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> How do I find a server that ‘matches’ me but doesn’t make me seem like an over-enthusiastic single-issue or single-hobby dedicant Just don't care about it th

> How do I find a server that ‘matches’ me but doesn’t make me seem like an over-enthusiastic single-issue or single-hobby dedicant Just don't care about it that much, really. My main account has been at https://functional.cafe https://functional.cafe for years now, but I'm posting about pretty much everything there: programming, music, art, politics, current events, shitposting. > and also isn’t run by someone whose (perhaps currently unespoused) views I’d find problematic? Ask someone from your friend circle who's already on Fediverse, but also see the above point.

jrmg 4y ago
Just don’t care about what the first thing people will see that’s specifically about me says about me? I don’t think I can bring myself to do that.
- flkiwi 4y ago
  Then signing up for a general instance (mastodon.social, mas.to, etc.) makes sense. It's like (as in exactly like) signing up for gmail vs. having a custom domain.
  - Joeboy 4y ago
    https://mastodon.social/ https://mastodon.social/ isn't allowing new signups, https://mas.to/ https://mas.to/ is returning a cloudflare error page for me.
    - flkiwi 4y ago
      It's an exceptional growth period for the servers. Twitter used to have failwhales, and gmail used to require invitations. It will stabilize. (And, if you happen to be interested and have the skillset, you could deploy your own instance. I wouldn't be surprised if there's already a VPS provider that already has pushbutton mastodon deployment in place.)
      - Joeboy 4y ago
        So, it's exactly like signing up for gmail if gmail was down and you had to either wait for them to fix it at some undetermined point in the future, find another email provider or set up your own email server instead.
        flkiwi 4y ago
        Much of the history of the Internet has been exactly like that. New services (or new-you-you) constantly going down with an influx of new users, services (like email) that allow anyone to set up their own machine ... this mild and temporary inconvenience is familiar. A week from now it will be fine. But I think that's the important point. Right now, there's nothing wrong with Mastodon. Mastodon is working fine. A couple of servers that people commonly encounter first are having growth issues. But those servers aren't Mastodon any more than Gmail is email.
        Joeboy 4y ago
        Well, I would say it's a problem that a lot of people are trying to join the fediverse and it's currently quite difficult and confusing to do so. I would further say there's a marketing problem that Mastodon advocates keep saying this situation is normal, expected and it's working fine, which is obviously quite offputting.
        bee_rider 4y ago
        It is a community project, there isn't a centralized marketing message or anything like that. If the community is growing as fast as their servers can handle it, that seems like a fine situation?
        Joeboy 4y ago
        I sincerely hope it can conquer its current growth and signup issues and the unnecessary reputational damage inflicted by its advocates.
        4y ago
    - phoe-krk 4y ago
      This problem is literally solved by OP. Search https://instances.social/list#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min-users=50&max-users=500 https://instances.social/list#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min... for the whole list of instances accepting signups, choose the most generic-sounding name, check it out, register there.
      - Joeboy 4y ago
        Did you see the list? Finding a "generic" instance that's open to signups honestly isn't easy, right now. I ended up on fosstodon.org, which is not as generic as I'd like but seemed like the least terrible option I could find in half an hour.
      - jrmg 4y ago
        How do I ensure I’m not picking one that won’t, now or in a few days or weeks or months end up being associated with views I find problematic? What I’m worried about is my reputation - what the server I’m associated with tells others about me (the argument that those others are wrong in making assumptions doesn’t comfort me). These hazards are probably very unlikely, of course, but the alternative of ‘how about I just avoid all these hazards’ is the one my lizard brain is picking.
        etrautmann 4y ago
        I think you’re worrying too much about this particular point. If it becomes noxious, migrate later.
        jrnichols 4y ago
        what's more likely to happen is that the instance will go offline for some reason and never come back. We had this happen with an adult material related instance. It became brigaded by another crew who flooded it with very illegal material. The users were helpless to do anything but report it, and soon the whole instance was gone. It was a very unfortunate and frightening view into what can quickly happen with the fediverse.
        andocars 4y ago
- BryantD 4y ago
  This is not at all obvious, but it's fairly easy to move your Mastodon account and leave a forwarding notice behind: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/moving/ https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/moving/
- kixiQu 4y ago
  FWIW, most of us don't pay that much attention to it unless it's an instance with a very good or bad reputation, and even then, new users aren't really presumed to know what they signed up for.
Kiro 4y ago
If this is the best response hardcore fans of Mastodon can come up with, I don't have much hope.

