Mastodon? How do I Calckey? Am I Pixelfed?
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👉 Click for Thread🧵
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What I've learned about #Fediverse (#Mastodon#Calckey etc) condensed to help others.
🤜I could pin hashtags as columns, or follow hashtags to put them in homefeed. I can create rules + keywords + hashtags + users based notifications called antennas on platforms like Calckey. There are many ways to find stuff or be notified on topics you specify.
Day4
⭐ is the ❤️ button but it only tells the author you like their post, nobody else.
🔁Boost🔁 is what moves info around.
There is no algorithm, we choose and not some algorithm under corporate control. We choose by 🔁boosting🔁 posts and by using #hashtags.
If I put hashtags more at the bottom of a post it is kind to those using screen readers, partially sighted, blind etc. Also, CamelCase means capitalising 1st letter of each new word inside a hashtag, it is very helpful as well.
Fediverse has a good reputation for inclusion, we must keep it going.
Emails have a subject line which I click to expand body of the message.
Fediverse has similar thing. A content wrapper [CW] button when posting that adds a title, then one clicks to expand post.
It takes very little extra time to do. Subject line doesn't prevent me sending email! It's good for long posts or stuff that people might not want to see.
When uploading images try and describe the images in the alt text box, this is good for people using screenreaders, blind, partially sighted etc. Try to remember to include people.
This place is built on kindness, on respecting each other, on listening, on benefit of the doubt, on not trying to 'win' conversations but learn from them. Humans beings are varied, that makes life interesting.
I must not leap to be be negative back. Maybe they just have too much stress today. If I have to I can block. If troll servers turn up, I can block an entire server if I need to - but probably the mod heroes will be on it anyway.
Day10
If there are subjects I don't want to deal with I can set filter words in my profile settings which will stop certain topics from showing up in my feeds.
#Fediverse & it's different platforms+software have masses of clever tools, & different ways to access. You communicate with people all over the Fediverse, across different platforms.
So much more to explore, new projects, new apps:
#PixelFed like Instagram but not constantly trying to sell you stuff #PeerTube like Youtube but not ads based #Friendica like Facebook but not harvesting your data or radicalising your relatives #Mastodon millions use it as Twitter without all the Nazis #Calckey a really smooth & fun new Twitter replacement with loads more features than Twitter
& many more to discover. They all communicate together, you can use any or all, keep your people, your following circles across all of them.
Metrics don't matter here. Numbers don't matter. Followings aren't faked here, & my voice isn't suppressed by algorithms. What matters here is good interactions. Actually being social.
Having more followers does not make my posts more visible.
Following fewer people does not make my posts more visible.
Having lots of favs does not make my posts more visible.
It is not a system of social overlords broadcasting at serfs who don't get heard.
The features here are designed for the users, not for data harvesting or profit. They are deliberate choices to encourage people to treat each other better. There is rapid development and if I really need a different feature, I should just access another platform to login to the Fediverse which will give that feature to me.
I can use many Fediverse websites/apps, and keep my circle of people across them.
Day12 #Fediverse has many apps & projects, many servers, many mod teams. This is its strength.
No1 can buy it up.
The code is all open source. No advertisers. There is no reason to make us anxious or aggressive to make us click more or scroll faster, there is no1 to trade clicks & scrolls to for ad$.
Everything runs on donations & volunteer time+skills.
I realise #Fediverse is an evolving co-operating culture with common protocol linking many things. No platform is trying to lock up all my attention in their walled garden.
I can have several accounts, try & use several platforms, keep my circles across all & I'm free to move around. Exporting and importing followers, migrating, these are all #Fediverse core principles. Freely social, not captive eyeballs.
On phone tablet desktop, I can have apps and/or I can open simple browser windows +just type an instance's address. There are many ways to login & communicate across the #Fediverse.
This idea is a revolution in itself. How much effort did I lose on doomed corporation farms that were jealously trying to carve out separately, wall away and own their userbase. Myspace, Google+, Facebook, Twitter.
Day14
You can use many/any platform on the Fediverse, they're not walled off from each other.
Maybe you begin with Calckey (this here)/Misskey or Mastodon or Pixelfed (a bit like Instagram). You will soon appreciate your freedom to add other platforms without having to start over from scratch like with the big corporate social walled enclosures that separate their user bases. I post seamlessly from Calckey to my Mastodon followers for example.
3 helpful sites to explore:
An over view of the Fediverse, a co-operation of social platforms. Imagine Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube, Medium, Reddit but co-operating, inter-operating and developing to benefit all the users not some billionaires. https://jointhefediverse.net/
Where did your Twitter contacts go? Automatically reconnect to your Twitter people from the many different Fediverse platforms. https://fedifinder.glitch.me/
In my opinion, the future growth rate of the #Fediverse will chiefly depend on 4 factors (hypothesis):
the ease with which #newbies can find the best fit of platform and instance, as well as content.
if the speed of growth can be matched with the evolution of intra-instance and inter-instance moderation procedures and "institutions" to moderate cultural clashes
the ease of account mobility, preserving the built...
...#network (which constitutes the
natural, personified "#algorithm") and the created content fir those that wish to preserve it.
Will big instances be bought up by corporations and oligarchs on a significant level, so as to influence the development of the #Fediverse significantly?
It's painful watching so many nerds wonder why people are flocking to Blue Sky while shitting on things like being able to respond to messages with quotes, people who have large followings, UX that makes signing up easy for non-techies etc.
I don't think people are realising the danger the Fediverse is in.
The only thing stopping corporations and VCs taking over this place is that the Fediverse is spread out on many different servers, which makes it very difficult to purchase.
If most of the Fediverse ends up on mastodon.social, which is now a strong possibility, there will be nothing to stop most of it being sold to Musk or Zuckerberg or whoever.
The bigger mastodon.social becomes, the more likely a buyout is to happen.
@feditips Any1 who’s dealt w/ Elon, or Jack on Twitter, should be on board making sure that .social doesn’t get so big some creep wants to buy it. We should be telling #newbies about it when they migrate before they’ve done a lot of posts that they could lose, they should look & see if a different instance would suit them better. If you’re concerned, talk to atleast one newbie a week! We can make a serious dent in this problem. #mastodon#Twitter#TwitterMigration