On #WelcomeWednesday we declare
It's time to give a public share!
A Tooter you would like to highlight,
Tell the world, give them a spotlight!

We must start with @stephenfry,
Persuaded us to all drop by,
To Mastodon (we have to say,
Like him it's full of fab wordplay!)

Always full of wit and knowledge,
Cleverer than any college!
Thank you Stephen, we must say:
You're Number 1 for us today! 🤓

#WelcomeWednesday #StephenFry #Positivity #WednesdayMotivation #Tootaverse #WhoToFollow #Introduction

#Fediverse
The unprecedented grown of the #Tootaverse since the end of Oct 2002 has left many service providers scrambling to meet demand.

One of the things missing is the number of providers hosting dedicated services for businesses.
IMO there is an opportunity for businesses to use Mastodon to interact with customers as long as the companies are not spamming and are not on any public server.

I'm going to use #VirtualBusinessServers to identify some of the more interesting issues.

#Tootaverse
Example of how to find some interesting reading material.
#EdFossReads server admins part 1

@fosstodon
@nova
@seb
@trumpet
@mb
@Gargron and mastodon.online
@ruud
@wild1145
@jonah mstdn.party
@stux and masto.ai
@admin
@nicdex
@supernovae

#Tootaverse
Example of how to find some interesting reading material.
#EdFossReads Mastodon Service Providers part 1

https://fosstodon.org
https://hachyderm.io
https://ioc.exchange
https://mas.to
https://masto.ai
https://mastodon.au
https://mastodon.online
https://mastodon.social
https://mastodon.world
https://mastodonapp.uk
https://mstdn.party
https://mstdn.social
https://social.linux.pizza
https://techhub.social
https://universeodon.com
joinmastodon.org

#Tootaverse #Fediverse #FediTips #MastodonHelp
IMO looks like the new apps are beta quality at best with maybe very little moderation.
Another BirdSite perhaps?

"Looking to leave Twitter? Here are the social networks seeing new users now"
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/24/1139079748/leave-twitter-social-networks-mastodon-hive-post

#Tootaverse
#ActorTypesToFediBlock
Unfortunately the enforcement of barring government institutions might fall on the moderators but I suspect that once any government institution is detected in the #Fediverse then many people would report the actors to be moderated.
It would probably be dealt with in a similar way to spam.

An additional idea would be to prevent any one from signing up to a public instance using an email address of a government institution.

https://universeodon.com/@edfoss/109396336318656859

#Tootaverse
#ActorTypesToFediBlock
RE Barring government-type institutions - who gets to decide which ones are more acceptable than the others?
Does anyone really want the #MenInBlack on their instance?

Barring is a type of censorship that must be applied fairly and equally.
To be unbiased they all have to be barred or else one risks the perception of favoritism or corruption.

#MinistryOfSillyWalks Mastodon instance - bring it on.

https://universeodon.com/@edfoss/109396267407288920

#Tootaverse
#ActorTypesToFediBlock
Any government-type institution either federal, state, provincial, county or community.
The Ministry of Silly Walks might mean well but as soon as they are allowed onto a public instance then the real nasty actors (worse than #SpookGate) could be next.
To be fair to all institutions they all have to be barred.
They have enough money to run their own Mastodon instances.

social.MinistryOfSillyWalks.gov.uk bring it on!

#Tootaverse #Fediverse For anyone who might be interested.

Taking some points from my #SpookGate rant I'm going to use #ActorTypesToFediBlock for some probably controversial opinions on what type of actors should be precluded from joining public instances.
These are really long term issues that should be discussed thoughtfully, respectfully and with great care.

I didn't want to use hastag Fediblock as that is used to report actual accounts/instances people might wish to block.

#SpookGate #Fediverse
I was fairly sure that businesses would want to jump onto the Mastodon band wagon as soon as the #Tootaverse got big enough.
I'd like to see companies on the web with their OWN Mastodon servers.

I was expecting just about every government organization to eventually have their OWN Mastodon servers.

