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1. Embed this notice
   FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:14:02 JST FediTips has moved!

   Hey new people and those thinking of joining, you do NOT need to sign up on huge servers!

   You can follow and interact with people on any server from any server, the servers are connected.

   It would really, really help the network right now if you could sign up on medium or small size servers. You will still be able to follow and interact with whoever you want, and the network as a whole will work much better.

   A good safe place for beginners to find servers to join is https://joinmastodon.org/servers

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:19:48 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     You also don't need to be on the same server as your friends.

     You can find each other from different servers by exchanging account addresses, here's how it works:

     https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-basic-tips/#WhatsMyAccountsAddress

     It's a bit like exchanging phone numbers!

   • Embed this notice
     MagsLHalliday (magslhalliday@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:30:45 JST MagsLHalliday

     in reply to

     @feditips is there a way of creating public and private lists? I use those on the bird place to put work-related accounts into a separate focussed stream I can dip into rather than my chaotic main feed.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:37:15 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • threepio

     @threepio

     Yes, it's because the federation structure on here is similar to email: lots of independent conventional servers exchanging messages, and no one controls the network as a whole.

   • Embed this notice
     threepio@dragonscave.space's status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:37:17 JST threepio

     in reply to

     @feditips so, kinda like sharing an email address. In fact, the format is exactly the same as an email address.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:42:11 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     p.s. By the way, a lot of the servers on https://joinmastodon.org/servers say "get on waitlist" but this phrasing is misleading.

     A lot of these servers don't have a waitlist at all and will accept you pretty quickly, within a few hours in some cases. It's just the server admin is screening out spammers by switching on the "why do you want to join?" form, because spambots find this form harder to cope with.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:46:12 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • MagsLHalliday

     @magslhalliday

     You can create lists on the website version of Mastodon, if you log in on your server's website. It's at the "Lists" link.

     An alternative approach is to have separate accounts on separate servers for work and personal. This has the added advantage that if one server ever goes down you can log in on the other account and people will still be able to get in touch with you.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:51:35 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Ricardo

     @ricardoramos

     Short answer: Go for a server with fewer than 10,000 members.

     Long answer: It's not so much about numbers as percentage of the network. If everyone is on a small group of giant servers that will cause severe problems now and in the long term.

     So, if you look at the numbers currently on https://joinmastodon.org/servers (in the top right corner of each server's info box), try to go for servers at the smaller end of the scale.

   • Embed this notice
     Ricardo (ricardoramos@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:51:36 JST Ricardo

     in reply to

     @feditips what is your definition of a small, midsize and big servers?

     My point being what’s the ideal size of a server? To be small enough to be performant and big enough to have good local feed.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:56:57 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • neatchee

     @neatchee

     "But I want to be where my friends are" doesn't respond to logic. It's a reaction that is literally bred into us as a species."

     I don't think this is true on federated networks.

     Do people join a phone provider because their friends are on it?

     No, because it makes no difference, because phone networks are federated. You can call people even if you're on different providers.

   • Embed this notice
     neatchee (neatchee@mastodon.gamedev.place)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 18:57:01 JST neatchee

     in reply to

     @feditips
     From an expectations perspective, this is a *really* hard sell.

     1) "But I want to be where my friends are" doesn't respond to logic. It's a reaction that is literally bred into us as a species.

     2) Bootstrapping your timelines is an inscrutable process when you're not on larger servers. Websites with giant directories of people are intimidating, and small servers with fewer total follows from the server to populate the federated timeline don't provide enough varied content.

   • Embed this notice
     PeONor (peonor@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 19:16:43 JST PeONor

     in reply to

     @feditips Is there an easy way to change server when I found one? Without losing the friends I’ve found so far?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 19:46:31 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Anstey Spraggan/Harris

     @anstey

     This kind of address system has been around since the beginning of the internet, so the problems and solutions are well understood.

     It's important to pay attention to the server part of the address because this tells you where the account actually is.

