@FediGarden @wild1145 @bytebro

Some instructions on how admins can change the characters limit, for those who are interested: mountains.community/customizat…

@FediTips

Yes, you do a great work and I'm sure it's easier to choose if people follow your guides!

The difficult part is deciding based on admin trust, rules and jurisdiction, and knowing in advance about infrastructure, security/backups, and if it is active enough and well connected to others. That's why I said, 'at least not if you want to do it thoughtfully.' Nobody can do that for you, and the sad thing is that when people choose 'the bad instance', others usually blame them for not choosing carefully enough.

Mastodon.social doesn't help new people in any way though? They would find it just as easy starting on (for example) ohai.social.

Ohai seems good. They publish information about their infrastructure and the full names of the people behind it - it's an IT company, if I understand correctly? - and the page loads very quickly. I tried searching for accounts from my country and found some, so it's not isolated in Europe. It could also be a good starting point since it's generic and not limited to a particular theme or ideology.

@FediTips

I think mastodon.social is "ok" for people to start using. It's like starting high school without knowing anyone or where to find your group. Gradually, you'll discover where the like-minded people are. Then you'll move closer to them.
Choosing an instance is not easy, at least not if you want to do it thoughtfully. The quality of the infrastructure and moderation varies, so you need to compare options - it demands effort.

I tell people who get worried when they see people criticising the largest instances to take their time to find their place. Keep posting and following people, and you'll gradually see new instances appear in your feed. There's no need to feel guilty; just observe and be ready to move when you find one that suits you. You can choose based on your language (especially if it's not English, it's very useful to be in an instance where people speak your language), your country or city, or a thematic instance where it'll be easier to find people who like the same things as you, such as games, technology, veganism, art, science etc. There are instances with different features; you can choose one based on trust in a specific admin. There are so many things to consider!

@OddDev @ilumium @janwlrvn @hennavirkkunen

I'm fine if it's really her and her decision; I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a fake profile. If it was on the Commission instance, it certainly wouldn't be someone impersonating her.

@janwlrvn @ilumium @hennavirkkunen

Good question. The Mastodon instance for the European Comission is this one: ec.social-network.europa.eu/@E…
so why would she use mastodon.social ?