🧵 on how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the #GlobalSouth.
I have argued a few times that for all practical purposes, the global south does not exist for Mastodon, and for the rest of the Fediverse. But many people I interact with do not quite understand how this works in practice.
This series of posts is an effort to illustrate that mechanism.
(continues)
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Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Say there is a user X on random server Y. Assume that no user on mastodon.social (for example) follows user X. Assume that users on mastodon.social follow other users on server Y. Assume further that neither server has blocked the other.
User X writes a post containing the term, say, #Namibia. The post receives no reply, no boost, no like.
Later, someone searches for #Namibia on mastodon.social. The search results will NOT include user X’s post containing the term #Namibia.
(continues)
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Jérôme
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@EdwinG been trying to follow more accounts from the #Philippines, and it’s definitely been a challenge. I’m never so sure if there are indeed very few users or it’s just that my server is mostly federating with North American and France servers.
I experience the same thing on a totally different topic. Formula 1. It’s a very European sport and I barely see any content because my French Canadian server isn’t connected to lots of UK or other Europeans servers (beside France)
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Feral Thoughts
in reply to Jérôme • • •@jerome @EdwinG
That's precisely the point---on the Fediverse, it's impossible to know if you are not finding relevent global south (or other low visibility) users/posts, or if they simply do not exist.
Jérôme
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@EdwinG yeah it sometimes feels too defederated. At the same time, the Bluesky alternative of a single firehose is just so big that almost nobody can self host. I’m not so sure what the ideal scenario or solution is.
Self host and choose relays of what you think is the most relevant to you?
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Jérôme • • •@jerome @EdwinG
Maybe.
But how does it differ from today's situation of several relays, each with a partial view of the Fediverse?
Maybe we need special relays focussed on global south servers. Or maybe existing relays should go out of their way to index those servers. Ultimately, all such solutions will boil down to social dynamics.
Unless a significant section of the existing global-north-heavy user base actively wants it to happen, it won't happen.
Edwin G. Jolly (Maybe!) 🎄🎅
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@jerome
Relays are configured by the instance’s admin... Posts are pushed to the relay’s inbox; not pulled from the instance. So the second suggestion doesn’t really work with the current implementation.
Regional relays are a reasonable solution I think. There are already country-centric relays… so it’s definitely doable.
Squads
in reply to Edwin G. Jolly (Maybe!) 🎄🎅 • • •@EdwinG @jerome
This is an important discussion.
What do you think could be done to make the #GlobalSouth more visible on #Mastodon and the #Fediverse?
@FediTips
Fedi.Tips 🎄
in reply to Squads • • •@squads @EdwinG @jerome
This is what Groups are for, if you post to a group it goes to everyone who follows the group no matter what server they are on:
fedi.tips/how-to-use-groups-on…
Groups are like "super hashtags".
About the general topic of the global south, there need to be a lot more servers managed by people from the global south. For example paktodon.asia is doing a great job but we need more of them.
How to use groups on Mastodon and the Fediverse | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse
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Feral Thoughts
in reply to Fedi.Tips 🎄 • • •@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome
The paucity of global south servers ultimately boils down
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
and
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
and
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
(continues)
Feral Thoughts (@feralthoughts@union.place)
The Union PlaceFeral Thoughts
2025-02-20 18:31:44
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome
Also: (global south or other low visibility) users/topics on even global north servers get invisiblized.
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
That’s something that needs to be addressed, I feel.
(continues)
Feral Thoughts (@feralthoughts@union.place)
The Union PlaceFeral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome
As for groups, I agree they are great for people who will pro-actively work towards curating their feed; but an overwhelming majority of the global south, and maybe even of the global north, simply do not have the bandwidth for that.
Life is really miserable for a hell of a lot of people. For them, getting federated social media working is way way down the priority list. It may not even be there.
ps: I value and appreciate your work.
Fedi.Tips 🎄
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@squads @EdwinG @jerome
It's as easy to use a group as it is to use a hashtag.
"For them, getting federated social media working is way way down the priority list."
