Here's my first Mastodon post!
My mission out here? To understand and promote Mastodon, the only large European social media platform (to my knowledge).
How can we make more Europeans come to the Fediverse?
My mission out here? To understand and promote Mastodon, the only large European social media platform (to my knowledge).
How can we make more Europeans come to the Fediverse?
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-karlos-
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •The EU institutions should have own instances
and βallβ of the Parliament an account.
perry77@tutamail.com likes this.
Hannah Grace
in reply to -karlos- • • •Inspiring comment, and thank you!
Rafa Font π» πͺπΊ π
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Phoenix Paulina Schmid
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Phoenix Paulina Schmid • • •reshared this
Joe Vinegar reshared this.
nachtet
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to nachtet • • •That's a great topic that I love!
nachtet
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@EUPetitionBot
Hannah Grace
in reply to nachtet • • •EUPetitionSharingDude
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •It simply doesn't work (yet)...
-karlos-
in reply to EUPetitionSharingDude • • •@EUPetitionBot @nachtet Merde ;)
I just had the same idea to make a bot, using IFTTT and a WebHook by URLooker. But a WebHook only works with a payed IFTTT, which I don't have.
So @hpod16 , may be you can tell the ECI to explore the Fediverse or at last provide an RSS feed, to present their Mail-Newsletter at last.
This is the typical "non Fediverse" they have:
(Yes, they are on BlueSky, but the Link to the Fediverse does not work mostly)
Hannah Grace
in reply to -karlos- • • •Thanks for the suggestion. can you give me the link where you took the screenshot?
-karlos-
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@EUPetitionBot @nachtet Its from simply the Homepage:
citizens-initiative.eu
And next to the newsletter, they offer events to. May be those are also good to share here
Home
The ECI campaignHannah Grace
in reply to -karlos- • • •Ahh this is an independent organisation that monitors the ECI, separate from the EU Institutions.
Sorry, I don't know anyone there
nachtet
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to nachtet • • •@nachtet @karlos @EUPetitionBot
Now I do too!
Sometimes when I check a new account, no posts appear, and then a while after I follow them I do start to see the posts
RenΓ© Seindal (MOVED)
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Welcome.
It would be fantastic if the primary online presence of the union could be European.
Hannah Grace
in reply to RenΓ© Seindal (MOVED) • • •One hopes that based on this we'll see a bigger movement to Mastodon.
The European Commission has been here for quite a few years... But follower numbers have always been limited by limited numbers on Mastodon itself.
RenΓ© Seindal (MOVED)
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •The EU institutions could be a driver in adaptability.
Post here thirty minutes before everywhere else, and the journalists will come, and the rest follows.
Tiziano likes this.
RenΓ© Seindal (MOVED)
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Tiziano likes this.
Tom Stoneham
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Welcome!
Your big challenge is going to be understanding and then explaining why Mastodon and other fediverse services are a much better way for Europe to free itself from American (and Chinese) platforms than the Eurosky project!
Hannah Grace
in reply to Tom Stoneham • • •I'm getting a lot of good tips and resources here π
Hoping to be up to speed ASAP and in a position to motivate others to join
midzer
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to midzer • • •Imagine I'm preparing a workshop for people who want to understand and join Mastodon.
What could you tell people to make Mastodon look like a fun place to be?
midzer
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •shopkeeper
in reply to midzer • • •@midzer i usually do a small comparison on how different platforms work in normal use case vs. in extreme use case.
ppl "usually" understand how to use mastodon in a normal way (as if it's similar to twitter or whatever)
the extreme use case as being when bad things happen to a walled-garden platform. its users "may" realize they actually don't have the freedom to choose a different instance without losing communication to their connections (followers & following)
Tony Meredith
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •It's much more about values (like VΓ‘clav Havel) than explaining rules. And some fun!
Hannah Grace
in reply to Tony Meredith • • •@Tony_Meredith I suppose one could say that values can make you join a new platform, but the fun is needed to keep one coming back?
I tend to sign up for all the new platforms (I'm a social media manager, so I want to stay on top of it all) but only the ones that really engage me keep me coming back.
Oh, an active community, that's important. Impressed with reactions here so far!
Geppo
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •I don't read anything about activities like #digitalindependanceday or others.
