@csilverman The problem is the lack of transparency. Gargron doesn't make it apparent to new users that he's blocking big chunks of the Fediverse.
@sonya @csilverman oh, m.s is blocking some instances? #til
@abackstrom @sonya Curious, how do you know this? On what grounds is he blocking them?
I couldn't find a Mastodon CoC anywhere. I found this (https://mastodon.social/terms) which, unfortunately, doesn't have anything close to a CoC at all.
I realize that they're still trying to get all their ducks in order and legal docs take time, but having a clear "no abuse" policy seems pretty important, especially given that rampant abuse is the reason why a lot of us are here.
@csilverman @abackstrom here's some background on this:
1) https://community.highlandarrow.com/notice/816385
2) https://community.highlandarrow.com/notice/807252
(partisan sources but still good for getting up to speed)
I didn't realize how much of the Fediverse was blocked from .social until I switched to Maly because .social was struggling with bear the traffic. Then I was pissed that this wasn't made clear up-front.
@abackstrom @csilverman IIRC the blocked and/or sandboxed instances are shitposter.club, freezepeach.xyz, gs.smuglo.li, and community.highlandarrow.com
but there may be more that are lower-volume so I'm not aware of them in general, or that I'm forgetting at the moment
@csilverman @abackstrom to be absolutely explicit, I think any instance admin should be able to block whatever other instances they want – but they should also be totally transparent about it with new users, so that people know what they're signing up for
@sonya @csilverman @abackstrom
Agree. A simple 'does not federate with' or 'only federates with' (like awoo.space states) on the about would be fine.
What about existing users though? I don't want to have to abandon my account & all its history if, in the future, the admin of my server has a falling out with the admin of another server? (Not that I think that's likely with tchncs.de but if I'd picked another server I might not have been so lucky).
@frankiesaxx @csilverman @abackstrom yeah, I think that's a tough one. multiple admins of new instances have told me "I don't block any other instances right now, but I reserve the right to decide to" — being able to port your identity and bring your social network with you is *the* key missing feature
@sonya @frankiesaxx @abackstrom Heh. Now I'm envisioning some sort of "Hitchhiker's Guide" for Mastodon instances: a hopefully objective site that lists popular communities and provides specific metrics: level of regulation, maturity of the admins and users, general culture/topics, etc.
A few entries along the lines of "don't sign up here—the admin is a galactic asshole who can't get along with anyone" might help make sure everyone at least tries to keep things cordial.
@csilverman @sonya @abackstrom Haha. TripAdvisor for Mastadon instances!
@sonya @csilverman @abackstrom @way Oh thanks! I've been kind of poking around the smaller instances and some of the gnu social sites out there to start following interesting people & bringing them into our federation on tchncs. That's gonna help a lot.
@frankiesaxx @csilverman @abackstrom my friend @way made a version of that! it doesn't include levels of federation or instance-blocking though http://tooter.today/