I am not in the global south, but the effect of centralised social media on the global south is horrific:
thebureauinvestigates.com/stor…
theguardian.com/technology/202…
amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/…
These are caused by corrupt centralised social media. Either it needs to be extremely heavily regulated or it needs to be replaced.
Rohingya sue Facebook for £150bn over Myanmar genocide
Dan Milmo (The Guardian)Feral Thoughts
in reply to Fedi.Tips 🎄 • • •@FediTips @squads @EdwinG @jerome
That corporations are unscrupulous and will do everything and anything to maximize profits, I have no argument with.
But do not mislead yourself about "cause" vs "convenient tool". If non-corporate, federated social media was as widespread as FB in those places, then it would have been used to facilitate the same atrocities.
Social media overwhelmingly reflects existing social pathologies, it does not play as big a role in creating them as critics believe.
Fedi.Tips 🎄
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •", then it would have been used to facilitate the same atrocities."
I don't agree with this at all.
The ratio of moderators to users on the Fediverse is something like 100 times better than on Facebook etc. There is typically a human for every 1000 users.
Commercial social networks have barely any moderators. To match the Fediverse's ratio Facebook would need literally millions of moderators, but that would make them financially unviable.
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Fedi.Tips 🎄 • • •@FediTips
If/when the Fedi grows, and becomes socially influential in any of our massively unequal societies; the established powers will rush in, and drive it towards centralization. Or force it to shrink back to its original tiny, socially irrelevant size.
You cannot assume linear scaling, you cannot assume that today’s tiny Fediverse, already flawed in many ways, will scale up without changing character.
This will be as much the case for the global north Fedi as the global south Fedi.
Fedi.Tips 🎄
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •The Fedi right now is far, far larger than before 2022 (when Musk bought Twitter).
The structure of the Fedi where the servers are owned by thousands of grassroots people means we can ignore corporations if we choose to. That didn't change with the surge in 2022, and Mastodon's software developers were offered VC money in 2022 but they turned it down.
We mustn't obey in advance by assuming that corporations will control everything. An alternative is possible and exists here.
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Fedi.Tips 🎄 • • •@FediTips
I am not obeying in advance, or assuming anything about corporations. Nor am I cynical about the possibilities of change.
I know about mass defederation of gab.com and truth.social. But you have to remember that the Fedi is still tiny, in terms of user base and interactions. It just isn't relevant enough for truly powerful forces to expend resources sufficient to subdue it.
(continues)
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@FediTips
I am based in India. I see everyday, with my own eyes, how the Hindutva hate system operates.
There must be literally hundreds of thousands of Hindutva groups across the country—their local actions are often independently planned and executed, they don’t necessarily act on orders from a high command. In that sense, they are decentralized. And they are loosely federated, they remain in touch, and sometimes get together and plan overall strategies.
(continues)
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •This is the largest and one of the most potent hate machines right now on the planet.
I have seen how deeply the poison of communal hate has seeped into the psyches of a very significant fraction of the Indian population. This environment is the result of a century of groundwork, the origins can be traced back to times before the advent of even radio or television, let alone the internet and social media.
(continues)
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@FediTips
Today, these groups use WhatsApp extensively, they also use Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and other social media; but believe me, those media didn’t create this ecosystem. The media are a tool, and this machine would exist and operate even if those media disappeared; though of course their mode of operations will undergo some changes.
(continues)
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@FediTips
Real-life experience has taught me that hate and violence against the weak, and even low-key genocide, can operate in a decentralized and federated fashion.
So... no, I am not starry-eyed about decentralization and federation in virtual space; and you shouldn’t be either.
I repeat:
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
and
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
Feral Thoughts
2025-02-20 18:32:58
Jon
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •💯, I completely agree. Fedi as it is today is extremely vulnerable to communal hate and incitement of genocide (as well as propaganda and disinformation in general). It's just historically been too small to be widely leveraged for that so far, but if and when that changes we are collectively unprepared for it.
