atomicpoet

atomicpoet, 8 months ago to random

I have to admit, I'm a bit frustrated with myself right now.

It turns out that I've been mistaken all year long. I was under the impression that Pleroma didn't have the capability for account migration. However, I recently discovered that it does, although the process is not particularly user-friendly.

Unlike most server software that usually have separate settings for account migration or a simple option under Settings > Data Import / Export, Pleroma takes a slightly different approach. You need to navigate to Settings > Security and scroll all the way down to the bottom of the screen.

Once you've reached that point, you'll be presented with two options. The first one is called "Account aliases" and it allows you to smoothly transfer another Fediverse account to your Pleroma account. The other option, called "Move account," helps you migrate your Pleroma account to another Fediverse software server.

It's a bit disappointing to note that there isn't much in terms of documentation or tutorials available on how to go about this account migration process with Pleroma. I personally had to invest a significant amount of time and effort into researching and figuring it out on my own.

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Another article on the Fediverse that seems to miss the mark, written by someone who may not fully grasp what it actually is. They've gathered a group of individuals who also may not be familiar with the Fediverse. However, I do have some thoughts on this.

Having had plenty of experience in social media marketing, I can say that the worst question a marketer can ask is, 'Why should I care about [x]?' If you have to ask that question, then it's best to continue not caring and focus on something else.

The Fediverse isn't designed to cater to marketers; if marketers choose to be a part of it, they should come with the intention of serving the Fediverse.

Why? Well, because the ultimate goal of marketing is to connect with people. If you view the Fediverse as a tool solely for achieving your own goals, you're bound to fail. However, if you recognize that this technology is all about fostering connections, then there may be some hope for you.

Another point worth mentioning is that some journalists have a tendency to label the Fediverse as Web3, which is simply inaccurate and can damage their credibility. Let's put an end to that misconception. The Fediverse has no association with cryptocurrency, blockchain, NFTs, or any of that realm. In fact, many individuals on the Fediverse openly oppose those concepts.

So, to all the journalists out there, please refrain from referring to the Fediverse as Web3 and let's ensure accuracy prevails.

https://digiday.com/marketing/wtf-is-the-fediverse/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Just wanted to share some exciting news with you all.

My colleague, the talented @reiver, is currently hard at work on an awesome project called #PostFreely. It's actually a fork of the popular #WriteFreely blogging platform.

Together with other brilliant developers, they're brainstorming a bunch of potential new features for PostFreely. I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how our beloved Fediverse blogging platforms keep evolving. Pretty awesome, right?

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

So, according to @mastodonusercount, there has been a remarkable upsurge in new Mastodon account sign-ups lately! And get this, in just the past hour alone, we witnessed a whopping +2,068 new registrations!

This surge appears to be linked to Elon Musk's recent statement about the potential paywalling of X (formerly Twitter). Honestly, I must admit, I find this possibility rather exciting 😁

If you want to dive deeper into the details of the potential paywall, you can check out this article from Variety: https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/elon-musk-charge-all-x-twitter-users-fee-1235726693/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

ActivityPub 1.0.0 for WordPress has officially been released! 🎉

One of the biggest additions is the ability to set up blog-wide "catch-all" accounts, which is a fantastic new feature. It provides more flexibility compared to the previous account setup.

In terms of adoption, the plugin has already been installed on an impressive 42,831 WordPress blogs! It's amazing to witness how ActivityPub for WordPress is gaining popularity day by day.

But here's the news that truly gets me pumped up: ActivityPub support for Wordpress.com (also known as "Dotcom") is on its way! This means millions of WordPress.com users are going to join the Fediverse. Just imagine the possibilities! Currently, there are around 70 million new posts and 77 million new comments made on WordPress.com each month. The addition of ActivityPub will open up the Fediverse to a whole new level!

While Threads joining the Fediverse has sparked a lot of discussion, I believe the inclusion of WordPress (both self-hosted and Dotcom variants) could have an even more significant impact. It's an exciting time indeed! 😄

https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/14/wordpress-blogs-can-now-be-followed-in-the-fediverse-including-mastodon/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

I wanted to give a shoutout to @gabboman for introducing me to this awesome new #Fediverse platform called #Wafrn. I had no idea it existed until now!

From what I've seen, it's like a Tumblr-like service where you can easily share and curate different types of media. I must say, they've done a great job in terms of user-friendliness.

If you're curious, I've attached some screenshots for you to check out. And hey, feel free to explore Wafrn for yourself at this link: https://app.wafrn.net/dashboard/exploreLocal.

