Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
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@rufustheduck I saw a few posts on the topic of "does the instance matter" and community the other day, might be interesting to read:
https://maho.dev/2026/01/the-forkiverse-experiment-and-why-instance-choice-matters/ and
https://stefanbohacek.online/@stefan/115962043884062629@rufustheduck An extra thing to what others raised about how to choose a new instance if you want to choose one: don't forget that you can have any number of accounts if you want.
Want to keep this as your main for cat pictures and whatever else, but you find a server specific to your interest in *shakes 8-ball* bread making? Can have both.
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
also: how strict are they about things like Alt-text.
for example I'll never get on chaos.social because of how they formulated their guideline and there's lots of peeps on there who are very ... anal about this.
While I generally see the good of alt-text, I also see no reason to write "Sunrise" into the alt-text when the post already reads "Sunrise" every time I just wanna quickly post a pic of a sunrise and then have people whine at me that I'm not descriptive enough. -
Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck I also joined your instance and had nothing against it but moved to cupoftea.social because it aligns with my values of positivity and wholesomeness.
So, if you find the local timeline meets your values, consider staying where you are. If not, ask your fedi-friends for instance recs that might align more closely to you
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
if you don't know why to move, you're probably in the right spot.
You will know, when it's time to move.
e.g. if someone you like interacting with is blocked from mastodon.social, maybe not for a good reason, you could move.
another one: if you don't like policy changes of mastodon.social, you could move.
There's indefinite reasons, why someone would want to move. If you don't have a real reason to move, you don't have to
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
Because I didn't see this in the replies, this page has links that can help you find a place but take your time. Browse local timelines before moving. https://fedi.garden/fedi-gardens-full-server-list/ @rufustheduck
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck there's no right or wrong, as far as I'm concerned.
# got me started fine, and @FediTips
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck hi!
@FediTips have a great article on this, witch you can find here:
️ https://fedi.tips/its-a-really-bad-idea-to-join-a-big-server/️ https://fedi.tips/transferring-your-mastodon-account-to-another-server/ -
Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck So, when email first started out, everyone used different servers, sometimes from their school, their job, their internet company, a dedicated email company, what have you.
Now everyone uses Gmail, and if you don't want to put all your eggs in one (heavily surveilled, monetized) basket, you avoid it personally. But you're going to be messaging people who are on Gmail most of the time, so you've gained little.
The advice to move is to preempt mastodon.social becoming that basket.
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@rufustheduck So, when email first started out, everyone used different servers, sometimes from their school, their job, their internet company, a dedicated email company, what have you.
Now everyone uses Gmail, and if you don't want to put all your eggs in one (heavily surveilled, monetized) basket, you avoid it personally. But you're going to be messaging people who are on Gmail most of the time, so you've gained little.
The advice to move is to preempt mastodon.social becoming that basket.
@rufustheduck That's the generic, big picture why.
Benefits of being on mastodon.social for you:
Biggest view of the fediverse, developers very much focused on your server, unlikely to shutdown, a 'little bit of everything' experience.
Downsides of staying:
Too big for thoughtful moderation, no particular relevance to any specific hobby or interest, too large for the local timeline to be anything other than a firehose of random conversation fragments.
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck The size of the server doesn't matter and it doesn't limit who you can interact with. But if you are feeling uncomfortable on it, check out fedi.tips, https://fedi.tips/, they have great guides for using Mastodon.
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@rufustheduck The size of the server doesn't matter and it doesn't limit who you can interact with. But if you are feeling uncomfortable on it, check out fedi.tips, https://fedi.tips/, they have great guides for using Mastodon.
@fulanigirl @rufustheduck you say that but some servers have blocked others and some people block whole servers so it can do. But in the main with nice servers with good moderation you'll be fine. I have 4 accounts. You don't need to have multiple but there's nothing to stop you
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@zombie042 @rufustheduck I’d suggest browsing interest-focused instances before moving (by visiting https://infosec.exchange/public/local) for example. Some instances have unusually restrictive moderation, or their funding is shaky, or they’re dominated by a few posters.
@KerryMitchell @zombie042 @rufustheduck
Thank you for posting this! I've been saying that I would love to browse the feeds of other servers, but I'd never found a way to do so. Maybe it's because I'm usually on my app (Tusky)?
Do you know if this /public/local is a standard feature of server's web interfaces?
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@rufustheduck hi there! You are in the largest server. I particularly do not see any disadvantage in doing so.
@caiocgo *butts in* mastodon.social has a ton of problems exactly because it's the biggest server that is also barely moderated. It's twitter 3.0 and the source of many headaches for many admins because it's open sign-up and spouts endless russian bots, phishing attacks and spam accounts that rivals X. If you hear about spam and phishing problems on mastodon there's a 110% chance it comes from that instance. Rampant racism on top of everything. Many smaller instances decide to block it, restrict access to it or mute it. Which means a lot of the fediverse is shut out, which makes mastodon.social one of the least federated instances. It literally is a counter point to the whole idea of federating and the fediverse. Make of that what you will *sees myself out* @rufustheduck
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@KerryMitchell @zombie042 @rufustheduck
Thank you for posting this! I've been saying that I would love to browse the feeds of other servers, but I'd never found a way to do so. Maybe it's because I'm usually on my app (Tusky)?
