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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 05:44:50 JST Evan Prodromou

   One bit of fediverse jargon that bandied about without a lot of explanation is "instance".

   I am pretty sure we started using it at StatusNet to talk about installations of our software. I am pretty sure it came from the OOP-y and/or POSIX-y sense of "instance", like "an instance of a class" or "a running instance of the program":

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instance_(computer_science)

   It's kind of weird that it's become a term meaning "a domain" or "an account server" or "a community."

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 07:06:06 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Erik Moeller

     @eloquence

     I can think of a few others.

     - community
     - social network
     - organisation
     - service
     - domain
     - site
     - cluster
     - tribe
     - clutch
     - affinity group
     - clan
     - club

   • Embed this notice
     Erik Moeller (eloquence@social.coop)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 07:06:08 JST Erik Moeller

     in reply to

     @evan That would be a good term to retire, for sure. I tend to use "server", although I know it's still a technical term. Joinmastodon has standardized on that as well. Discord uses it incorrectly but has helped popularize it a bit with some demographics.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 07:38:45 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:
     • Howard Chu @ Symas

     @onepict @hyc it's probably a better term, although not entirely accurate. I'd call a person, not a service, a node in the social network.

   • Embed this notice
     Howard Chu @ Symas (hyc@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 07:38:48 JST Howard Chu @ Symas

     in reply to

     @evan prob just avoiding the overused "node".

   • Embed this notice
     Esther Payne :bisexual_flag: (onepict@chaos.social)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 07:38:48 JST Esther Payne :bisexual_flag:

     in reply to

     • Howard Chu @ Symas

     @hyc @evan I'll be honest "node" was what came to mind.

   • Embed this notice
     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 14:01:08 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Ben Pate 🤘🏻

     @benpate community, server, service.

   • Embed this notice
     Ben Pate 🤘🏻 (benpate@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 09-Dec-2023 14:01:09 JST Ben Pate 🤘🏻

     in reply to

     @evan What would be a better term to use -- especially when trying to reach regular, non-technical people?