@feralthoughts @FediTips
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Yeshaya
in reply to Jon • • •@feralthoughts @FediTips
terra (trans as in transgressive)
in reply to Jon • • •Truth Social is built with Mastodon. my instance does not federate with Truth Social.
there is a corner of fediverse that is pure evil. my instance does not federate with that.
there is not one "fediverse" -- but, actually, a multiverse... little pockets of interconnected servers.
invite-only sign ups and allowlist-based federation is already possible today.
everything else is a matter of social scalability.
technical solutions got us into the mess we are currently ini personally do not see how technical solutions will get us out.
we need social solutions. we need to enact the Paradox of Intolerance.
in my corner of fedi, this is already happening. bad actors are pushed out through messy debate and heated discussion which is frustrating and error prone. sometimes decisions come too late and sometimes they get reversed.
it is messy. it is beautiful. it is human.
if you are imagining a world where we can relive the glory days of Twitter or Facebook here on fedi... well... i believe that those are relics of a bygone era.
... Show more...Truth Social is built with Mastodon. my instance does not federate with Truth Social.
there is a corner of fediverse that is pure evil. my instance does not federate with that.
there is not one "fediverse" -- but, actually, a multiverse... little pockets of interconnected servers.
invite-only sign ups and allowlist-based federation is already possible today.
everything else is a matter of social scalability.
technical solutions got us into the mess we are currently ini personally do not see how technical solutions will get us out.
we need social solutions. we need to enact the Paradox of Intolerance.
in my corner of fedi, this is already happening. bad actors are pushed out through messy debate and heated discussion which is frustrating and error prone. sometimes decisions come too late and sometimes they get reversed.
it is messy. it is beautiful. it is human.
if you are imagining a world where we can relive the glory days of Twitter or Facebook here on fedi... well... i believe that those are relics of a bygone era.
without a more stable geopolitical backdrop and new ways to organize labour at scale, i do not see how it would be possible to scale moderation without it being hijacked by those who are more powerful.
i see a lot of people talking big talk about federated moderation -- how could that possibly be solution? how can a centralized hub that delivers moderation decisions possibly scale to the needs of an individual community? how can such a centralized hub prevent hostile takeover?
all of those questions revolve around possibilities that have already occurred.
the only solution that i see is that we have to take responsibility for our own lives and for the lives of our communities. previously, we outsourced this to a business (Twitter, Meta, etc). in a world where capitalism has failed us and there is no alternative to capitalism, it seems silly to me to imagine that capitalism can be our saviour.
this is an information war. we need guerrilla social networks.
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Fedi.Tips 🎄
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •"Social media overwhelmingly reflects existing social pathologies, it does not play as big a role in creating them as critics believe."
This isn't true. Media can play a key role in causing genocide. For example:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_T%…
Facebook etc are allowing lots of RTLMs to exist because they don't moderate properly, and especially don't give a shit about people in the global south.
Rwandan radio station that incited the 1994 Rwandan genocide
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Feral Thoughts
in reply to Fedi.Tips 🎄 • • •@FediTips
RTLM was literally planned and launched by some of the people who went on to execute the genocide in Rwanda.
If the Fediverse is big, a group like that will launch their own server, and use all legal and extra-legal measures to ensure they become the dominant one. And remember that in an environment fertile for hate, a large number of people will voluntarily join such a server.
The Fedi doesn't exist in a vacuum, it cannot remain immune to social forces.
Fedi.Tips 🎄
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •"If the Fediverse is big, a group like that will launch their own server, and use all legal and extra-legal measures to ensure they become the dominant one."
We already saw this attempted with gab.com in 2019 and every server blocked them. They eventually left because no one would federate with them.
The main app Tusky rickrolled people who tried to use their app with Gab:
github.com/tuskyapp/Tusky/issu…
Don't obey in advance. Don't assume defeat in advance. We are not powerless.
Unexpected behavior when connecting to instance · Issue #1381 · tuskyapp/Tusky
GitHubFeral Thoughts
in reply to Fedi.Tips 🎄 • • •@FediTips
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
Feral Thoughts
2025-02-23 12:13:28
Cassandrich
in reply to Squads • • •Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •So the user X in the above example could be any account focussed on #GlobalSouth topics. Replace #Namibia with any other country or topic concerning the global south.
The dynamic described above will play out in all these cases.