     For example, the European Union has lots of official accounts on here and we know they are official because they have "europa.eu" as their server. Only the EU has control of that site.

     Email has the same issues and solutions.

   • Embed this notice
     Anstey Spraggan/Harris (anstey@awscommunity.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 19:46:33 JST Anstey Spraggan/Harris

     in reply to

     @feditips If there are countless ways of opening an account with one’s own name, how do you stop countless imitations? Surely someone could copy your name & just have a different suffix/group.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:24:12 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Miss Ellsworth

     @missellsworth

     You can find people to follow by many other methods apart from the Community feed:

     https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-basic-tips/#HowDoIFindPeopleToFollow

     Also, you can browse community feeds (aka Local feeds) of other servers by visiting their websites. You don't have to be a member.

   • Embed this notice
     Miss Ellsworth (missellsworth@mastodon.online)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:24:13 JST Miss Ellsworth

     in reply to

     @feditips I'm glad I joined a large server bc the only "community" feed I can get is posts from the server I joined - so I want to be on something active. Also, many posts say you can find your friends here by searching for them, but I don't want to follow just friends. I want to run across various accounts of the many lawyers and journalists that I've discovered, not search for them one by one. I get that you're not Twi**er, but many of us noobs are looking for an alt-Twi**er. Just feedback

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:35:32 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Liz Ellis She/Her🌳

     @LizEllisPhD

     Yes indeed! Here you go:

     https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-basic-tips/#TransferringYourMastodonAccountToAnotherServer

   • Embed this notice
     Liz Ellis She/Her🌳 (lizellisphd@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:35:33 JST Liz Ellis She/Her🌳

     in reply to

     @feditips I had heard that we can switch to different servers. Is there a guide on how to do that?

   • Embed this notice
     Bill N ✅ (itsbilln@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:43:43 JST Bill N ✅

     in reply to

     @feditips what do you mean by “safe”?

     Does this imply some of the servers are not “safe”?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:51:06 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Bill N ✅

     @ItsBillN

     There are literally thousands of servers out there and more appear all the time, anyone can start their own.

     It's difficult to know from a raw server list which ones are reliable.

     The ones on the JoinMastodon list have committed to the "Mastodon Covenant" which has very specific requirements about reliability (multiple staff, long warning if they close etc) and responsible moderation (basically no hate speech). If they break the covenant they are removed from the list.

   • Embed this notice
     Bill N ✅ (itsbilln@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:57:54 JST Bill N ✅

     in reply to

     @feditips ok, thanks

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:58:57 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • neilh90

     @neilh90

     Yes, go to their website! You don't have to log in, just click "Local" or "What's happening".

   • Embed this notice
     neilh90 (neilh90@mastodon.online)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 20:59:07 JST neilh90

     in reply to

     @feditips is there a way at all to see the timeline of other servers?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:11:27 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Sainteetpoete

     @sainteetpoete

     You're on the server https://mastodon.world

     Your server is the site you signed up on.

   • Embed this notice
     Sainteetpoete (sainteetpoete@mastodon.world)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:11:30 JST Sainteetpoete

     in reply to

     @feditips do you have to join a server at all? All I did was sign up and I'm trying to figure it from here.i mean clearly it looks like at "world" whatever that means.

   • Embed this notice
     MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈 (mmwatson@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:19:07 JST MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈

     in reply to

     @feditips why give people the choice, since they don’t understand what a distributed system is? Just put them on the least loaded server at the time they sign up.

   • Embed this notice
     MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈 (mmwatson@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:20:54 JST MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈

     in reply to

     @feditips i don’t understand why the servers are exposed anyway.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:24:41 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈

     @Mmwatson

     Servers each have their own rules about what is allowed, what their atmosphere is like, what kind of people they are aimed at etc.

     I don't think well-run servers would agree to it if they were assigned users at random by an outside authority.