@fediversenews

Wafrn screenshot
Wafrn screenshot

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Switzerland's government has taken a step towards a more independent digital presence by creating their own Fediverse server. The server, social.admin.ch, will represent key departments such as:

• Federal Departments of Foreign Affairs (FDFA)
• Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA)
• Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER)

We can also look forward to updates from Federal Council spokesperson André Simonazzi. This move highlights Switzerland's commitment to open, secure and autonomous communication channels.

Let's hope that more governments follow suit and join the Fediverse. It's essential for government communications to have a reliable platform that isn't reliant on any private American individual or entity. You can read more about it here:

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-authorities-to-join-social-media-alternative-mastodon/48808086

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Do any of you happen to remember a little gem called Delicious? It was such a fantastic site back in the mid-2000s and really showcased the magic of social media in discovering and sharing awesome content.

Unfortunately, after Yahoo! acquired Delicious, it slowly fizzled out and lost its charm. The founders eventually managed to reclaim it, but it was too late to revive its former glory.

But guess what? We're in luck! A new service called Postmarks has emerged, channeling the spirit of Delicious. The exciting part is that it's federating through ActivityPub, which means social bookmarking is finally finding a home in the Fediverse!

Here's the best part: Postmarks is immune to the fate that befell Delicious at the hands of Yahoo!. If one server goes down, another will rise to take its place. Since Postmarks is built on Fediverse server software, our bookmarks will truly become a part of the digital commons.

I, for one, am absolutely thrilled about this news! If you want to know more, check out this blog post from Postmarks developer Casey Kolderup:

https://casey.kolderup.org/notes/edf3a659f52528da103ea4dcbb09f66f.html

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Wow! It's astonishing to see how little Sprout Social understands about the Fediverse in their recent blog post aimed at helping marketers comprehend decentralized social media.

They claim that the Fediverse is similar to the Metaverse, but in reality, they couldn't be more dissimilar apart from the common "-verse" in their names. The only platform, Immers Space, attempting to bridge the Fediverse and Metaverse is currently very niche. It's disheartening that Sprout Social fails to acknowledge this crucial distinction.

To make matters worse, Sprout Social mistakenly associates the Fediverse with blockchain technology. But let me set the record straight – popular platforms like Mastodon and Firefish don't utilize blockchain in any way. Finding a Fediverse server that actually uses blockchain is like searching for a needle in a haystack, with the largest one having a meager 79 active users. It's clear that Sprout Social needs to do their homework on this front.

Furthermore, Sprout Social claims that many Fediverse networks are guided by DAOs, but where is the evidence? The platforms people actually use are not governed by any DAO. As someone who is familiar with the server firefish.social, I can confirm that it certainly doesn't rely on a DAO for its operations.

It's incredibly misleading for Sprout Social to include Steemit, Lens Protocol, and Hive Social in their list of Fediverse platforms. These platforms may dabble in cryptocurrency nonsense, but they do not employ ActivityPub or any decentralized protocols like Diaspora, OStatus, DRFN, or anything else that truly enables genuine federation within those social networks.

Perhaps Sprout Social could gain valuable insights into the true nature of the Fediverse if they paid attention to the "Fedi" in "Fediverse" – federation. Only platforms that facilitate real federation among multiple servers can be considered part of the Fediverse. Any platform that lacks this fundamental aspect, despite their claims, simply does not belong.

If Sprout Social plans on capitalizing on Fediverse-related features for their software, they should seriously reconsider their approach – and they should do it quickly!

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/decentralized-social-media/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Did you know that SoraSNS for iOS has this awesome feature called "Explorer" mode?

It's actually pretty handy because it helps me find interesting content from all over the #Fediverse that it thinks I might enjoy.

This could be a real game changer for those who feel like discoverability is a bit lacking on the Fediverse.

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

And guess what!? micro.blog has climbed up to become the 10th largest server on the Fediverse. It's pretty interesting to see that now we have three of the top 10 Fediverse servers that aren't Mastodon.

But hey, let's take a moment to give micro.blog the attention it deserves. It's a Tumblr-like platform, part of the #Fediverse community, and it's been around since 2017. One of the great things about it is that it allows for syndication to various other platforms like Facebook, Medium, Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Flickr.

Now, here's an interesting tidbit - unlike other Fediverse services, micro.blog doesn't fall under the "free as in freedom" or "free as in beer" category. It's actually a proprietary platform that operates through subscription services. However, they do offer a 30-day free trial to give it a whirl, and after that, the base rate for a micro.blog account is $5/month.

I'm genuinely curious about what has contributed to the recent surge in user registrations on micro.blog.