And that Denmark has an app to avoid or replace US goods is remarkable too. EU should talk about, even DT might get angry
Der Schrank
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •We need more press coverage of the fediverse and stuff like "share on fedi" next to "share on Facebook" and the like. It should be normalized for media and business to be on fedi as well.
So from your standpoint you could fight for public press releases of the EU to include links to official fedi accounts for example.
Thank you for asking!
Tiziano likes this.
Hannah Grace
in reply to Der Schrank • • •I can tell you there are people working on this.
Mastodon was recently included under the "share more" option, but I'll admit it could be even more prominent. It's a first step, more steps to come.
Tiziano likes this.
Der Schrank
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Awesome! Should probably move right to the top of the sharing options. π
Maybe it would make sense to migrate to using the term "fediverse" as well. Away from the product Mastodon, because there are also other products available and competing with their commercial counterparts like Friendica (alternative to Facebook), Pixelfed (alternative to Instagram) and Loops (alternative to TikTok).
(Not to mention various smaller projects and forks or alternatives to Mastodon as well)
Hannah Grace
in reply to Der Schrank • • •you may have to explain to me this difference between Mastodon and fediverse. It's one of these things I don't fully understand yet (be kind, I'm new)
River
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@der_schrank as you're learning about Mastodon and Fediverse, I *highly* suggest checking out some of the resources that @FediTips has released. They're how I learned most of what I know about fedi.
fedi.tips/
Best of luck!
Fedi.Tips β An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tipsFedi.Tips
in reply to River • • •@riverpunk @der_schrank
Hi Hannah, welcome!
About your question, Mastodon is part of a much larger social network called the Fediverse.
I've done an easy-to-understand guide about this at fedi.tips/what-is-mastodon-whaβ¦
There are also lots more guides on the front page at fedi.tips and feel free to ask if you want help with anything specific. I am trying to provide unofficial tech support on here π
What is Mastodon? What is the Fediverse? | Fedi.Tips β An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tipsRocketman
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Welcome!
Good to have you here. If you need anything, just wave ππ
π Lascapi β
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Dorian
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Heya and welcome!
How was/is your onbording experience?
A lot tech savvy people I know, simply say it is still too complicated and either donβt sign up, or when signed up struggle to find content and let their accounts go stale.
It took some work but with hashtags and starter packs I found all I need. Some people are even missing algorithms even though mobile clients mimic them π€·ββοΈ
Hannah Grace
in reply to Dorian • • •@dalcacer I'm loving my first day on Mastodon!
Did not expect this much reaction and now feeling a little shy.
I'm here because we need more people who understand Mastodon / the Fediverse. I know noting, but I'm keen to learn.
And quite frankly, we owe it to Europeans to promote European tech solutions.
Dorian
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Iβm glad youβre having such a good start!
My point is that others struggle with the concepts/software for whatever reason.
There are dedicated pages for onboarding, but I feel a broad coherent campaign with sane defaults would be a greater pull factor.
Hannah Grace
in reply to Dorian • • •The first two times I found it too discouraging and gave up.
I think these days we expect things online to come to us very easily, and we are equally as easily discouraged
njsg
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@dalcacer Mastodon is a higher barrier for me to clear currently, I need to either write a client myself or start using something that is light and either runs outside of a web browser or is compatible with more than just a few browsers. Sadly, Mastodon upstream not only requires JS, it's also using features that greatly restrict the amount of browsers one can use.
(Now a good thing here are the open specifications, meaning that like IRC, USENET and e-mail, one's not tied to some client, my usual example of this is pointing Microsoft Comic Chat, I think that client illustrates the idea of a significantly different interface built on top of an open protocol. I do like this aspect, but it might be less relevant to attract more users globally;... but it should be quite relevant and important for elected officials and EU institutions, of course, just like you'd not publish official documents only in proprietary formats.)
The thing is: the content makes it worth it. So even if it's currently more difficult, I try to have a look at Mastodon, in spite of that.
In another account I follow a bunch of hashtags and I end up having a lot of interesting content (sadly, sometimes overwhelming, I'm eagerly waiting for the ability to put hashtags in lists).
Jan β¦ EckernfΓΆrde
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Fiona Ebner
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Personally, I talk about the Fediverse and why it is important a lot and there are many opportunities, even when just doing small talk. Most people are not happy with being manipulated by big tech, ad-driven social media. For many, I'm the first person to even tell them about the Fediverse. Of course, the vast majority won't join right away, but every impulse helps. I like focusing on positive aspects and advantages, and try to reach the person where they're at right now. And depending on the circumstances it might not be more than namedropping, but I still think it's very important to do. And I do look out for other opportunities to promote it.