(continues)
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Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •An overwhelming majority of #GlobalNorth users have no interest in #GlobalSouth topics. They neither follow users focussed on global south issues, nor boost or like posts on global south topics.
That’s their prerogative, of course; but that is also the root cause underlying the above dynamic. There is no obvious resolution to it, at least not within the narrow confines of the #Fediverse.
(continues)
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Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •That’s it, that’s the mechanism.
Forget #GlobalNorth users, even #GlobalSouth users cannot find fellow users from their regions, or find posts about the global south, even if both exist.
This happens with most global south users, and with an overwhelming majority of the posts on global south topics.
That’s how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the global south.
(continues)
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Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •As a direct consequence, the majority of #GlobalSouth users who drift into the #Fediverse get disillusioned, and return/move on to #Facebook or #Twitter or #Threads.
The #GlobalNorth users on the Fediverse never even become aware of this loss; though many of them perceive the monotony of voices/topics, and silently move out; leaving behind a tiny, malnourished social medium.
(continues)
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Jürgen Hubert
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •#Twitter in its pre- #Musk days had plenty of problems.
But its sheer diversity blew the #Fediverse out of the water. I easily connected with all sorts of people outside North America and Europe.
And I still miss that, even now.
Osma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@feralthoughts
Osma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦
in reply to Osma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦 • • •@feralthoughts
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Osma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦 • • •@osma
Only a big/rich entity can afford to host a resource-heavy all-seeing relay, so the relay would become a potential point of centralization and control---that's the argument against a single all-seeing relay.
I understand the argument, and even sympathize with it; perhaps community-control of the single relay could be an option; but I don't know how many people have the will and the bandwidth to work at it.
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@osma
I remember skimming through all the discussion about the Bluesky relay being extremely resource-heavy.
Why would this not be the case for a single all-seeing Fediverse relay? Is it because the number of users and posts/day are far lower than the equivalent numbers for Bluesky?
James Smith 💾
Unknown parent • • •this isn't a complete solution by far, but you may like to know that the "no search results" problem is being worked on by the Fediscovery project: fediscovery.org/
Hopefully that will help a little, though of course there's more we can all do to actively follow and engage with people of the #GlobalSouth.
Fediverse Discovery Providers
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Feral Thoughts
in reply to James Smith 💾 • • •@Floppy
That's great to know!
If it is a decentralized, multiple-provider solution, as mentioned on the webpage, I wonder how it differs from the present status of several different relays, each with a partial view of the Fediverse.
In any case, hope this initiative at least improves the situation.
James Smith 💾
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@cybeardjm @GinevraCat
It is a vicious cycle. Global South users have no way of finding relevant users/posts, no way of even knowing how many exist, so most of them simply abandon the Fediverse.
The global south servers/users may have been few to begin with, but there is nothing here to retain even those, or to attract new ones.
DJM (freelance for hire)
Unknown parent • • •@weaver I live in West Africa, and indeed, what was called FreeBasics a few years ago did, and still does (under a different name), a lot to kill the understanding of what the internet is.
Most users who own a smartphone (there are still many feature phones) usually don't have the digital literacy to go further than FB, Whatsapp, Twitter for a few, and the likes of TikTok for the younger generation.
There's a second problem: how many instances in the Global South?
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@anilmc
This list of Brazilian (Latin American?) servers by @santiago is the only one I am aware of.
brasil.rednet.social/
@santiago, do you know of other lists?
Brasileiras e Brasileiros - Instâncias de esquerda abertas para inscrições
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GinevraCat
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Also - for those who are interested in expanding their horizons southward, look for profiles on: mastodon.africa/explore
@feralthoughts
mastodon.africa
Mastodon hosted on mastodon.africaanilmc
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@troed
That's great to know.
I wonder why the search/discovery is so bad. I know of several (public) users/posts that could not be found even in a search on mastodon.social, which is THE biggest instance.
I assume that for a variety of reasons, a large number of servers are simply not being indexed by the existing relays.
Troed Sångberg
Unknown parent • • •You're correct in that this is how it works - but my little family instance has three huge relays connected and the extra processing and storage requirements are easily handled even when self-hosting.
