Mastodon Astiga account
Especially since many news updates are ran trough Twitter only, and with a similar mindset as my F-droid repository request, would you consider opening a Mastodon account to update us as well? Cross posting between the two where suitable.
Right now I'm using an RSS reader and a Nitter generated RSS feed to check for announcements so I at least won't be surprised by updates, but with Twitter banning API keys atm who knows how long that'll keep working before they break that too. Beside, that's no way to engage 😉.
Comments
Nice idea... I'll try to get to this in the coming month or so.
Are you active on Mastodon @Cambionn ? What server do you use?
Just wondering if it's worth setting up our own server for general music collection/hoarding/organising/syncing topics...
I found https://linernotes.club/ but it looks to wander quite off topic...
My main account is on mastodon.nl so I'd follow you from there, but I have some side accounts in specific instances for rambling on specific topics. I'd suggest you use a third party client like Tusky over the official Mastodon client. It has more functionality and is great for keeping track of multiple accounts (for example 1 Astiga, and another for other Elsten software).
For Astiga I guess you could try an international or UK general like:
Mastodon.social, mastodon.org.uk, stranger.social, home.social, mastp.nu, mstdn.plus, toot.community, and I think Mozilla said they'll also launch a instance soon.
Or tech/software based instances like:
techhub.social, cloud-native.social, vmst.io, noc.social
But note that I just searched some with basic filters on joinmastodon.org/servers and instances.social (I can recommend checking both for finding instances yourself too). I filtered some basic stuff like foss-based instances not being suitable, but I didn't check exact rules etc. to see if it fits Astiga so do double check.
Of course self hosting is also always an option. But in that case be extra sure to use hashtags and create/initiate a lot of interaction yourself, as there won't be an algorithm to help you get pushed up the federated timeline, nor an active local timeline to rely on 😉. I'd suggest doing that either way tho 😉.
In the end it doesn't matter too much, every instance can connect with each other, and you can transfer your account to another instance including your followers if need be. So you can also try make your own and if it doesn't work out go to a bigger one. Or the other way around start on a public, and once you grow in followers and people know your name and hashtags create your own and move there.
One of the reasons I was asking about self hosting an instance is that we can own the domain for Astiga to ensure no-one else attempts to own the brand.
Of course self hosting is also always an option. But in that case be extra sure to use hashtags and create/initiate a lot of interaction yourself, as there won't be an algorithm to help you get pushed up the federated timeline, nor an active local timeline to rely on 😉.
If you have your own instance, presumably another instance has to connect to that so messages on your instance get pushed through the second instance?
every instance can connect with each other
But if we set up our own instance, why would mastodon.social connect to us so that the messages sent through our instance are shown?
I guess I just need to try this a bit.
I was reading this: https://savjee.be/videos/simply-explained/mastodon-and-fediverse-explained/ and this took my attention:
Any platform or application that implements ActivityPub becomes a part of a massive social network.
I've not looked into it, but maybe it could be optional in Astiga to exhibit an ActivityPub account which could be linked to from Mastodon et al instances? This could end up being gimmicky ("Playing Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley") but there might also be uses for it.
I know Funkwhale implements ActivityPub.
One of the reasons I was asking about self hosting an instance is that we can own the domain for Astiga to ensure no-one else attempts to own the brand.
A domain is a domain. If you own it you own it, no matter if you host a Mastodon instance on it or not. You own asti.ga, since your website runs on it, so it can't be taken for a Mastodon instance. You'll see if you go to a Mastodon instance domain in the browser, you just open that instance as a webpage.
Self hosting indeed allows total control, as you can make up the rules of your instance. But on the other side will make it also more difficult to gain traction and following. After all, people have to actually go search for your instance, or come across it because other people are interacting with it. Being on a bigger instance allows the local people there to get your post in the local timeline, which in turn creates interaction that people they follow will again see.
Since Mastodon has no algoritm beside "stuff you follow (people & hastags)", "local/your instance timeline", and "federated instance (based on interactions chained from interactions from people in said instance)" all in chronological order, interactions is the way to get traction. It's up to you how far that downside of not appearing on local timelines others use weigths up to the total control of self hosting.
