Diaspora? Ello?
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 7 November 2022 01:06 (one year ago) link
No, if you click on the link to (for example) Ned's profile *on his server* (it's very easy - try it!) you can see who all of his followers are and who he's following. That's how I connected with you.
But if you try to click on one of them to follow and they're on a different server you have to then reload your own server and search their specific name and follow that, rather than just click 'FOLLOW'.
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Monday, 7 November 2022 01:23 (one year ago) link
The mastodon mobile app is a much more pleasant experience than the web.
― akm, Monday, 7 November 2022 02:25 (one year ago) link
Am also on this thing now, I guess. https://journa.host/@rozlatiff
― Roz, Monday, 7 November 2022 03:16 (one year ago) link
xpost Yes, even though I've gotten used to the desktop version, the official app is pretty slick, and I've seen reports that other third party apps might be even better.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 November 2022 03:29 (one year ago) link
Yes.
― pplains, Monday, 7 November 2022 03:36 (one year ago) link
I forgot about Diaspora, I think that was initially a livejournal replacement wannit?
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 7 November 2022 07:10 (one year ago) link
one side-effect from reactivating my 2018 mastodon acct is that i'm also suddenly reconnecting with foax from an oldschool messageboard i always liked but did kinda desert round the time i was doing my book (mainly earnest timesink avoidance, never intended as a flounce) = unfogged
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:01 (one year ago) link
more to the point maybe they're reconnecting with me, im guessing this means im more visible there than i was on twitter?
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:02 (one year ago) link
https://mastodon.lol/@nathan/109301335584873764
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:32 (one year ago) link
Continuous server upgrades etc. They are v committed and trying their best.
lol
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:43 (one year ago) link
trie to sign up, currently waiting confirmation email.has been over 30 mins, so suspect its not happening.i guess i try a different server ?
― mark e, Monday, 7 November 2022 11:45 (one year ago) link
I'm not following this at all. I wanted to join mastodon.social because it seemed like the largest and most important server? But I couldn't find it when I searched for servers so I just joined another server. But how do I now switch to mastodon.social? I have the app but the search screen just lets me search for posts, hashtags etc. and not servers. How do you get a full list of servers from within the app?
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Monday, 7 November 2022 14:01 (one year ago) link
i don't know if there's a way to see other servers/instance *within the app* (and i'm absolutely certain there isn't a way to see *all* of them, some servers hide theemselves by design) but if you already *know* the server you want to join, then go to settings then account then "move to a different account" and the account you move to will be yrs except with the new server switched in
however i'm not certain if mastodon social is currently letting more ppl in, its influx is currently huge (it is the largest but i don't know what "most important" really means in this context: yes its chief mod is also basically site founder but he's also kinda busy at the moment)
tbh i would wait a while and see how things are, or else look around *outside the app* for other suggested servers / instances
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 14:09 (one year ago) link
Thanks, that's very helpful.
― lord of the rongs (anagram), Monday, 7 November 2022 14:13 (one year ago) link
do I get Negronis if I join y/n
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 November 2022 14:21 (one year ago) link
absolutely not
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 14:28 (one year ago) link
here's me for now
https://ravenation.club/@Moodles
I've been able to follow a few people, but I can't see most users on other servers. There were a bunch of you that I tried to add but couldn't find in the lookup. I'd like to be able to look at who other people follow regardless of server. Is there a way to do this or do I have to hop around from server to server looking for people?
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 14:44 (one year ago) link
this feels a bit like Quantum Leap where you leap from century to century
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 November 2022 14:45 (one year ago) link
it's perplexing to me because 3/4 of the people I'm following are on different servers, so clearly that is possible, but then I can't add or see certain other people, so there appears to be some limits.
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 14:49 (one year ago) link
ok, seems to work better when I include someone's server in the search, although search is just generally working better on the android app than in the browser. One big problem seems to be that a lot of people are on @mastodon.online, and that particular server seems to be fucked, I just can't access it at all
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 15:00 (one year ago) link
moodles try clicking e.g. on my profile and look thru my follows and followers -- some i expect will be hidden since some servers are delinked from others but others u shd just be able to follow there and then via the + sign? anyway u will recognise some ppl there
mastodon online is probably experiencing a surge r/n
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 15:55 (one year ago) link
Yeah I can't see anyone you are following lol.
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:09 (one year ago) link
try "browse more on the original profile" (it updates quicker but doesn't have a + sign so you have to click thru to each one)
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:12 (one year ago) link
I found this works best in a browser, on my PC in Chrome I right-click their user name and select open in new tab. Doesn't work so well to follow the link in the main tab.
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 16:30 (one year ago) link
it has real caractacus potts breakfast-making machine vibes, all gimcrack machinery clicking whirring and stiffly and jerkily undertaking its tasks in the background
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:34 (one year ago) link
eventually the boiled egg rolls down onto yr plate or the floor
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:35 (one year ago) link
So here's a tip -- if you install this app on Twitter to review your account:
https://pruvisto.org/debirdify/
You can check who you're following and see if they have a Mastodon account based on their own settings. Was able to find a slew of people that way. (I grant you might be leery of third-party apps on Twitter at this point but this seemed like the easiest blunt force method and I'll likely uninstall it now that I've used it.)