All instances should use relays just because of the problems you mention.
TÔ DE MUDANÇA
Unknown parent • • •@santiago @nitrml @anilmc
Coincidently I have just updated a list of brazilian microblog instances (Mastodon, Friendica, GoToSocial, snac etc.), as part of the #DiversiVerso project.
There's 86 of them on the updated list: diversiverso.disquete.online/b…
Instâncias BR em Fevereiro de 2025
diversiverso.disquete.onlineNiko Trimmel
Unknown parent • • •@santiago @anilmc @augustocc
Two mastodon instances from South Africa: mastodon.africa and mastodon.monoceros.co.za.
mastodon.holeyfox.co is a Nigerian instance.
mastodon.mg from Madagascar.
Sasa.africa is another African one.
Here is a map and list of instances by location:
umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/m…
The Common Room
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Santiago Lema
in reply to Niko Trimmel • • •@nitrml @anilmc @augustocc BTW that map misses a lot of Brazilian instances, including large ones. I suppose it takes data from the same sources.
I imagine a lot of European instances are missing too but given the quantities it isn’t as shocking on the map.
TÔ DE MUDANÇA
Unknown parent • • •@nitrml @santiago @anilmc @jaz
yes, I think one that uses and links that map should do that
Niko Trimmel
in reply to TÔ DE MUDANÇA • • •TÔ DE MUDANÇA
Unknown parent • • •@capirock @santiago @nitrml @anilmc
oh thank you very much for your input!
Dendan Setia (Nins)
Unknown parent • • •Frank Küsel
in reply to Dendan Setia (Nins) • • •Dendan Setia (Nins)
in reply to Frank Küsel • • •Dendan Setia (Nins)
in reply to Dendan Setia (Nins) • • •Frank Küsel
in reply to Dendan Setia (Nins) • • •Dendan Setia (Nins)
Unknown parent • • •CapiRock Magic
in reply to TÔ DE MUDANÇA • • •Renaud Chaput
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Fediverse Discovery Providers
Fediverse Discovery ProvidersFeral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@osma
Still not quite clear to me, but that's not on you; I need to dig in and look at the numbers to understand why the resource-requirements for an all-seeing Fedi search relay are not as high as one may expect.
Will do at some point.
Thanks for the link, and for the lessons.
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Renaud Chaput • • •@renchap
In a follow-up thread posted at
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
I placed the "global south invisiblization" problem in a larger context, and suggested a couple of steps that may remedy the situation.
I have no idea whether, and to what extent, it overlaps with your roadmap. Would appreciate your comments.
Feral Thoughts
2025-02-20 18:31:21
Renaud Chaput
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts
in reply to Renaud Chaput • • •@renchap
Happy to know those steps are on your roadmap.
Will search for the video you mentioned and check it out - thanks.
PuercoPop
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Gaëtan Perrault
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •I feel like this argument is conflating several roles of different providers under a single Mastodon banner.
I agree, if you walk into a social club where people do not speak your language and they're talking about things that don't interest you, it's going to be a boring social club. You will leave. That's expected.
But Mastodon isn't a social club. The dozen people who work there specialize in helping other people set up the social clubs.
And Mastodon helps find a club... 1/n
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@petrescatraian
I applaud your perseverance with the #Fediverse, but this isn’t about your tenacity, or of mine.
I am pointing out that the present architecture and social makeup of the Fediverse ensures that it will remain the online equivalent of a cozy white suburban neighbourhood.
Some may say there’s nothing wrong with that; I already received replies to that effect. I suppose that too is a legitimate viewpoint.
(continues)
Cătă doesn't like this.
Cătă
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@Feral Thoughts I don't live in the Global South, rather in Eastern Europe. I am also facing the issue myself (i.e. content in my language and relevant to me is just almost impossible to find, especially if it's not the topic I'm looking for). The truth is that besides the english-speaking world and Germany, national communities are simply struggling to exist in the Fediverse. Most of the stuff in my feed is in either english or german, with content in Romanian (my language) mostly being aided by the RSS feeds that I follow here on Friendica.