Do you know if this /public/local is a standard feature of server's web interfaces?
@jztusk @KerryMitchell @rufustheduck The live feed can be shut off by the server owner but it is usually a default option left on. I'm unsure if servers allow those without a local account to view their public feed as I have never tried.
On my server's web interface it is under 'Live feeds' on the right-hand side and, as you noted, the usual URL is servername/public/local/
Note that there is also public/remote/ (posts that come from other servers) and just plain public/ for both local and remote posts.
Remote posts are -not- all posts from other servers though! It is only the posts someone on the server have subscribed to or been mentioned in and receive. So, for example, if someone on your server followed me then my public posts would show in your servers remote feeds (and it must be a public post, quiet public like this post do not hit the full public feeds).
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Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck
Your kitty is adorable 🥰 -
@caiocgo *butts in* mastodon.social has a ton of problems exactly because it's the biggest server that is also barely moderated. It's twitter 3.0 and the source of many headaches for many admins because it's open sign-up and spouts endless russian bots, phishing attacks and spam accounts that rivals X. If you hear about spam and phishing problems on mastodon there's a 110% chance it comes from that instance. Rampant racism on top of everything. Many smaller instances decide to block it, restrict access to it or mute it. Which means a lot of the fediverse is shut out, which makes mastodon.social one of the least federated instances. It literally is a counter point to the whole idea of federating and the fediverse. Make of that what you will *sees myself out* @rufustheduck
@DrJLecter @rufustheduck hey Rufus, our colleague James has a very strong point here. I was not aware of other instances blocking mastodon.social
In my opinion blocking the largest instance sounds counterproductive. But hey, I am not an admin of a smaller instance and I am not aware of the issues related to being connected to mastodon.social.
So there it is.
For my part, I am really satisfied with social.vivaldi.net
It is a nice neighborhood. -
Hello #Mastodon - I need advice
When I signed up 3 weeks ago, I joined a server without knowing what I was doing. Some have suggested that I might be better on another, but I am lost and confused
What are the benefits of moving? What are the benefits of staying?
And if I do move, where should I go? I know nothing - so your subjective recommendations & insights would be much appreciated
P.S. Here’s a picture of my cat, Max, looking confused - like me
@rufustheduck Think of instances like little territories, and they all have telephone lines connecting them. Each territory can be a different size and has its own admin and mods, and those admins can choose to close the phone lines to other instances if they don't like how they're run.
I haven't seen many issues on mastodon.social and I've seen no racism, but I do think some other instance owners/mods get upset because they have less influence, but also can't cut it off because of its size.
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@DrJLecter @rufustheduck hey Rufus, our colleague James has a very strong point here. I was not aware of other instances blocking mastodon.social
In my opinion blocking the largest instance sounds counterproductive. But hey, I am not an admin of a smaller instance and I am not aware of the issues related to being connected to mastodon.social.
So there it is.
For my part, I am really satisfied with social.vivaldi.net
It is a nice neighborhood.@caiocgo
I love the Vivaldi browser and if I hadn't already joined a nice instance I probably would have gone to Vivaldi 
@rufustheduck -
@jztusk @KerryMitchell @rufustheduck The live feed can be shut off by the server owner but it is usually a default option left on. I'm unsure if servers allow those without a local account to view their public feed as I have never tried.
On my server's web interface it is under 'Live feeds' on the right-hand side and, as you noted, the usual URL is servername/public/local/
Note that there is also public/remote/ (posts that come from other servers) and just plain public/ for both local and remote posts.
Remote posts are -not- all posts from other servers though! It is only the posts someone on the server have subscribed to or been mentioned in and receive. So, for example, if someone on your server followed me then my public posts would show in your servers remote feeds (and it must be a public post, quiet public like this post do not hit the full public feeds).
@zombie042 @KerryMitchell @rufustheduck
I'll have to try it out if/when I switch.
And I hope most admins keep it on for the public. I can understand the security risks for those servers that aim for a bit more privacy, but for the people who say "you gotta pick a small server", I want to to at least take a peek at what the traffic there looks like before I put my account there.
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@rufustheduck I just made a post regarding this topic
https://retro-gaiden.com/@Oregon_Pacifist/115967555145571432
Essentially, you'll want to find instances that closely align with what you want your Fediverse experience to be. For me, I wanted to create a small corner where we focus on retro stuff, nostalgia, and wholesome content.
There's nothing inherently wrong with mastodon.social. It's just that you're putting all of your eggs into a single basket which is not really what the Fediverse was designed for.
@Oregon_Pacifist @rufustheduck exactly, if everyone is on mastodon.social and if it goes down for whatever reason its just like being on a centralized platform, the point of decentralization is so there can be many instances of the fediverse run by different communities and individuals so that if .social goes down or closes up shop there will still be others instances out there catering to different communities and making up the ecosystem if the fediverse