I did not expect to see spooks being permitted on the same server with the punters like myself. #CamelHeadInTent

They have more than enough money to run their own instances.

#MastodonMigration #Tootaverse #Fediverse
#WhoToFollow

Whenever anyone clicks favorite or boost on one on my toots I usually check out their profile.
This is a great way to find interesting people.
So many interesting people, so little time.

I really miss the list feature from BirdSite where I could add people to lists that could be read while not being logged into the system. It was great for news.

Trying to follow too many people creates chaos in you timeline.

#MastodonMigration #Tootaverse #Fediverse
#WhoToFollow

One of the things I hated on BirdSite was the excessive #FollowYouFollowMe game.
IMO most of the people weren't really interested in anything I had to write about, they just wanted followers to placate the algorithms.
After a while I stopped doing that and learned to get by without being famous.

No one has to do that here - just follow the people you find interesting and focus on producing the best content you can.

#MastodonMigration #Fediverse
How to explain the recent system slowdowns and long waiting queues.

Imagine a band booking their first gig not expecting a big crowd.
The day before they release a new song which goes viral.
Ten times the expected number go to the show and 90% are disappointed as they cannot get in.
The band cannot get a bigger venue that night - it might take a few days.

The #Tootaverse sys admins have been scrambling to build a bigger venue but it takes time.

#MastodonMigration #Tootaverse #Fediverse
#WhoToFollow

I would suggest following the server admin of your Mastodon service provider.
The admin often boosts other toots.

If you visit your service provider's web site (desktop web browser) then on the left under the "Administered By" heading the user name of the admin should be displayed.

As well visit other service providers web sites and just read through the timeline.
There is bound to be a few accounts that interest you.

#MastodonMigration #Fediverse
Hello #Tootaverse

Can you come up with a metaphor (500 character or less) to help explain Mastodon to new people using the hashtag #MastodonIsLike ?

Short video would be OK as long as you send it as a link.
Bonus if you can write a song and sing it in a video.

Software developers and server admins are usually way too technical.
Thanks

#MastodonMigration #Tootaverse #Fediverse
BirdSite could be compared to a penal colony.

#MastodonIsLike a dormatory.

In the figurative sense your account could be compared to your room and the server your building.
There are many residences on campus and you can talk to anyone in any building.
As well you can talk to other people all over the world.
When you first move in you might not know many people but eventually you find your way around.
One conversation leads to another.

#MastodonMigration #Tootaverse #Fediverse

"Sensing an imminent breakdown, communities mourn a bygone Twitter"
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/20/1138031380/mourning-twitter-elon

"Elon Musk's backers cheer him on, even if they aren't sure what he's doing to Twitter"
https://www.npr.org/2022/11/21/1138064606/elon-musk-twitter-investors-fans

#MastodonMigration #Tootaverse #Fediverse
Earlier today the following fine instances were still accepting new users (could change at any time).
domain + number users

ioc.exchange 18K
mas.to 111K
masto.ai 33K
mastodon.au 19K
mastodon.world 104K
mastodonapp.uk 53K
mstdn.party 40K
techhub.social 46K
theblower.au 12K
universeodon.com 53K

Number of users way up in 24 hr.

#MastodonMigration #Fediverse
If anyone knows someone still looking for a server to join then the following fine service providers are still accepting new users as of 9:30 PM Eastern Time 2022-11-20 (that could change soon).
The servers/admins are as good as you find anywhere on the network.

mastodon.world
masto.ai
mstdn.party
universeodon.com

Later when the #Tootaverse settles down users can move their accounts to another server if it's a community they want/need to be part of.

#MastodonMigration
When I joined this instance there were 16K users - now 39K (+244% in 9 days).

mastodon.au had less than 1K now it's over 15K - Crikey!

Be patient servers like mastodon.social are slow (it went from 184K to 240K+ in last 10 days).
The #Fediverse needs time to adjust/grow - it will get there.

The #Tootaverse is expanding rapidly.

To anyone coming here from #BirdSite, thank you, I wish you a great experience here.

FYI most of the software on the server is probably FOSS.