Otherwise, I keep switching to centralized platforms like Facebook or Reddit for content that's not available outside them. Even with Threads being federated, there are simply no accounts that I can follow here, not only because federation is opt-in on behalf of Threads, but also because Meta has not enabled Fediverse functionality in Europe at all, due to GDPR compliance issues.
It's an unfortunate situation anyway.
... Show more...@Feral Thoughts I don't live in the Global South, rather in Eastern Europe. I am also facing the issue myself (i.e. content in my language and relevant to me is just almost impossible to find, especially if it's not the topic I'm looking for). The truth is that besides the english-speaking world and Germany, national communities are simply struggling to exist in the Fediverse. Most of the stuff in my feed is in either english or german, with content in Romanian (my language) mostly being aided by the RSS feeds that I follow here on Friendica.
Otherwise, I keep switching to centralized platforms like Facebook or Reddit for content that's not available outside them. Even with Threads being federated, there are simply no accounts that I can follow here, not only because federation is opt-in on behalf of Threads, but also because Meta has not enabled Fediverse functionality in Europe at all, due to GDPR compliance issues.
It's an unfortunate situation anyway.
Probably getting your friends to Friendica and letting them know about the RSS functionality could help a little for you as well. Or probably enough people with connections in the Global North could gradually form a community that could grow exponentially and also bring locals in the process. Otherwise, I don't know. I can only recommend you to do what I do:
Keep in mind that we're talking about a 10 mln. people population here (give or take), so what you post can only get you so far. It sucks, but it is what it is. That's half the population of my country and the number of users on Facebook alone. The other 10 mln. stay in part on TikTok (or DobiTok how we call it after the last elections) or other platforms. In time, I do hope this place will grow and diversify enough.
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@petrescatraian
And in that context, I would add
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
Feral Thoughts
2025-03-01 15:41:27
Kit Rhett Aultman
in reply to Niko Trimmel • • •Cătă
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@Feral Thoughts It's a complicated topic indeed. The vast majority of the Fediverse stands against racism, so if you find any racist content feel free to report it, as the mods should take care of it. There is no platform that can be non-racist from a technical standpoint without greatly infringing everyone's speech (including people using other languages, as one word might be bad for one language and inoffensive for the other, and vice versa), but at least we can be better at moderating the speech of the users than other platforms that are outright not even trying any more nowadays (*ahem* Xitter, Meta *ahem*). Probably AI will be the solution for this issue as well in the future, or probably there will be a better automated system in any way, but we as humans haven't been able to come up with anything better in this regard yet.
I, for one, am no technician in any sort of way, but I welcome any folks, of any skin tone, of any nationality, that joins
... Show more...@Feral Thoughts It's a complicated topic indeed. The vast majority of the Fediverse stands against racism, so if you find any racist content feel free to report it, as the mods should take care of it. There is no platform that can be non-racist from a technical standpoint without greatly infringing everyone's speech (including people using other languages, as one word might be bad for one language and inoffensive for the other, and vice versa), but at least we can be better at moderating the speech of the users than other platforms that are outright not even trying any more nowadays (*ahem* Xitter, Meta *ahem*). Probably AI will be the solution for this issue as well in the future, or probably there will be a better automated system in any way, but we as humans haven't been able to come up with anything better in this regard yet.
I, for one, am no technician in any sort of way, but I welcome any folks, of any skin tone, of any nationality, that joins the Fediverse, as long as they are being respectful towards others in their speech by any means possible (sorry, Kanye West, you're not welcome).
Regarding:
The Fediverse sadly is not owned by a single entity, commercial or otherwise. It is just a collection of server software, all communicating with each other. That software can have an entity behind it, though, and they can promote it, individually. What this leads to is smaller projects (i.e. Akkoma/Pleroma or *key forks for microblogging) being less influential than bigger software like Mastodon, despite the former being probably more fitting for a certain category of people than the latter (including, maybe, in moderation).
Now getting back to the diversification topic, given how the state of things are, I don't know how this will be fixed quicker than by offering free internet access to developing nations or whatever other predatory unethical tactic. There are some projects ongoing, like the fedidevs starter packs platform or hashtags like #FollowFriday or others - but you have to be aware of them for them to be accessible to you.
