#mstdnSocialEdFoss20230504 0

Toots sent with this hashtag mstdnSocialEdFoss20230504 can be considered a TootCast which is just a convenience for organizing toots.

More details of how to setup a #LookupAccount will be provided in another #TootCast.

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Consider an independent photo journalist named PeterP who swings through Metro city accompanied by a groovy jazz score in his quest to track down various cartoon-like-characters.

Peter maintains separate #Mastodon accounts for each of this three clients, The Morning Mail, The Daily Drama and The Evening Edition.
https://MorningMail.example.com/@PeterP
https://DailyDrama.example.com/@PeterP
https://EveningEdition.example.com/@PeterP

Peter uses a #LookupAccount on his business card to help people find his work.

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By using a #LookupAccount on his business card Peter does not need to update the card if he finds additional clients or if he no longer gigs for an existing client.

This Mastodon account at https://indi.example.com/@PeterP would contain links to accounts for his three clients.

Peter can deal with comments from The Morning Mail using one Mastodon account without having to be concerned with receiving comments from the other two newspapers.

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By using a #LookupAccount PeterP does not need to manage a domain name and his own web site (which could be a wordpress blog).

Maintaining a Mastodon account is much easier.

PeterP is probably too busy tracking down cartoon-like characters to run a wordpress site but maintaining three Mastodon accounts would not require much time (take picture on phone then post).

Once the lookup account is setup it would not need much maintenance.

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In the profile metadata section of his #LookupAccount PeterP adds the following links
MorningMail https://MorningMail.example.com/@PeterP
DailyDrama https://DailyDrama.example.com/@PeterP
EveningEdition https://EveningEdition.example.com/@PeterP

In the profile metadata section at
https://MorningMail.example.com/@PeterP
he adds a link to the LookupAccount
https://indi.example.com/@PeterP
so that people can see the account is link-verified to the one mentioned on his business card.

He adds links at the other two accounts as well.

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The domain example.com is a special test domain typically used for documentation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Example.com

If real Mastodon accounts were used then the meta data items in both profile screen shots would display a green check mark with a green background.

People checking the #LookupAccount on Peter's business card would notice that The Morning Mail account is linked back to the lookup account indicating that the account is associated with Peter.

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Consider a software developer named Jean who volunteers for FOSS related projects on the weekends.

She might not wish to go through the extra hassle of setting up a domain name and a web site but she might wish to leave contact information in some source code files in case people had comments/questions/suggestions.

She might be working on many different FOSS projects and code repositories.
A Mastodon #LookupAccount might be useful.

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#LookupAccount continued

Jean volunteers her time on multiple projects like bash/Linux, #Python and #Mastodon.
Python is used on just about every OS but people who work on #TinySoft OS (of Redmond, Washington, USA) might not have any interest in bash and Linux.

An account that is mixed with #bash and python toots might just alienate people who are forced to use TinySoft OS

Splitting the toots between multiple accounts might be better for both groups.

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#LookupAccount continued

So instead of sending 1000 toots about bash and python from one account, Jean sends 500 from a bash specific account and 500 from a python specific account.

Then the #TinySoft people would not have to wade through a bunch of bash toots (even if they might learn something) and might be more willing to contribute some comments.

The people who use python on Linux might just read both accounts.

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Jean's #LookupAccount at
https://indi.example.com/@Jean
might contain the following Mastodon account links in the profile metadata section
bash project https://social.bashdocs.org/@Jean
python project https://social.py_thon.org/@Jean
Linux project https://social.mx_linux.org/@Jean

[Note these domains do not exist.]

She adds the lookup account to the files she works on so people can contact her with comments/questions/suggestions.

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There are only four items that can be added to the metadata profile section at Jean's #LookupAccount but many other projects could be added in a toot.

The links added in a toot would not display the green verified status available in the metadata section but at least she would not have to update all of the source code files she added to various code repositories and she can use the lookup account in all files.

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A #LookupAccount should be locked so that there are zero followers, very few notifications, follow only the system admin and send very few toots to minimize the amount of system resources used by the account.

Toots would be sent from one or more other accounts.

The lookup account should be on an instance that is expected to remain online for many years so that source code repositories do not have to be modified if a Mastodon server goes away.

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Most people will neither want nor need a #LookupAccount.

Anyone who plans to use only one account will find the extra lookup account inconvenient in terms of setup and maintenance. It is easier to have just one account.

However people who think they might wish to use more than one account in the future, perhaps for multiple projects, should start preparing to use a lookup account from day one before setting up any Mastodon accounts.

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In the case of Peter and his business card it, some potential clients might be put off by the extra step of having to find a specific Mastodon account from a #LookupAccount.
Maybe three business cards might be better for Peter?

Jean's example might be more appropriate especially if some people do not have nor want accounts on a specific code repository (i.e. one owned by #TinySoft) in which case comments on Mastodon might be better.

By adding hashtags in the profile of the #LookupAccount to list your interested topics such an account could be added to a service like
https://fediverse.info/explore/people
to help other people find your account.

I'll try and cleanup this #LookupAccount idea and possibly better present the idea at a later date when hopefully everything would be easier to understand.
In summary it's just setting two links between two different accounts to point to each other.
Anyone checking one account will know that it is associated with the other account.

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To me an account on a server like mastodon.social or mastodon.online is more valuable as contact information I could put on a business card, a blog or a code repository.
Those two servers will likely be around longer than any current server in the #Fediverse.
Use of a #LookupAccount on one of those servers provides the illusion of having account longevity while benefiting from the strength of diversity via decentralization.
The Fediverse has many well run #Mastodon servers.

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Any #Fediverse server combined with a #LookupAccount instead of having my own dedicated server is a compromise.
I'm not crazy about having to manage my own domain and then find a #Mastodon service provider especially if I'm not planning on sending that many toots.

Back in Nov 2022 Mastodon service providers seemed to be booked solid.
The money spent on my own dedicated server provider might be better spent on the Fediverse.

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This idea involves the use of two accounts, one for the #LookupAccount and the other for the active account which is probably more work than most users are willing to put in.

The LookupAccount is essentially a static account that does not send toots and is setup to receive notifications only from the system admin in case of any problems.

Once this account is setup then it shouldn't require much maintenance nor should it require that much system resources.

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If the active account needs to move to a different server then I would not need to change any of my published contact info.
Just setup the new account on the new server, add a link in the profile meta data section to the #LookupAccount and then update the link to the new server on the bus card acct.
These two links just need a url address to the other server.
Check my profile for some ideas.
Properly setup a green check mark and background will be displayed on both profiles.