I also like pointing people here:
jointhefediverse.net/
Join the fediverse!
jointhefediverse.netHannah Grace
in reply to Fiona Ebner • • •Thanks for the comment, @totientfunction!
I'm enjoying Mastodon so far because it reminds me of a different time on social media.
There was a time I was to taken with social media, I loved it enough to make it my whole career. It's been 10 years since I started working with social media, and I've seen a lot of... change, much of it for the worse. Still believe that social media can be harnessed for good though.
Spar|fin|dig :: Jan
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Gunter
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •iBallesty
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •iBallesty
in reply to iBallesty • • •clew
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Two attractive things IMO:
"channels" of practical information. My city has Fediverse announcements of power and water outages (planned or emergencies), wastewater disease tracking, other stuff it's just handy to see. More time-sensitive than a webpage, less time-sensitive than emergencies or transit outages (I get those over SMS).
Ideally useful info, not just press releases; and really ideally someplace a citizen can report trouble
1/2
@hpod16
clew
in reply to clew • • •"social" is less obviously something for a government to Do, but I bet a government could help translate popular client software into all the national languages, or sponsor "how to host a small instance" the same way there are community classes in gardening or any adult pursuit.
One of my hobbyhorses is that "hosting" is TWO important jobs, the computer side and the human side -- in English it's the same kind of "host" that might run a regular salon, or a friendly bar, etc.
2/2
Hannah Grace
in reply to clew • • •What does it take to host your own server?
clew
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •it's usually called "moderation" online, but IMO it's like parties!
You welcome new people, you have a sense of both the agreed beliefs and the issues that are going to be touchy for your group, you do ongoing organization so people can find the good stuff...
and sometimes you have to throw somebody out though in a good system that's RARE and it always involves some people feeling it was too early and some people feeling it wasn't early enough.
Familiar???
clew
in reply to clew • • •t3sserakt
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Samuel Mumm
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@BlumeEvolution
Welcome in the world of fediverse!
u_urban
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Welcome!
Hannah Grace
in reply to u_urban • • •Freue mich ueber die vielen Reaktionen!
Computeforloot
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Brutus Bunny
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •sax π
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to sax π • • •JT Leskinen
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to JT Leskinen • • •Iβm getting good vibes from this side of the internet so far. Itβs kind of reminding me of my early days on tumblr in 2010. π
Otto Sulin
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Otto Sulin • • •That's a good tip!
Will do that with my old X account!
Veza85UE
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Welcome! By telling them not to overthink it.
1. There ARE plenty of active Europeans on here, in all EU languages, you can really turn it into a nice little anglo-free oasis with the right filters and still have plenty of content.
2. We're not all techies. I still don't know wtf is a Linux, it's fine. If you just want to shitpost and share cat pictures or share stitching patterns or soup recipes, you'll find your people by following hashtags.
3. Show them #FinnCleo
nathan
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •People had to learn what a tweet, a follower or hashtag was when they started using twitter. It has never been a blocker.
Promote good accounts to follow, open up few mastodon instances (1 per EU country or even region) so people starts in an environment speaking their mother tongue and spread the word.
Aaron
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Aaron • • •Got any tips for a Mastodon newbie?
Aaron
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •We're big on alt-text here, so please add it to images you include in your posts.
YOU are the algorithm. If you see something cool or interesting, boosting that post is what gives it legs.
You can follow or share from other Fedi services here on Mastodon.
EVERYONE's posts are an RSS feed, meaning you can literally subscribe to a Mastodon user & see their posts in your RSS reader.
Hannah Grace
in reply to Aaron • • •I appreciate the warm welcome I'm getting here. π
Aaron
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •YW. Small steps, ya know?
I forgot to mention in the tips that you can edit your posts after sending them. That's a godsend. Anyhow, it's great to 'meet' you and welcome to the party. Hope the rest of your day is fantastic.
Leander Lindahl
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •this is my suggestion:
mastodon.social/@leanderlindahβ¦
And this
mastodon.social/@_elena/115762β¦
And you (the commission) should invite researcher @carl to tell you about Masto and the Fediverse. You have the power to make a difference with your presence.
carlheath.se/aboutme/
About me - Carl Heath β Musings on the Internet
Carl Heath β Musings on the InternetLeander Lindahl
2026-01-18 08:01:13
Hannah Grace
in reply to Leander Lindahl • • •well... I'd say keep making the case.