So again, there's not a single solution for onboarding the fedizens and keeping them on the platform. I really don't know. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful than that.
UkeleleEric reshared this.
Jo Ana Morfin
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts reshared this.
Astro
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •There just is no global hashtag visibility on the Fediverse.
Tell server admins about relay.fedi.buzz
#FediBuzz Relay
relay.fedi.buzzJosir Gomes
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts
in reply to Josir Gomes • • •@josir
The opponents argue that the "real search" server would basically be a resource-heavy relay, which only a big entity can afford; so it would become a point of centralization and control.
poleguy looking for lost tools
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@josir wild thought: is it possible to do a 'statistical' search feature that just 'samples' the whole fediverse? Then you could just scale up or down how much it might cost to run? And maybe lots of these statistical search things interconnected could allow for following a poorly connected hashtag and not get zero results forever but instead have some small non zero chance of finding the hashtag?
I don't understand all the technicalities. Just freely hand wavy brainstorming.
Feral Thoughts
in reply to poleguy looking for lost tools • • •Certainly, “statistical” search algorithm(s) can be developed.
I proposed something along those lines in this thread.
union.place/@feralthoughts/114…
But will instance admins/users want to implement them? And will other instance admins/users be willing to grant permission for the search algorithm(s) to scrape their content?
If most of them refuse, then it will not be effective/useful for the vast majority of users.
Feral Thoughts
2025-02-20 18:31:21
poleguy looking for lost tools
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@josir I don't even consider this a "search" since it would only help find hashtags. And if you are adding hashtags doesn't that always mean you want to be seen?
I know that's probably naive.
People posting on social media are never asking to not be found. Nobody is clamoring for privacy in the fediverse. But they are complaining about not finding their hashtags or their people. And the only thing that seems to be a roadblock is cost? Don't let fear of search/privacy stop us!
Feral Thoughts
in reply to poleguy looking for lost tools • • •@poleguy @josir
I know the current search is limited to hashtags, though what I proposed wasn't limited to them. I even proposed a home feed customized to each user's interests, location etc. (what people here call the "algorithm").
Regarding your other point: they may be a tiny minority, but there is a very vocal group of people on Fedi who ask not to be found. Some of them even want to be reachable only by people they explicitly permit ("allowlist federation").
poleguy looking for lost tools
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts
in reply to poleguy looking for lost tools • • •@poleguy @josir
Or a group/community on WhatsApp or Signal 😃
Marcos Dione
Unknown parent • • •Feral Thoughts
in reply to Marcos Dione • • •@mdione
Relay(s) are part of the solution.
But a relay cannot impose itself on an instance (server), the instance admin has to subscribe to the relay.
Any instance that subscribes to a particular relay will "become aware" of all posts on all the other instances that subscribe to that particular relay.
(continues)
Feral Thoughts
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •@mdione
However, if most instance admins ignore a particular relay, that relay will not be able to increase the visibility of content across the Fediverse, as you can imagine.
If this becomes the norm for relays in general, then relays will not be effective/useful.
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@katzenberger
In this thread itself, you can see a long exchange between @FediTips and me, starting at
social.growyourown.services/@F…
Fedi.Tips 🎄
2025-02-21 11:09:55
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@katzenberger
Sigh - yet another example of the accursed "partial view" on Mastodon.
I hear a solution is in the pipeline.
Friendica, Hubzilla, Forte, and all the other Mike Macgirvin creations do this in a fundamentally better way.
The overwhelming popularity of Mastodon is a huge millstone round the neck of the larger Fediverse.
@FediTips
katzenberger 🇺🇦
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Direct lookup via URL seems to have fetched that discussion branch by now.
@FediTips
Feral Thoughts
Unknown parent • • •@chgowiz
Yes, the "explore" section is Fediverse-wide.
Among the Fediverse-wide posts the particular instance is aware of, the ones that are trending (getting lots of boosts and likes) are shown in the "explore" section in reverse chronological order.
@GinevraCat
Karis
in reply to Feral Thoughts • • •Feral Thoughts reshared this.