Sometimes, people on Facebook don't know the Fediverse exists.

@hpod16 Ugh, I - as an American citizen - am so jealous. I have never in my thirty-year career in IT/Technology seen any unit of the American government make a non-terrible software/solution recommendation.

Well don.e

@hpod16 - is the European Commission in a position to more actively help make onboarding easier? Would be amazing if they could go beyond just referring people to the existing documentation.

@hpod16 @moftasa It shouldn't really matter, though. The server may be EU based and only open to EU citizens to register, but it's not a "silo". It's simply one's home base. Other than server block lists implemented by the server's moderators, you can engage with anyone, anywhere, in the Fediverse.

@hpod16 one cannot blame them at all. Facebook, X, Instagram, and similar platforms owned by large IT companies rely on ease of use and comercial stuff to remain popular.

For good, alternatives like Mastodon remain social because they rely on recommendation rather than profit.

I try to carry my friends here, while looking for new ones (the second, being the easier).

@project1enigma @hpod16 @moftasa The moderators on the proposed EU centric server can be very strict about allowing engagement from the USA. Some USA based servers allow hateful content, others don't. The mods can block entire servers that are lax about allowing such negativity while still allowing engagement from "nice" servers. I imagine the original requester might be okay with that? Otherwise, yes, an EU server *could* be created that blocks literally EVERYTHING that isn't EU.

@hpod16 I'd go out on a limb to suggest that "EU citizen only" means "no foreigners, no migrants"

@project1enigma @lucien @hpod16 I have no clue about UX or how it works. Years ago I had an account on Twitter, before the Boer bought it. They had no app on F-Droid, so I used the web interfacewhich wasn't really better than Mastodon's in my opinion.

@xinit gosh I hope that’s not what they meant.
Maybe the social media manager was just a bit too excited about mastodon and looking for a way to promote it.

@MissWarcraft @stefan @hpod16 they didn't crack down on the hate, they still allow transphobic harassment, they still allow fascists and nazis, and the people running the company are transphobes. jay even made up new transphobic memes for her nazi friends

bluesky isn't a friend to the marginalized

@hpod16 To be clear, the EU Commission is fine, it's the redacted person demanding the 'citizens-only' one that reads oddly to me.

I might just be cynical

@xinit I know I know. To be honest, I didn’t notice that part when I first read the comment, and slightly cringing about the phrasing now. When you handle thousands of comments per day your brain gets a bit muddled. So I kind of hope people stop noticing.

@lucien @hpod16 I solution for the "Server choosing" problem can be https://fedidb.com/welcome

@hpod16 @xinit well as everyone knows, the EU definitely doesn't have any problems with hate and division, it's exclusively a US problem. (Also apparently Africa, Asia, and the rest of the Americas apparently do not matter, but I digress)

@hpod16 oh wow. They actually put their money where their mouths are 🫶

@nelson Mastodon is developed in Germany, Peertube in France.

@gelbphoenix misskey is developed in japan, sharkey is developed by people in north america, and both pixelfed and loops were made by a canadian.

@stooovie @hpod16 To be clear: "W Social" isn't by the European Commission or the EU as a whole but by a startup and media platform called "We Don't Have Time".

@MissWarcraft @hpod16 the server you're on is currently the largest one on Mastodon, and thus probably the hardest one to moderate. When you have time, have a look at smaller servers - there are loads of them now - and pick one with a policy you like.

But Mastodon isn't really about hanging on your own server only. Use hashtags to find those conversations and users you want to follow. I rarely if ever look at the posts on my own server now, let alone the global feed (or whatever it is called).

@project1enigma @hpod16 @darkoneko This! Besides: Somebody on the Fediverse can also make – in theory – an instance which only allows "certified citizens" (whatever that means).

@MissWarcraft You aren't really locked into a server. (To be clear: Yes, you can't migrate your posts *right now* – it's being worked on – but you don't loose your network when switching servers as you can migrate you followers and followings.)