SOURCE: https://fedidb.org/network?cursor=eyJ1c2VyX2NvdW50Ijo5OTkyNSwiX3BvaW50c1RvTmV4dEl0ZW1zIjpmYWxzZX0

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

I came across this blog post on Mashable titled "Everything you need to know about the fediverse." I gotta admit, I don't think they covered much at all. It barely scratches the surface when it comes to explaining the Fediverse.

You see, the most crucial thing to grasp about the Fediverse is that it isn't controlled by a single entity or a group of huge corporations. It's built on server software that anyone can access. Mashable does touch on the fact that the Fediverse is decentralized, but they fail to highlight its true democratic potential, which is that absolutely anyone can run their own Fediverse server.

With just a little bit of technical knowledge, you can set up a Mastodon, Lemmy, or Firefish server on platforms like AWS or Digital Ocean. And if you prefer having it on your own hardware, even a Raspberry Pi would do the trick.

Oh, and here's a cool option if you lack technical expertise: you can rely on a fully-managed hosting provider, like @spacehost, to handle all the heavy lifting for you.

Now, why do I find this to be the most important aspect of the Fediverse? Well, owning and controlling your social media experience is paramount. It allows you to keep your online life away from the prying eyes of Meta and X (formerly Twitter), who seem to love spying and tracking your every move. By running a Fediverse server, anyone can take charge of their own online presence, which should rightfully be theirs. After all, your life is your life.

https://mashable.com/article/what-is-the-fediverse

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

So, lemmy.world has just climbed up the ranks and is now the 9th largest server on the Fediverse. Quite an achievement, isn't it?

Now, here's something interesting. Out of the top 10 servers, lemmy.world is only the second one that isn't based on Mastodon. Pretty cool, right? The other server that breaks the Mastodon mold is misskey.io.

This development is actually really fantastic for promoting diversity in server software within the Fediverse. It's great to see different platforms flourishing and adding more flavor to our online social interactions.

SOURCE: https://fedidb.org/network

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Just wanted to give you a heads up that #Mastodon has recently announced an "End of Life" notice for Mastodon 3.5.x.

Starting from 2024, they won't be providing any security fixes for this version. So, to ensure your safety, it's highly recommended that you consider upgrading to Mastodon 4.1.x. You can find more details here:

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v3.5.13

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

#Mastodon is actually turning into quite the interesting phenomenon, almost like the social media version of Doom. It's fascinating to see how people are pushing the boundaries and making it work on all sorts of devices!

Just recently, there's been a Mastodon client developed specifically for Apple II, and surprisingly, it's quite impressive. Almost all the features you'd expect on Mastodon are there; from viewing timelines and receiving notifications to even creating content warnings. The only things missing at the moment are bookmarks and polls, but I have a feeling they'll be added in no time. It's genuinely an impressive endeavor!

Who knows what will come next? I'm personally excited to see if someone manages to make Mastodon work on a Texas Instruments Ti-99/4A Ti-84 calculator. Now that would be something truly remarkable! 😉

https://www.colino.net/wordpress/en/binary-release-of-mastodon-for-the-apple-c/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Here's how the rebranding from Twitter to X has affected Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon:

In the first week (July 23-August 5) of the rebrand, Threads downloads dropped 70%, leaving the app ranked 16th Overall. But Bluesky and Mastodon saw downloads increase by 180% and 15%, respectively — an indication that those fleeing the new X largely turned to Bluesky instead.

However, in the weeks that followed (August 8-20), Threads saw an uptick in downloads with growth up by roughly 50% while also moving up one spot to 12th Overall in the category rankings. By this time, Threads had also rolled out a number of new features, including a chronological feed. Bluesky and Mastodon, on the other hand, saw downloads decline after the rebranding of X subdued, with installs dropping 25% and 40%, respectively.

The “X-odus,” in other words, has not settled on a new platform.

In other words, the rebrand to X has been everyone else's gains.

What's more notable to me, though, is that Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon are either federated or are intending federation in the near future.

On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be much of a migration to emerging centralized social media platforms. Nobody's talking about Hive, Tribel, or Post -- all Twitter alternatives that gained notice in November 2022.

The future of social media seems to be decentralization.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/28/x-saw-weekly-active-users-and-rankings-drop-post-rebrand-but-twitter-lite-installs-grew/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 9 months ago to fediversenews

Great blog post by @Edent regarding Mastodon search. I largely agree.

Federated search is much more complicated than search on a single site. Not only do you have to contend with the reality that posts exist on thousands upon thousands of servers, you also have to consider that each server has a different culture regarding what to do with those posts -- and whether or not they should be indexed for search.

https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2023/08/some-thoughts-on-mastodon-search/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 10 months ago to fediversenews

Few people have been talking about this, but #Meta recently added the ability to verify your #Threads profile on #Mastodon.

