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Another option: Sign up at masto.host for $6/mo and run your own instance, they rate that as good for up to 5 active users, so you could even invite some family

Another option: Sign up at masto.host for $6/mo and run your own instance, they rate that as good for up to 5 active users, so you could even invite some family or friends. I almost went that route, but someone I knew did that and invited me to join theirs. Review: It has been speedy. https://masto.host/ https://masto.host/

mdaEyebot 4y ago
Is it really too much to ask for people to host their own content on a cheap VPS? Wouldn't that neatly solve the content moderation problem? You register your server on an index or two, and you choose what your server will publish and accept. Each user would be responsible for finding a hosting provider who doesn't have a problem with what you post, and problematic content reports would go right to the hosting providers. The indexers could basically be DNS for usernames. The AWS free tier would cover 99% of people, and between VNC and web UIs, you wouldn't necessarily need them to ever touch a shell. Plus, requiring a reasonably consistent public IP address would help to cut down on bulk spam.
- mabcat 4y ago
  For sure it's too much to ask. Get started on Twitter: 1. go to twitter.com 2. enter your name and phone number Get started on Pleroma: https://docs.pleroma.social/backend/installation/debian_based_en/ https://docs.pleroma.social/backend/installation/debian_base... Get started on Mastodon: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/install/ https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/install/ [page 1 of 12] For the full effect, do the install with an iPhone.
  - mdaEyebot 4y ago
    Does it sound elitist to say that maybe a small barrier to entry could make for better quality social networks? Especially if the tradeoff was giving users more creative control over their spaces? I guess you wouldn't get billions in ad revenue that way, but your expenses could be miniscule, and isn't it possible that a rapacious profit motive is part of the core problem with Meta, Twitter, & co? Or are there really too few people in the world who could figure out how to log into a <$5/mo cloud VM?
- kixiQu 4y ago
  https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ Almost a third of American adults can't achieve computer tasks comparable in difficulty to "delete an email message." Only about a third can manage tasks comparable to: "You want to find a sustainability-related document that was sent to you by John Smith in October last year."
- valdiorn 4y ago
  "Is it really too much to ask for people to host their own content on a cheap VPS" That is the most out of touch question I have ever read on the internet. It is hilariously ridiculous :) I'm a professional developer with active AWS and DigitalOcean accounts and there's no way in hell I would spend time setting up my own mastodon instance. Can you imagine my tech illiterate cousin who likes to tweet about celebrity gossip doing this? People hosting their own social media servers is pure delusion.
mabcat 4y ago
masto.host was an option yesterday, now it looks like it won't be an option for the next few days. I was about to install self-hosted Mastodon but the machine load and amount of admin chores seemed too high. I've installed self-hosted Pleroma instead. Pleroma has 2% the DAU count of Mastodon, I'm starting to wonder if I'm missing out on the main experience, but I also don't want the main experience to be "server administration".

mdaEyebot 4y ago

Is it really too much to ask for people to host their own content on a cheap VPS? Wouldn't that neatly solve the content moderation problem? You register your server on an index or two, and you choose what your server will publish and accept. Each user would be responsible for finding a hosting provider who doesn't have a problem with what you post, and problematic content reports would go right to the hosting providers. The indexers could basically be DNS for usernames. The AWS free tier would cover 99% of people, and between VNC and web UIs, you wouldn't necessarily need them to ever touch a shell. Plus, requiring a reasonably consistent public IP address would help to cut down on bulk spam.

mabcat 4y ago
For sure it's too much to ask. Get started on Twitter: 1. go to twitter.com 2. enter your name and phone number Get started on Pleroma: https://docs.pleroma.social/backend/installation/debian_based_en/ https://docs.pleroma.social/backend/installation/debian_base... Get started on Mastodon: https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/install/ https://docs.joinmastodon.org/admin/install/ [page 1 of 12] For the full effect, do the install with an iPhone.
- mdaEyebot 4y ago
  Does it sound elitist to say that maybe a small barrier to entry could make for better quality social networks? Especially if the tradeoff was giving users more creative control over their spaces? I guess you wouldn't get billions in ad revenue that way, but your expenses could be miniscule, and isn't it possible that a rapacious profit motive is part of the core problem with Meta, Twitter, & co? Or are there really too few people in the world who could figure out how to log into a <$5/mo cloud VM?
kixiQu 4y ago
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ https://www.nngroup.com/articles/computer-skill-levels/ Almost a third of American adults can't achieve computer tasks comparable in difficulty to "delete an email message." Only about a third can manage tasks comparable to: "You want to find a sustainability-related document that was sent to you by John Smith in October last year."
valdiorn 4y ago
"Is it really too much to ask for people to host their own content on a cheap VPS" That is the most out of touch question I have ever read on the internet. It is hilariously ridiculous :) I'm a professional developer with active AWS and DigitalOcean accounts and there's no way in hell I would spend time setting up my own mastodon instance. Can you imagine my tech illiterate cousin who likes to tweet about celebrity gossip doing this? People hosting their own social media servers is pure delusion.

mabcat 4y ago

masto.host was an option yesterday, now it looks like it won't be an option for the next few days. I was about to install self-hosted Mastodon but the machine load and amount of admin chores seemed too high. I've installed self-hosted Pleroma instead. Pleroma has 2% the DAU count of Mastodon, I'm starting to wonder if I'm missing out on the main experience, but I also don't want the main experience to be "server administration".