Hannah Grace
Unknown parent • • •Also: I say Europeans because I work for the EU - so that's my personal focus. I want our EU institutions to reach EU citizens, be it here or elsewhere. But of course the fediverse is and should be global.
Cecilia | MeraOrd
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Cecilia | MeraOrd • • •Cecilia | MeraOrd
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Peperlito
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Peperlito • • •If you had to crystallise it in one sentence, whatβs the best thing about posting on Mastodon?
Peperlito
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Peperlito • • •Leander Lindahl
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •did someone already tell you about the starter-packs? They're a great way to get started and find people to follow
fedidevs.com/starter-packs/?q=β¦
Mastodon Starter Pack Directory | Fedidevs
fedidevs.comHannah Grace
in reply to Leander Lindahl • • •So that sounds like a Monday endeavour to me. π
Thanks for the reco!
GunChleoc
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Fedi.Directory β Interesting accounts on Mastodon & the Fediverse
fedi.directoryekari
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to ekari • • •Marcus Rohrmoser π»
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •I don't see mastodon being a #platform. Mastodon.social is but one server. As is eupolicy.social. Among many. Among many non-mastodons. There is no such thing as 'one platform'.
No kings. No landlords. One social web.
P.S.: Greetings to #fosdem and #offdem.
Kalle KniivilΓ€
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •reshared this
WiseGreyOwl π π¦ e filobus reshared this.
RenΓ© Seindal (MOVED)
in reply to Kalle KniivilΓ€ • • •Exactly. The EU should lead, not follow.
Hannah Grace
in reply to Kalle KniivilΓ€ • • •@kallekn
Well, here's a start: @HennaVirkkunen
This is the account of the Executive Vice President of the European Commission, on the official EC instance.
More to come? we'll see...
Kalle KniivilΓ€
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@HennaVirkkunen Yes, a very good start, even though the instance name is a bit clunky and bureaucratic.
π
Lars Henriksen β
in reply to Kalle KniivilΓ€ • • •@kallekn @HennaVirkkunen
I suggest 'EU.4u' as instance name.
andrea_ferrero
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Oblomov
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •well, I'm guessing the first step would be coming to the Fediverse ourselves, so at the very least we're off to a good start there 8-D
The next step would be to convince others to join us, I'm still working on that 8-P
Pino Frisoli
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Fedi.Tips
Unknown parent • • •@clickhere @Trojaner @mastodonie @alex_p_roe
You should be able to see custom emoji no matter which instance you are on.
However, you can only use custom emoji yourself that are on your own instance.
If you can't see custom emoji from another instance, it's probably a temporary glitch.
More info about them at fedi.tips/what-are-custom-emojβ¦
Hannah Grace
in reply to Fedi.Tips • • •Thanks, I appreciate it! π
Fedi.Tips
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •How to add custom emoji to your own Mastodon server | Fedi.Tips β An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tipsBad Joanie π·
Unknown parent • • •That's a fair question, and I'm not sure of the answer.
On the one hand, it's a bit technical for me: I know that sometimes, I can't see custom emojis from other instances, but sometimes I can; and I don't know why!
otoh, they're a bit 'fun,' so are they necessary for a 'serious' instance? (If yes, maybe as a lower priority!?)
Possibly @FediTips has some guidance on this topic?
@Trojaner @mastodonie @alex_p_roe
Hannah Grace
Unknown parent • • •Ok but let me understand this:
I can only really see those icons, if I'm on that Irish instance? Or if my instance supports those? Wondering if it's worth going down the rabbit hole of figuring out how to make these / use these for our official EU Commission instance...
Bad Joanie π·
Unknown parent • • •@Trojaner Haha, this is amazing. (I was going to jump in with some info about emojis, etc., but I think it's mostly been covered.)
Yes, having custom emojis for your server/community is very important. The admins of @mastodonie - an Irish instance - added icons for a pint of stout, Tayto crisps (the national potato chip), Brennan's bread (an indispensable loaf), and (most important of all) a mug of tea. π
@alex_p_roe @hpod16
Hektor
Unknown parent • • •Alex P Roe
Unknown parent • • •Mastodon instance custom emoji list
emojos.inHannah Grace
Unknown parent • • •Alex
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •welcome to Mastodon!