   • Embed this notice
     MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈 (mmwatson@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:26:10 JST MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈

     in reply to

     @feditips oh, I see.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:26:38 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Jonobie

     @Jonobie

     The servers on that list have agreed to the "Mastodon Covenant" involving reliability and moderation. They have promised to give a certain amount of warning before closing down. I think the warning period is three months?

     This gives you time to transfer your account to another server, including your follows and followers:

     https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-basic-tips/#TransferringYourMastodonAccountToAnotherServer

   • Embed this notice
     Jonobie (jonobie@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:26:39 JST Jonobie

     in reply to

     @feditips what happens if you join on a server that the owner later decides to just delete?

   • Embed this notice
     MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈 (mmwatson@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:27:26 JST MegFromEarth 🐈🏳️‍🌈

     in reply to

     @feditips if i can see posts from other servers, then my servers rules apply to those posts?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:29:36 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Sainteetpoete

     @sainteetpoete

     You can follow anyone from other servers, and they can follow you. (Well, unless someone's been blocked, but let's not complicate things right now!)

     You can find out more about a server by going to its website and clicking "Learn More". So, for your server the link leads to:

     https://mastodon.world/about/more

     This has the rules, a contact email for your server's admin (in case you have a problem), and often lots more info like donation links etc.

   • Embed this notice
     Sainteetpoete (sainteetpoete@mastodon.world)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 21:29:38 JST Sainteetpoete

     in reply to

     @feditips thank you. And if I understand you correctly, it doesn't actually matter which one I'm on because all the servers talk to each other, correct?

     And another question: how do I find out who runs the server and what those server rules are?

     Thank you.

   • Embed this notice
     MassivRuss (massivruss@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 22:27:11 JST MassivRuss

     in reply to

     @feditips This was the first point I misunderstood in my one whole day here. Otherwise smooth so far. Small, but smooth.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:20:35 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Brendan Jones

     @Brendanjones

     Umm... I'm not sure if that's true?

     Big servers tend to have worse moderation due to the lower staff-to-user ratio. The biggest servers of all can have real trouble moderating due to this issue.

     (By the way, the easiest way to see if a server has good rules is to check the "about" page, by going to the website and clicking "Learn more".)

   • Embed this notice
     Brendan Jones (brendanjones@fosstodon.org)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:20:36 JST Brendan Jones

     in reply to

     @feditips unfortunately while joining a small server might be good for the network, it's not rational for a new joiner to pick one. Unless of course they know someone on that network, and especially if they know the admin. For anyone else who doesn't know anyone on Mastodon before joining, the rational choice is to pick a stable server with good rules and moderation. The easiest way to know a server has that is to see lots of other people using it.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:34:38 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Brendan Jones

     @Brendanjones

     I get what you're saying, but I don't know if perception reflects reality?

     There are lots of nice little servers that have been around for years while some big servers have disappeared.

     One way to check if a server has been around is go to its website, click "Learn more" and then click on the admin's profile. It will show the month and year they joined, and this will (usually) be the age of the server.

     e.g. https://laserdisc.party was founded in April 2018, has 85 users.

   • Embed this notice
     Brendan Jones (brendanjones@fosstodon.org)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:34:39 JST Brendan Jones

     in reply to

     @feditips I agree, it's not necessarily true when it comes to moderation, but it's logical to new users. Especially people coming from the birdsite and other centralised platforms. The more people using a thing, the better is, right? (that's rhetorical) It's social proof in action.

     It is true for stability, though. You don't want to join an instance only for it to close on you. More people using an instance probably means it's sticking around.

   • Embed this notice
     sobiewan (sobiewan@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:36:31 JST sobiewan

     in reply to

     @feditips good info. This isn’t clear when you sign up.

   • Embed this notice
     Wook (wookv3m0@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:37:35 JST Wook

     in reply to

     @feditips It’s a bit late for me I think but I kinda wish I understood this before I signed up. Either way I hope the info helps others. :)

   • Embed this notice
     Breathe (breathe@mstdn.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Nov-2022 23:58:48 JST Breathe

     in reply to

     @feditips It was hard for me to figure out the concept of servers. I was lost until I found someone I recognized from twitter.