If you have your own instance, presumably another instance has to connect to that so messages on your instance get pushed through the second instance?
Not really, as long as it's online as a Mastodon server, any other Mastodon server can interact with it already. They could find anything you post on @username@domain, whereas on your own instance you only need @username.
But if we set up our own instance, why would mastodon.social connect to us so that the messages sent through our instance are shown?
Because every Mastodon instance is always connected to each other as long as the instance you host is online unless an instance would actively block that (and if you don't like a block, again, you can just migrate your account to another server that doesn't), that's the whole point of a decentralized SNS. If everyone can host it, and everyone can make a client that connects to it, and the protocol and code is opensource, the whole SNS belongs to no one.
Any platform or application that implements ActivityPub becomes a part of a massive social network.
While this is in theory true, different parts of the Fediverse don't always work together as smoothly as stuff that happens within the same part (say Mastodon to Mastodon work more easy and smooth than Mastodon to Pleroma or Mastodon to Pixelfed), nor can they always be found as easily in clients (for example, I'm not sure the Mastodon client, or Tusky for that matter, can find other stuff using ActivityPub protocol).
As for how smooth it would go with Astiga, I honestly don't know. I haven't had to do much with it yet.
Oh, I thought we had to have a different domain for Mastodon, e.g. astiga.social or something... that's fine then.
That's really helpful, thank you!
Well, it needs it's own URL, and my knowledge is not thát deep in selfhosting so you may want to double check. But as far as I know there is nothing stopping you from using a subdomain like mastodon.asti.ga to host your own instance.
And even if not, you can't hardly claim every possible domain with the name astiga in it. People cóúld always try to mimic, and self hosting means self-deciding what verified means. Which in return means it means nothing outside of your instance's rules.
But the way the atmosphere on Mastodon is now, people are quite honest and accounts that are about a topic but not official mention so. Even bots that are auto-posting are marked as bots. It is also more filled with people into niche hobbies, be it IT related or not. Which in return creates a different culture between people compared to places like Twitter (I hear a lot if companies say that because of this, while they have much more followers on Twitter, they have much more engagement on Mastodon). Point is, with all these points together, trying to fake being a company will not earn favours in the long run. And having an official account to point at is likely your strongest defense against them outside of using a subdomain of asti.ga, as you can link it on other places like your website. No matter which instance you're on. That's something an imitator cannot do.
And regarding instances. I just checked and beside GrapheneOS, my current following list are all on general instances. With the only thing being Mozilla talking about hosting their own (open to anyone) instance soon. Just want to show that it's not thát odd to start on an instance not hosted by yourself (while again, both options are valid. I just want to show you won't be the odd one out going on anothers' instance). It's not the full list but see for youself:
But then again, both options are valid. Self hosting means more freedom and ability to use your own domain. Joining an instance means easier to start gaining engagement, and not having to pay server cost.
And again, you can always switch instances and take your followers with you while you do. So you can always just try it out one way then switch if it doesn't suit your needs.
Also sorry for the long messages. I'm not the best at explaining stuff, I'm normally more that backend IT person that can make stuff work perfectly but only explain it understandably to other IT people as equally bad as me. But I'm doing my best to make it clear 😅.
Ah, excellent. I didn't realise you could move servers and still take followers. Thanks for the explanations, they are good because they explain some of the background too, which is useful for learning!
I haven’t read through the whole thread, but I’d do research up moderation in regards to Mastodon servers, as that can become burdensome (both in terms of effort and possibly being responsible for what users post) depending on how much activity you want actually on your server versus just having an account for Mastodon people to follow.
Here’s a fun tidbit. If you do decide to have an official Astiga account, you can get “verified” as owning the website (Astiga) simply by embedding a tag from Mastodon on the site. That way people viewing your Mastodon account will know that you have legitimate control of the site.
Excellent - thanks.
Please follow - and suggest any other accounts Astiga should be following!
Followed and boosted!
You might want to add this one to the support page (https://play.asti.ga/support) as well. It also lists Twitter after all. The key with Mastodon is promoting, engaging, and hash-tagging as there is no algorithm to help you get views.
Oh, thanks for pointing that out.