note for those reading my mastodon post

Post: mastodon: a very vague overview

I do not in any way want to discourage people using it; in fact, the opposite. I think it's great fun and is definitely fulfilling a need for me.

It does not, however, replace anything we're using now (though it's not a terrible alternative to twitter even though it's not that either, at all). Like Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook (I assume), LinkedIn, LJ/DW, Reddit etc it doesn't replace or replicate so much as create a different beast entirely. There are similarities to other sites but it's really its own thing. For me, it works gangbusters in that really weird area of Category of Thing I Am Super Into but avoids Only About This Thing I Am Super Into All the Time Forever At a Very Very High Professional Level That Is Terrifying and WTF.

If you're interested but intimidated, my best advice is to join a Very Large Generalish Site, which may seem counter-intuitive but you can be sure you won't be personally noticed immediately while you flail about wondering what the hell is going on (I joined the open source software server and posted and I had three people like "Hiya Person!" and me going "I don't even know HOW TO REPLY OH GOD WHAT" which was fine and funny but that may not be your thing).

Now.

As I am getting my degree so I can go into open source software, I'm very into exploring mastodon and other Federated software options, so I am thinking of opening one specifically for me to learn the backend, watch the API calls (web service) and explore how the database works. I'm currently researching how much it will cost me monthly and getting advice on setup and how much work I'll need to do and if I have time for that matter. But the concept of the Federation is most likely the future of the internet in some way so this is probably something I need to really catch up on.

If I do, I will need guinea pigs for that to be users, and who better than my friends? So I may post here and a few other places to get volunteers to make accounts. If you're interested vaguely in joining a server but would like one where you know for a fact your admin knows less than you do, or vibe on the idea of a server that will literally be my lab to post random macros for me to see how the server processes and stores data, or want to learn how to administer one in a controlled environment, or learn with me the backend, I'd love to hear from you while I research and decide what to do. Yes, this will include me randomly turning different things on and off to see what happens, but everyone will be warned ahead of time Experiment #15 What Does This Do? is in progress. It'll be fun!

I figure if we flail, we flail together, I always say.

Comments

[emrinalexander]

I'd definitely love being a guinea pig if/when you do this.

[seperis]

I am thinking of letting every user be Sysadmin for a day. I think everyone should get the opportunity to go mad with unlimited power at least once in their lives.

[emrinalexander]

YES! Going mad with Unlimited Power has always been one of my dream life goals.

[brooksmoses]

I'd like to be a guinea pig for this. It sounds interesting, but also I don't really have a particular reason to create an account except that something like this sounds fun, and also I expect that the people who would join you for this are likely to be people I'll like talking to.

[princessofgeeks]

I would be very interested in getting an account with you next summer after I am retired and have more brain space for new things.

[treefrogie84]

i mean, i trust you running a server significantly more than i trust anyone else, so, if you're down with the usual incredibly casual user, yeah, i'll volunteer

[clo_again]

Same; when I saw a tweet explaining that the server admins have access to all your data and they could be anyone with a server and money to throw at it, I went D: and was thinking about noping out of Mastodon entirely but I’d feel a lot better with seperis in charge.

[musesfool]

I'd be interested.

[bluedreaming]

I would love this! Sounds super fun.

[out_there]

Maybe. If the set-up could be explained to me in very small words and I was not expected to be at all capable of doing... whatever people do on Mastodon. I'm intrigued if this is where the internet is headed but at the same time, I remember Geocities -- while I'm capable of figuring out HTML I was never terribly good at it and was very, very happy to use AO3 instead.

[seperis]

If the set-up could be explained to me in very small words and I was not expected to be at all capable of doing... whatever people do on Mastodon. I'm intrigued if this is where the internet is headed but at the same time, I remember Geocities -- while I'm capable of figuring out HTML I was never terribly good at it and was very, very happy to use AO3 instead.

That's part of my motivation, honestly? I figured doing it myself would give me an opportunity to learn something new and my friends a way to explore it comfortably and safely without having to worry. Plus, I'm going to post what I learn about literally everything in there and what it means for users. I figured it's an even trade; users let me use them as guinea pigs, and I offer somewhere safe and easy to learn about it and get used to it without pressure or worrying they'll do something wrong. Plus, you all know me and know my favorite thing on earth is explaining cool things to people until you want me to lose my voice, so not like I won't be rewarded for this; I get to explain cool things!

[sprocket]

Count me in for flailing. Expect random strong feels about the Fandom of the Day and the Feature I Haven't Figured Out Yet.

[seperis]

Count me in for flailing. Expect random strong feels about the Fandom of the Day and the Feature I Haven't Figured Out Yet.

Oh hell yes>. I am totally going to test drive our server to see everrrything it can do and what options are available. And I kind of want to rotate users into Sysadmin for a day or some short period of time so they can see how it works on the that side as well. I mean, some people might want to run their own instance one day and a lab-server is a good place to get their feet wet so to speak.

[azurelunatic]

Huh!

This sounds much better than setting up an account, doing nothing with it, and getting banned for no reason that I am aware of some months later.

[lurkmuch]

Oh thank god, someone wants to explain this. I would be interested in being a guinea pig as well!

Currently flailing around on Fandom.Ink, by which I mean haven't figured out how to post yet let alone reply.

[nonplussed]

Volunteering as tribute too! I've had an empty account there for some time and always wanted to explore it a bit more -- would love to be exploring with other people!

[nafs]

Willing to be a guinea pig, severely unlikely to sign up to mastodon if the admin isn't someone I know and trust. With the caveat that I need to have internet working at home first. (If you were wondering why I stalled out on the vid project the current state of having 15 gigs of high speed mobile data per month until my ISP/the company they lease the infrastructure from unfucks the lines for my new building is why)