jrmg 4y ago

Just don’t care about what the first thing people will see that’s specifically about me says about me? I don’t think I can bring myself to do that.

flkiwi 4y ago
Then signing up for a general instance (mastodon.social, mas.to, etc.) makes sense. It's like (as in exactly like) signing up for gmail vs. having a custom domain.
- Joeboy 4y ago
  https://mastodon.social/ https://mastodon.social/ isn't allowing new signups, https://mas.to/ https://mas.to/ is returning a cloudflare error page for me.
  - flkiwi 4y ago
    It's an exceptional growth period for the servers. Twitter used to have failwhales, and gmail used to require invitations. It will stabilize. (And, if you happen to be interested and have the skillset, you could deploy your own instance. I wouldn't be surprised if there's already a VPS provider that already has pushbutton mastodon deployment in place.)
    - Joeboy 4y ago
      So, it's exactly like signing up for gmail if gmail was down and you had to either wait for them to fix it at some undetermined point in the future, find another email provider or set up your own email server instead.
      - flkiwi 4y ago
        Much of the history of the Internet has been exactly like that. New services (or new-you-you) constantly going down with an influx of new users, services (like email) that allow anyone to set up their own machine ... this mild and temporary inconvenience is familiar. A week from now it will be fine. But I think that's the important point. Right now, there's nothing wrong with Mastodon. Mastodon is working fine. A couple of servers that people commonly encounter first are having growth issues. But those servers aren't Mastodon any more than Gmail is email.
        Joeboy 4y ago
        Well, I would say it's a problem that a lot of people are trying to join the fediverse and it's currently quite difficult and confusing to do so. I would further say there's a marketing problem that Mastodon advocates keep saying this situation is normal, expected and it's working fine, which is obviously quite offputting.
        bee_rider 4y ago
        It is a community project, there isn't a centralized marketing message or anything like that. If the community is growing as fast as their servers can handle it, that seems like a fine situation?
        Joeboy 4y ago
        I sincerely hope it can conquer its current growth and signup issues and the unnecessary reputational damage inflicted by its advocates.
        4y ago
  - phoe-krk 4y ago
    This problem is literally solved by OP. Search https://instances.social/list#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min-users=50&max-users=500 https://instances.social/list#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min... for the whole list of instances accepting signups, choose the most generic-sounding name, check it out, register there.
    - Joeboy 4y ago
      Did you see the list? Finding a "generic" instance that's open to signups honestly isn't easy, right now. I ended up on fosstodon.org, which is not as generic as I'd like but seemed like the least terrible option I could find in half an hour.
    - jrmg 4y ago
      How do I ensure I’m not picking one that won’t, now or in a few days or weeks or months end up being associated with views I find problematic? What I’m worried about is my reputation - what the server I’m associated with tells others about me (the argument that those others are wrong in making assumptions doesn’t comfort me). These hazards are probably very unlikely, of course, but the alternative of ‘how about I just avoid all these hazards’ is the one my lizard brain is picking.
      - etrautmann 4y ago
        I think you’re worrying too much about this particular point. If it becomes noxious, migrate later.
      - jrnichols 4y ago
        what's more likely to happen is that the instance will go offline for some reason and never come back. We had this happen with an adult material related instance. It became brigaded by another crew who flooded it with very illegal material. The users were helpless to do anything but report it, and soon the whole instance was gone. It was a very unfortunate and frightening view into what can quickly happen with the fediverse.
      - andocars 4y ago
BryantD 4y ago
This is not at all obvious, but it's fairly easy to move your Mastodon account and leave a forwarding notice behind: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/moving/ https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/moving/
kixiQu 4y ago
FWIW, most of us don't pay that much attention to it unless it's an instance with a very good or bad reputation, and even then, new users aren't really presumed to know what they signed up for.

Kiro 4y ago

If this is the best response hardcore fans of Mastodon can come up with, I don't have much hope.