   • Embed this notice
     vlos91 (vlos91@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 01:18:51 JST vlos91

     in reply to

     @feditips I joined a larger server because I like to follow who other ppl are following, it I can’t see unless I’m on their server?

   • Embed this notice
     Karen4013 (karenlovesbooks@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 01:22:51 JST Karen4013

     in reply to

     @feditips How do we search for people on here?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 02:20:16 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Luke
     • Patrick LaForge

     @lukepatrick @palafo

     That was a false report, mastodon.online is fine as a server (though it's a bit too crowded now).

   • Embed this notice
     Luke (lukepatrick@floss.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 02:20:17 JST Luke

     in reply to

     • Patrick LaForge

     @feditips @palafo still plenty to watch out for https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/detections/mastodon-online

   • Embed this notice
     unixjunk1e (unixjunk1e@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 02:22:57 JST unixjunk1e

     in reply to

     @feditips

     FWIK (have learned so far)

     The key is to share your full username (with server/namespace in it, e.g., p@]feditips[@]mstdn.social) and potential followers should verify this also.

     Its different, but not so much really. I wouldn't assume that 'john.doe[@]evil.net' is the same as 'john.doe[@]notevil.net' are the same person. So too it goes with the 'verse.

     Having multiple intentionally joined server homes may even further confuse friends and followers, the opposite result.

   • Embed this notice
     Joyographic (joyographic@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 04:30:50 JST Joyographic

     in reply to

     @feditips I want to find a good one for sharing photography and digital art, any suggestions?

   • Embed this notice
     Özgün Ünver (ozgununver@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 05:39:16 JST Özgün Ünver

     in reply to

     @feditips wish I knew this before trying to join in an already big server... Thanks for sharing!

   • Embed this notice
     It's Me Again (itsmeagain@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 06:12:37 JST It's Me Again

     in reply to

     @feditips this seems like good advice, but I was only able to see this post after signing up... on one of those big servers...

     The onboarding process here is rough.

   • Embed this notice
     Ash (ashsaidhi@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 06:27:30 JST Ash

     in reply to

     @feditips I wish I understood what I was doing when I was signing up. It was so confusing.

   • Embed this notice
     Carolyn (carolyn@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 06:46:13 JST Carolyn

     in reply to

     @feditips How do I know what server I'm on?

   • Embed this notice
     Sue Beard (veg_grower@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 07:57:04 JST Sue Beard

     in reply to

     @feditips I am finding it impossible to follow people from the link they send. I get this message. I am using chrome on android. The search bar on the left is not operational, I can't search for either users or hashtags. Any advice you could give would be appreciated.

   • Embed this notice
     yuhline :verified: (yuhline@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 10:49:15 JST yuhline :verified:

     in reply to

     @feditips it’s hard to decide what server to use if we don’t use a large one because we don’t know the rules each one has before you do all the work to switch I think?

   • Embed this notice
     Matthew Callaway (matthewcallaway@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 13:12:15 JST Matthew Callaway

     in reply to

     @feditips I wish I had seen this beforeI signed up but it was an impulsive move.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 21:42:02 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Ricardo
     • ginevra

     @ginevra @ricardoramos

     Believe me, no!

     Mastodon.online has been as slow as treacle to use over the past week, really painfully slow. Errors and weird behaviour.

     Mastodon.social doesn't even load sometimes.

     The speed is to do with whether resources match demands, not resources overall.

     Trying to all go onto one server is a really bad idea for this and lots more reasons. If we spread out onto lots of smaller servers we will still be able to communicate but each server will run more smoothly.

   • Embed this notice
     ginevra (ginevra@mastodon.social)'s status on Sunday, 06-Nov-2022 21:42:04 JST ginevra

     in reply to

     • Ricardo

     @feditips @ricardoramos I primarily joined an 8k server. They are having to do upgrades several times throughout the day yesterday. Are you sure the bigger instances aren't better placed to cope with the influx?