So it looks like Meta still cares about the Fediverse.

Have any of you verified your Threads profile on the Mastodon?

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/09/meta-adds-ability-to-verify-your-threads-profile-on-mastodon/

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 10 months ago to fediversenews

Just wanted to share some exciting news from @reiver!

We had initially planned to support #Kbin as the next software for #SpaceHost. And let me tell you, it's definitely something we're eager to roll out.

However, we've noticed a surge of enthusiasm surrounding #Firefish lately, with loads of folks asking about it. So, listening to popular demand, we've decided to make Firefish available next to those who are patiently waiting on SpaceHost's waiting list.

Stay tuned for more updates and get ready to dive into the amazing world of Firefish soon!

@fediversenews

RE: https://mastodon.social/users/reiver/statuses/110892423163512213

atomicpoet, 10 months ago to fediversenews

I just stumbled upon some exciting news about #Pixelfed. It seems like they've experienced a tremendous surge in popularity over the past month, with a whopping 20,000 new accounts joining their platform! And guess what? Around 10,000 of them have become part of the vibrant pixelfed.social community.

As of now, Pixelfed boasts a remarkable total of 172,615 users! Isn't that amazing?

By the way, I'm really curious to know what @dansup has to say about this sudden influx of new users. His perspective would definitely shed some light on the matter.

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 10 months ago to fediversenews

Really excited about @Feditext which will have native support for #Firefish.

Also one of the developers, @vyr, made a Galaxie Wars demake for the PICO-8—so I’m definitely loving what she builds 👍

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 10 months ago to fediversenews

#Misskey has recently crossed the milestone of 600,000 accounts and, if things keep going as they are, we're expecting it to reach a whopping 1 million by the end of the year. Quite impressive, right?

Now, there's been some talk about #Lemmy already hitting the 1 million mark, according to certain stats trackers. However, personally, I think that count might not be entirely accurate. But hey, who knows?

Either way, it's looking more and more likely that Misskey or Lemmy will become the second Fediverse software to have a million accounts. That is, of course, unless neither #Bluesky nor #Threads decide to federate this year. So let's stay tuned and see what happens, shall we?

Source: https://fedidb.org/software

@fediversenews

atomicpoet, 10 months ago to fediversenews

I wanted to share this awesome article with you by @thisismissem. It has been getting a lot of attention lately, and I totally get why. But you know what? There's this one snippet in there that really resonates with me on a personal level.

If you’re an instance administrator or moderator, I do urge you to try to keep the atmosphere of the Fediverse cooler: try to avoid publicly making call-outs and shamings. You might find that an email or a chat with the other person or team might resolve the issue more amicably. Not every administrator or moderator has all the context and historical knowledge that you do, and they may also be dealing with things that you are unaware of, so please, treat each other with kindness, even in the face of potential awfulness.

I just wanted to take a moment to share something that has been bothering me lately when it comes to how certain admins handle issues. It's not about complaining, but more about expressing my thoughts and hopefully finding a way to improve things.

So, over the past week, I've received what I can only describe as Fedidrama. But what bothers me the most is the lack of communication. It seems like some admins just jump straight to conclusions without even trying to reach out first. I mean, I didn't receive any messages on Matrix, no emails, no DMs... It's like they assumed the worst and didn't bother to ask me for any information or discuss their concerns with me.

To be honest, this approach doesn't feel right to me. I understand that nobody owes me anything in terms of connecting with my server(s), but if someone is going to assume bad intentions, shouldn't they at least talk to me to confirm if that's the case? It's only fair, right?

On a more personal note, I have to admit that Fedidrama doesn't bring me any joy. I'm not the type of person who eagerly watches drama unfold and asks for more popcorn. In fact, it actually stresses me out, especially at times like this when I've been dealing with health scares. However, I feel a sense of duty and obligation because I have a larger goal in mind: creating a better Fediverse.

But let's not dwell on what has already happened. If there's one piece of life advice I think is worth sharing, it's this: as an admin, it's important not to get caught up in unnecessary conflicts. Even if you win and prove yourself right, you'll still end up smelling like... well, you know. And let's face it, nobody enjoys being around someone who smells bad.

What we, as admins, need is a bit of sanity. We should assume a baseline of good faith and stop seeing other server administrators as adversaries by default. Unless I explicitly state otherwise, please assume that I am NOT your enemy.

Together, let's work towards building a better Fediverse and fostering a more positive and supportive community.

https://medium.com/@thisismissem/the-fediverse-has-a-mental-health-problem-4cb4845dfee1

@fediversenews