I hope you'll enjoy being here.
As for your mission, It's my belief that explaining exactly what ActivityPub (and not just Mastodon) actually would be a great first step. ActivityPub is the protocol that every Fediverse service uses to dialogue with other services.
I also believe that @_elena and her (I hope this is the right pronoun Elena, if not just make me know and I'll edit) videos explaining the Fediverse would help a lot
Tiziano
in reply to Hannah Grace • •(Nice to see quite some new folks here in the last days, actually.)
I'll be glad to share any tips you may need about it!
I'm a cellist BTW π (no lilac cello, just a boring old classical one π)
Hannah Grace likes this.
Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Alex P Roe • • •I've seen some posts in my feed that offer the option to "translate with DeepL"
Could that be what you mean?
Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Alex P Roe • • •Thanks for the screenshot!
Something else to look into π
Europeans are proud of our many languages, but I have to say not every community manager in the EU social teams can speak all 24 EU languages. π Machine translation like this can come in real handy. π
Hannah Grace
in reply to Alex P Roe • • •DeepL is probably my favourite machine translation service, also, it's European!
Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Alex P Roe • • •Yeah.
We use machine translation to help us understand what people are commenting.
But we never publish anything written or translated by AI. We do have colleagues in every EU Member State who can communicated in the respective languages
Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •BigLinter
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •is it european?
what do i know, im just around, stumbling across stuff... the usual...
Michael Mrak
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Eric
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Ulrich Kelber
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •mherweg
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •The monthly digital independence day is currently a DACH thing. But it can become european!
termine.di.day/
di.day/
Der Smarte Gemeinschaftskalender
termine.di.dayHannah Grace
in reply to mherweg • • •Bastianoso Geratewohl
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Bastianoso Geratewohl • • •And what do you communicate about here?
Bastianoso Geratewohl
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Bastianoso Geratewohl • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •It's an awful place now.
njsg
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@Bastianoso There are quite a lot of places and protocols on the internet that can lead to cool places happening.
I guess in the end it's not so much about Mastodon or the fediverse being good, but just about getting elected officials, institutions and companies to start using it. They shouldn't need to replace what they're already using, they can just complement it (although if they're using TSNFKAT, one might come up with questions regarding the kind of content provided by their bot as a service, and in that case, leaving one of the previously used services could be quite positive...).
Somebody could even come up with something not-quite-mastodon for such use cases, and it could still be integrated in the fediverse and allow a lot of interactions, I guess it doesn't even need to be Mastodon for they to get connected.
And that visibility is probably key to wider adoption. It doesn't help that there are elected officials or public entities which choose to only use commercial, proprietary services to interact with users/voters/..., but adopting something on the fediverse will also add to the visibility of the fediverse, besides increasing their own reachability.
We're even in an age where having a readable web page with a news section or a contact e-mail address is getting less common.
un teclado
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •I think it depends on your instance. In mine we are offered to use LibreTranslate.
I didn't know DeepL, but it's a good looking option. Nevertheless, it's not free software, so you can find some day they deleted the free plan, or started forcing customers to give them any personal data they want.
On the other hand, you can self-host your own LibreTranslate instance (it doesn't need as much resources as you could think for personal usage).
@alex_p_roe @FediTips
Hannah Grace
in reply to un teclado • • •Actually the EU does provide free machine translation services, but you need an account and it's just for:
π£ public administrations
π£small businesses
π£academia
π£non-governmental organisations
π£Digital Europe programmeβ―projects
π£candidates for EU posts
translation.ec.europa.eu/toolsβ¦
AI translation and language tools
Multilingualism, translation and language-based AI servicesFedi.Tips
in reply to un teclado • • •@teclado @alex_p_roe
It does depend on your instance, your admin will choose a translation system if they have one, usually LibreTranslate or DeepL.
Some instances may not have translation at all because the admin doesn't have the resources to pay for it. If you ask your admin to add translation, it might be a good idea to also offer a donation at the same time.
Fedi.Tips
in reply to Alex P Roe • • •Just to be clear, the translation services on here are not "AI" in the sense of ChatGPT etc. They aren't large language models.
LibreTranslate and DeepL use a different technology and were founded years before ChatGPT etc.