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 November 2022 16:48 (one year ago) link
this is very helpful!
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 17:18 (one year ago) link
This entire thread should be posted to the backward tech innovations thread.
― sometimes you have to drink to kill the paranoia (PBKR), Monday, 7 November 2022 17:52 (one year ago) link
I'm so confused.
I seem to have signed up for something Irish? mastodon.ie?
Talk to me like I'm a child: Is there one of these servers where everyone is going so that it can be a free-for-all like Twitter and not everyone grouped into chosen silos? Or is it actually *good* to have to choose a silo for a reason I don't understand?
― alpine static, Monday, 7 November 2022 18:20 (one year ago) link
Also, can I change servers if I want to? And keep my username?
― alpine static, Monday, 7 November 2022 18:21 (one year ago) link
Every "let me explain Mastodon" tweet just leaves me more confused and less interested in trying it out.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Monday, 7 November 2022 18:21 (one year ago) link
it turns out it does not matter which server you use to sign up.
― akm, Monday, 7 November 2022 18:31 (one year ago) link
discoverability of other accounts is hard though if you are not on a bigger server, I guess. you basically need to know the name of an account you want to follow.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0),
what if Ezra Klein wrote an explainer
― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 7 November 2022 18:34 (one year ago) link
xp
my workaround for this is looking at who other people are following
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 18:38 (one year ago) link
It's easy to get lost in the whole decentralized/fediverse rhetoric and there are certain unavoidable elements that do result from that but from dipping my toes in the water on Friday at this point I have a slew of familiar names in my feed and because it's not an overwhelming crush of posts and reblogs (yet, obv.) I can treat it as less of a firehose, and the basic functionality is that of Twitter. *shrug* Works for me? My FB presence is private and I can have more general rambly discussions there, same with IG in terms of the low key use I have for it, so this addresses that aspect of things and allows me to post shorter public thoughts instead of in the venue I was using up until now.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 November 2022 18:46 (one year ago) link
Searching for hashtags and things seems to not work , or there really are not many people using this
I do find I can locate people now if I have their full address. Hard to knwo what is a shortcoming of mastodon and what is just broken at the moment
― | (Latham Green), Monday, 7 November 2022 18:54 (one year ago) link
lol this thread is more siloed than mastodon
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 19:08 (one year ago) link
yeah, there are degrees of social media experiences:
ilxor/message boards- for like-minded enthusiasts to enthuse and fight
Facebook-- place to post photos and explain your jokes to your relatives
Twitter-- place to watch a bunch of famous and non-famous people embarrass themselves in front of millions
Mastodon-- who knows? Seems somewhere between message board and Facebook at this point, but in the future could be cool kid twitter or cool kid Parler
― “uhh”—like, this is an insane oatmeal raisin cookie “uhh” (President Keyes), Monday, 7 November 2022 19:20 (one year ago) link
maybe mastodon will just be something to add and keep the rest until our cup runneth over with social media
― | (Latham Green), Monday, 7 November 2022 19:24 (one year ago) link
mastodon is where we can practice playing nice so we get the respite to be more horrible everywhere else
― mark s, Monday, 7 November 2022 19:25 (one year ago) link
Very pro this kind of thing on principle as the original reason I had for checking out of twitter a few years ago was visceral disgust over whatever tiny role I'd played as a longtime user (since the SMS days!) in building up the heft of this thing to the point where it was an appealing lever for people looking to (for example) commit securities fraud or incite a nuclear conflict. Granted, that's just a particularly absurd synecdoche for the broader gnarl of modernity but at least in this case I felt like I could make a choice to opt out.
In practice I'd be really surprised if mastodon represents a stable/viable paradigm. I'm getting the vibe that it's stuck in an awkward middle ground between the goal of delivering something that looks/feels/acts like a familiar web 2.0 platform and the logistical realities of a ton of different people maintaining infrastructure on an ad hoc basis.
But it's worth a good faith effort and we'll have some laughs regardless of how it shakes out: https://mastodon.sdf.org@catniptwinz
― New York Review of Wooks (swim), Monday, 7 November 2022 19:47 (one year ago) link
Btw was never on sdf but was delighted to see that they had a mastodon instance.
― New York Review of Wooks (swim), Monday, 7 November 2022 19:49 (one year ago) link
The reason I never used twitter was because it was a "here have all the posts in the world mauahahaha" sort of firehose as Ned says. It was just too bloody much, and I have less than 100 followers/following. But they all retweet endlessly, so I see everything except the people I actually hear from?
But then I realise that, unlike 10 years or more ago, I Do Not Care to blather on about my life to an unseen online audience anymore. So I dunno what the point of any of this is now uuuughhhh *drowns self*.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Monday, 7 November 2022 22:09 (one year ago) link
Well you could create an account, construct a feed of those you want to read and not post otherwise. No reason it can't be used that way!
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 7 November 2022 22:19 (one year ago) link
followed ya moodles
there's kind of a giddy excitement that's not unrelated to how drab the experience is at first. oh how cool! I'm seeing posts from one person I know, and literally nobody else! ~no static at all~
― J Edgar Noothgrush (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 7 November 2022 22:25 (one year ago) link
fantastic, I may just post someday
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Monday, 7 November 2022 22:27 (one year ago) link