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If something is part of the Fediverse and not Mastodon, always mention it is part of the Fediverse and connected to Mastodon! CW: long (almost 800 characters), Fediverse meta, Fediverse beyond Mastodon meta

If you write about something that's in the Fediverse but not Mastodon, most Fediverse users won't know that it's in the Fediverse.

Even if you write about e.g. your Hubzilla channel or your WriteFreely blog, hardly anyone will know that they can follow you there. Yes, even when you write about your Hubzilla channel from your Hubzilla channel. Especially Mastodon users won't know what Hubzilla is, they won't know that they can follow Hubzilla channels from Mastodon, and they'll assume that you've just posted from Mastodon.

So if you want people to know that whatever you're writing about is part of the Fediverse and connected to Mastodon, you have to explicitly mention both.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Fediverse

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in reply to Jupiter Rowland

If something is part of the Fediverse and not Mastodon, always mention it is part of the Fediverse and connected to Mastodon! CW: long (almost 800 characters), Fediverse meta, Fediverse beyond Mastodon meta

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in reply to Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic

@Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic No, it's rather because people don't know what's in the Fediverse and what isn't.

I mean, at least every other Mastodon user thinks the Fediverse equals Mastodon and only Mastodon.

Let's assume I mention my own Hubzilla channel somewhere in some context. I'll hit two obstacles. One, three out of four Fediverse users have never heard of Hubzilla, so how shall they assume that it's a Fediverse project if I don't explicitly tell them so? Two, again, many think the Fediverse is only Mastodon, so how shall they assume that Hubzilla is in the Fediverse when it's completely unimaginable to them that there could be anything else in the Fediverse that isn't Mastodon?

Also, especially on Mastodon, nobody can tell where my post is from. Next to nobody looks up any posts at their sources anyway. Mastodon doesn't show where a post came from, software-wise. And net everyone can tell from certain signs (what mentions look like, what hashtags look like) that something came from something that's very much not Mastodon. Only the very few who can be bothered to look at my post at its source will notice that it came from something that has "Hubzilla" written on top. For the majority, everything in their Mastodon timeline came from Mastodon.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Fediverse #NotOnlyMastodon

in reply to Jupiter Rowland

@Jupiter Rowland @Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic it's because Mastodon talks and acts like it's the only one here.

Like calling their posts "toots" trying to knock off Twitter's vibe... it's cute in concept but in reality only makes sense if that's the only place here.

in reply to Shiri Bailem

Yes, Mastodon mimics the old Twitter in many ways, but I don't think that's at odds with the federation in the Fediverse? Each platform has it's own concepts and quirks. As long as they can talk over AP, that's fine with me.

However, Mastodon now has such a large user base that other platforms feel pressure to adapt to Mastodon's quirks, such as some of its APIs. This can be problematic, especially if the Mastodon implementation is hacky or unclean.

in reply to Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic

@Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic

Yes, Mastodon mimics the old Twitter in many ways, but I don't think that's at odds with the federation in the Fediverse? Each platform has it's own concepts and quirks. As long as they can talk over AP, that's fine with me.


It isn't like everything that isn't Mastodon speaks with one tongue anyway.

A Friendica instance is called a node. A Hubzilla instance is called a hub. A Funkwhale instance is called a pod, and so is a diaspora* instance.

Mastodon has posts officially, but toots unofficially. Misskey and the Forkeys have notes.

Mastodon boosts. Misskey and the Forkeys renote. Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams) and Forte repeat.

Mastodon may have quote-posts in the future, unofficially quote-toots. Friendica, Hubzilla, (streams) and Forte share instead.

Not to mention the various definitions of channels, communities etc.

Also, interestingly, in terms of UX, Misskey is actually closer to 𝕏 than Mastodon.

However, Mastodon now has such a large user base that other platforms feel pressure to adapt to Mastodon's quirks, such as some of its APIs. This can be problematic, especially if the Mastodon implementation is hacky or unclean.


Also, when you start adding non-standard, proprietary Mastodon stuff to your non-Mastodon project, you make your project dependent on Mastodon, and you allow Mastodon to at least partially assume control over your project.

EEE in the Fediverse is way past the second E now.

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Fediverse

in reply to Jupiter Rowland

Agreed, many users are ignorant. But in most cases (I think), cross-software Fediverse posts integrate (more or less) into the current platform. For example, blog posts appear as a normal post with a link to the blog, which is fine for micro-blogging. So when clicking on the link, most non-tech people will probably think they are going to an external site and not realize that it integrates with AP. But does this matter? Most people know nothing about the tech they use anyway...
in reply to Ringwood Unitarians Co-organis

@Ringwood Unitarians Co-organis

But there are loads of pictures out there if one searches. Three attached.


If one searches.

If one wants to search.

If one suspects there to be something else out there in the Fediverse.

But for many Mastodon users, the Fediverse is Mastodon and only Mastodon, and that's an absolutely undeniable fact. Set in stone. It couldn't possibly be any different. They don't even take into consideration that it could be any different. "Fediverse" is the name of the Mastodon network which is nothing but Mastodon and more Mastodon. Full stop.

Why else do so many Mastodon users use "Fediverse" and "Mastodon" mutually exchangeably or even out-right claim that the Fediverse is only Mastodon with such utter confidence?

Why else does the revelation that something that isn't Mastodon is connected to Mastodon and claims its place in the Fediverse leave so many Mastodon users deranged enough to generously dish out mutes and blocks in an attempt to make the Fediverse only Mastodon again, or at least make it feel like it's still only Mastodon?

#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Fediverse #Mastodon #NotOnlyMastodon #FediverseIsNotMastodon #MastodonIsNotTheFediverse