The term "AI" has been used a bit too freely by the media to the point where people assume it means awful unreliable stuff like ChatGPT and other LLMs.
Hannah Grace
in reply to Fedi.Tips • • •But that's a topic for a whole new thread...
Fedi.Tips
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Yup. The term is just... it's used so broadly now that it is unclear what it means any more.
It's difficult to even use the term "AI" any more because people assume it means LLMs and generative junk.
Fedi.Tips
Unknown parent • • •@BrennpunktUA
Ah okay, I wasn't aware of that. I hope it's not going down the path of ChatGPT type stuff π¬
Jill β¨
in reply to Fedi.Tips • • •StroomAfwaarts π±
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hi, and welcome!
Two points:
1. People think there's nobody here, because they wait for followers. But that's not how it works. You have to follow others here.
2. Although originally a German invention, there are people here from all over the world.
There are quite a few Mastodon 101 websites out there that explain how it all works, and who to follow, etc. People just have to find them and read.
Hannah Grace
Unknown parent • • •I believe it's German
Alex P Roe
in reply to Jill β¨ • • •Jill β¨
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@alex_p_roe @FediTips
Ich liebe einfach, die Seiten, die sich an die Impressumspflicht halten. π
deepl.com/de/publisher
DeepL-Impressum
www.deepl.comAlex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •online translator
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)Hannah Grace
in reply to Jill β¨ • • •when you find the info you were looking for on a well organised website
Alex P Roe
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •njsg
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@FediTips @alex_p_roe My usual view of this is to think of the different topics covered in e.g. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach, or in university courses labelled "AI".
Even LLMs can be good tools, if properly trained and used. But no, what we get from the same marketing trends that call it "AI" is using it as a generic global solution for everythingTM, which I'd argue is using it wrong.
When I'm trying to refer to it unambiguously, I also tend to use "Generative AI", or perhaps the shorter "GenAI".
(There's also "Generative Autocomplete", and I tend to also think of "GIGO". And now it seems Satya Nadella of Microsoft is boosting the use of "slop".)
ptvirgo
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to ptvirgo • • •I'm a social media manager at the European Commission.
We didn't have enough Mastodon experts on the team (we do have some) so I decided to join Mastodon myself to learn more about what works here, etc.
I went for eupolicy.social after a brief search, looks like it was made for people in the EU bubble, which I very much am.
(despite the fact that I have purple hair and interesting hobbies) π
ptvirgo
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to ptvirgo • • •The European Commission is here already, and I'm just trying to build a little extra knowledge to support my team
ptvirgo
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •No, you did not say expand! Sorry, sometimes I have to ask silly questions to make sure I understand. Feel free to shush me if I make a rude mistake.
It seems like you've enjoyed most of the introductions, at least.
Hannah Grace
in reply to ptvirgo • • •Just making sure I don't overstep or look like I'm promising anything here π
I'm very much here in my *personal* capacity, so I can't talk about anything we may or may not be planning.
I'm here for learning and inspiration π
And also to play around and create content.
I'm having a great time so far, and kind of being reminded of why I fell in love with social media in the first place.
ptvirgo
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to ptvirgo • • •And perhaps a fresh day. It's 11PM over here, time to get off the screen, switch over to one of my favourite #DnD Podcasts and drift off to sleep.
But thanks for asking! π
Hannah Grace
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •ptvirgo
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Ard The Rich
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •"To understand Mastodon" (Fediverse):
If I'd follow you, I'd get all your posts in my feed.
Unlike other platforms, no algorithm filters for "relevance".
So, if I can't handle 30 toots per day from just one person, I can't follow you, in which case I get 0.
In other words, too many toots will decrease your visibility. A paradox probably unique to the Fediverse.
Hashtags can solve the issue. People can follow the tag, and you decide the subset of toots they will see.
Tiziano
in reply to Ard The Rich • •Or, the ones who post 30 toots per day may learn to use the "quiet public" privacy setting π
@Hannah Grace
Ard The Rich likes this.
Hannah Grace
in reply to Tiziano • • •If I use quiet public to respond, will it not appear in people's feeds then?
Because yeah, I am responding to a lot of comments right now
Bitslingers-R-Us likes this.
Ard The Rich
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •That's a good question. Frankly speaking, I'm not sure. The fedi tips make a statement on "hashtag followers" but not on "followers".
