You can always move back to your previous server, as long as you don't delete the old account there is no time limit on going back 🙂

You just do exactly the same transfer process but with the servers swapped round.

Tiny, all the others are tiny percentages by comparison.

Mastodon.social is far far larger than any other server which is why I've mentioned it in particular (plus also it is owned by the Mastodon developers which causes further dangers if it gets too large).

EDIT: I did the maths, mas.to is 1.03% of the active Fedi.

@frankie_flowers

Congrats 🥳

@NorthantsGreens

It makes sense to have a nominated "default" server where people can just sign up without thinking too hard.

It doesn't make sense to have the largest server as the default server though 😞

They should be rotating a default server from a pool of reliable servers, so that the growth is spread out instead of concentrated in one place.

This is what mastodon.social used to do in the old days, they would close m.s and direct people to sign up on a specific other server.

@gbargoud
Yes you are right, but we have asked numerous times when they will get on the #Fediverse and they did mention that they did a test server internally, but gave a vague response of "we decided not to take things further" which is basically saying we won't get enough engagement. Or they say "they have a small team" but then contradict themselves by joining bluesky.

Even when one applies for a job or offers to help volenterally, they will still ignore or find a reason not to.

It's really easy to run your own server if you use a managed hosting service such as @mastohost or @Cloud68 or @fedihost or many others. They do all the techy stuff, you just pay a small monthly fee that includes everything.

If they don't want their own server and don't have time for more platforms, there are social media services which let organisations post to many platforms at once including Mastodon:

buffer.com/mastodon
publer.com

Schedule Your Mastodon Posts with Buffer | Make Your Mark in the Fediverse

Schedule Mastodon posts to make your mark in the fediverse with Buffer’s social media toolkit. Enjoy our powerful free plan or try our premium features free for 14 days.

^{Buffer: All-you-need social media toolkit for small businesses}

@gbargoud @mastohost @Cloud68 @fedihost

Oh you're 100% right. But it's like pulling teeth.

We have mentioned numerous times on such options and that Mastodon is widely supported on social media scheduling tools such as buffer which we use.

But national greens 1, haven't told anyone what tools they use, so it's much harder for us to direct them and 2 when we have asked we get excuses instead action.

You can't lead a horse to water and make it drink.

@sindum

I think expressional.social and mstdn.dk have good reputations?

They are listed as complying with the "covenant" for technical reliability and responsible moderation.

Mastodon server hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Mastodon server hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark, by a dane. All languages are welcome, Federated with other Danish servers. Focus on safety, transparency and security.

^{Mastodon hosted on expressional.social}

@ianto_jones

Ah, apologies, wasn't trying to give that impression at all. If there's any criticism in the post, it's only meant to be towards the people who run the server and not the server's members.

With migration, you preserve all your followers and follows. The posts stay behind, but they redirect people to your new account: fedi.tips/transferring-your-ma…

Transferring your Mastodon account to another server | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

^fedi.tips

@ianto_jones

Feel free to ask if you have any questions 🙂

@KoHoSo

That is a really good step, and total respect to Eugen for taking it 👍 But it doesn't by itself solve the centralisation issue.

By far the biggest server, the official apps, the official site, the trademarks on the word "Mastodon" would still all be in one entity, which makes it a target.

Even non-profits can end up going down the toilet if they become dependent on big tech (e.g. Mozilla when they became dependent on Google). Mastodon hasn't done this so far though 🤞

@frenzybiscuit

They're harder to defederate because a server's members will lose more followers if they do.

For example, it can cause problems for people who use the Fedi to connect with freelance work or paid gigs.

@morph

I'm not advising people to sign up on a random server. I'm linking them to well-run servers on curated lists that have certain standards of reliability and moderation.

These good alternatives have mostly been around for years:

fedi.garden/servers-sorted-by-…

Servers sorted by founding year | Fedi.Garden

Highlighting nice servers on Mastodon and the Fediverse

^fedi.garden

@JJKrawczyk

Followers (people who follow you) is automatic because they already followed you on the old account.

As far as I remember, follows (people you follow) will mean the person gets a new follow request from you if they have follow requests switched on.

@teledyn

In transfers you mean?

Media is attached to posts, so it stays in the same place as the posts do. If you transfer your account, your old media will stay on the old posts on the old server.

As long as you don't delete the old account, the old posts aren't orphaned or deleted. They remain as before, but clicking the author's link will redirect them to your new account.

As before, what's going to happen now is that people will leave one of the best-run and well-moderated social media servers in the whole fucking world for sweet little alternatives that will vanish in the next 12 months or plunge into petty de-fed feuds with other admins — a part of Mastodon culture you don't like to talk about.

And all because you evidently detest Eugen Rochko. And are willing to spend your hard-earned fediverse cred on this periodic pissing contest. FFS, drop it.

@jbond

As long as you don't delete the old account, the old posts don't disappear. They stay on the old server and redirect people to your new account if people click on the author's name.

@d

There are sites which list vast numbers of Fediverse instances, but they're not good for new people because there's no indication about an instance's reliability or safety.

Human-curated lists that have specific requirements for reliability and moderation tend to be more useful for new people, I think?

@tempusfelix

That's definitely the reason, but there's a really easy solution: they could suggest a different server instead of the largest one.

There are lots of reliable servers that have good track records going back years, they could have a pool of them and regularly rotate which one is suggested to new people.

This is what they used to do ages ago before there was an official app, they would regularly close mastodon.social and tell people to sign up on a specific other server.