I get a lot of feeds where people I follow answer somebody else. But I'm not sure about their settings.
It might not solve the issue, but "quiet public" is good practice, anyway.
fedi.tips/who-can-see-my-postsβ¦
Who can see my posts and replies in Mastodon? How do I choose post visibility settings? How do I send DMs in Mastodon? | Fedi.Tips β An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse
fedi.tipsTiziano likes this.
ikuturso πͺπΊ
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •I think a program that would provide funding to support some types of organizations setting up their own fedi instances could be a good idea for getting more of them on board. That could get all sorts of local information streams people naturally want to subscribe to over here.
Also, looking at for example the Forkiverse you see how effective that can be in getting people to at least try fedi when there's a natural community around something.
#forkiverse #digitalsovereignty
Strypey
in reply to ikuturso πͺπΊ • • •(1/2)
@ikuturso
> a program that would provide funding to support some types of organizations setting up their own fedi instances
Yes! There is so much low-hanging fruit here. Take newsrooms, for example. They don't necessarily need anything as resource-heavy as a Mastodon server. Most of them already publish RSS, showing them how to use existing tools to also publish an AP feed would make much more quality content followable.
@hpod16
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •(2/2)
Stage 2 could be showing them tools for collecting and browsing any replies to posts published by their RSS>AP bot. Tools that allow them to selectively publish comments, a la the newspaper convention of 'letters to the editor'.
Stage 3 could be a consortium of newsrooms sharing a server to create official accounts for their staff, using their employer's domain name. Using TakahΔ, or other AP software where a single server can host accounts under more than one domain.
Tero HΓ€nninen
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •AntΓ³nio Manuel Dias
in reply to Tero HΓ€nninen • • •Influencers will not come here because this platform does not have a central company that (~~explores~~) pays them to create content.
Hannah Grace
in reply to AntΓ³nio Manuel Dias • • •People automatically think of vapid beauty influencers making money with random brands (although, good for them, I ain't here to throw shade).
But really isn't anyone who posts online a content creator? And if you do so successfully and become a thought-leader in your niche, are you not an influencer?
Tero HΓ€nninen
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •@ammdias Since most of the "paid influencing"-business is so closely tied to advertising, I think the road to "promoted content" in Fediverse is very long and complicated.
As you point out, we already have plenty of "content creator"-influencers, even people who make money out of it (selling their own services) but I don't think the advertising ecosystem can ever exist in fediverse the same way it does in VC-driven social media. And that puts some constraints on fedi audience.
Seth of the Fediverse
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Seth of the Fediverse • • •Thank you! π
Itβs giving 2010s vibe on this platform and I love it
Seth of the Fediverse
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •FediDeck
fedideck.appiolaire
in reply to Seth of the Fediverse • • •GitHub - mephistophelesbits/rssdeck
GitHubSeth of the Fediverse
in reply to iolaire • • •@iolaire I love seeing how so many of these projects are to scratch someone's itch more than make a commercial thing.
#FediDeck is mostly my baby and does what I want it to do. That makes me happy. What also makes me happy is that others are finding it helpful too!
Hannah Grace
in reply to Seth of the Fediverse • • •Leave X - Protect Democracy
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •people might get confused. π
theguardian.com/politics/2026/β¦
Meet βAmeliaβ: the AI-generated British schoolgirl who is a far-right social media star
Ben Quinn (The Guardian)Forum Erneuerbare Energie
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •richarddebruin
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Jonas R. (er/ihm)
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Stop promoting X, facebook etc. on the EC website, or at least don't prioritise them (see image). Make a conscious push in the right direction. You have agency, use it instead of staying passive and claiming "but that's where the users are".
Hannah Grace
in reply to Jonas R. (er/ihm) • • •Jamie Cullen
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •I'm a relatively recent joiner, and put it off for several years, because I didn't know how to pick a server. Or what was involved really in picking a server.
I don't know what a solution to that might be. But anything that can be done which eases the transition from: "oh, mastodon, what's that?", to being three days in to having an account, is something that should be done.
I wonder how many people thought it sounded interesting, clicked on a link or two, then clicked away when they saw they'd to figure something out before starting.
Simon Harper
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •Hannah Grace
in reply to Simon Harper • • •You're giving me ideas about starting a thread to collect journalists and news outlets here. Thanks π
Pieter
in reply to Hannah Grace • • •