@FediTips Urgh. I moved to mastodon.social a few months ago (still don’t understand why I did that) and now I should probably move again. Foolishness abounds.

@FediTips what percentage is mas.to?

@FediTips I had to move servers twice already and don't want to do that again soon. Staying on mastodon.social for now, thanks but no thanks.

@FediTips

ain't that the truth....

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p.s. The guide linked in the original post answers lots of questions about this topic and gives advice on where to move, how to move etc.

Don't just join a random server though, try to choose one from a curated list of reliable servers such as https://joinmastodon.org/servers or https://fedi.garden

There are lots of reliable servers on here that have been running for years, for example you can see some good servers listed by founding date at https://fedi.garden/servers-sorted-by-founding-year

@FediTips in fairness this is what is one of the biggest networking challenges #Mastodon has against #bluesky is that you have to pick a server and people just want to sign up. The #GreenParty could use Mastodon today, but can't be bothered to do so, despite having the resources to do so. As they want to target where everyone is even if said platform goes against green party policies.

@FediTips kan se jeg måske skal finde en ny server. Nogen bud på en stabil dansk server med et godt ry? #dkfedi

@FediTips nah. I'm still salty that just by joining where it seemed natural, I got lumped into the "everybody suspects you" server. It's one of the things about Mastodon that simply doesn't make sense. Plus the migration from what I understand doesn't preserve followers, etc.? If I'm wrong please correct me.

@FediTips 25%? Kinda explains why there's so many arseholes there

Please don't spread them out!

@FediTips I'm a happy member of social.tchncs.de OK, yeah, the instance is German, and the Local timeline is mostly in German, but English is more than welcome in the public timelines. Very friendly, very nice place 😍

@FediTips I disagree, they aren't harder to defederate (not that I'm defederating with mastodon.social).

I've heard of several instances defederating with them, though. It's not the end of the world if you do.

@FediTips As I try to understand these concerns, why is the ownership side of this still a worry when, back in January, it was announced that Mastodon GmbH would be placed under the control of a non-profit entity?

@FediTips

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@FediTips
I post here but joined Mastodon on an SF server. Is that better?

@FediTips You are right with every single word. But let me say one thing in defence of mastodon.social: Without them, I would never have joined. I am grateful to this "big instance", because they made everything easy. I felt secure in my early days in the Fediverse, never encountered anything negative. Now I have moved, feeling comfortable and knowing things.
So, let us respect mastodon.social for their groundbreaking work, even though many small instances are "better" for the Fediverse as such.

@FediTips Have multiple accounts on multiple instances

@FediTips

Some instances with aggressive moderation will even block big instances altogether, particularly 👆.

@FediTips

The mastodon.social shaming on this site is such an endless beating.

Not to mention everyone always acts like migration is some cure all, but instances come and go - I've seen it happen numerous times.

Or I'll be at the whims of the people leading that instance and they can decide to do nonsense like ban Threads just bc they want to.

I don't have any of these issues at .social. Ever.

And honestly every time I see a post like this it's another month I'll stay just because.

@FediTips Why not just have caps on how big each instance can get?

@FediTips

I would not give mstdn.social a free pass either.

@FediTips the reason there are so many people on mastodon.social is probably the old, centralized social media mindset where bigger means better, but it's the opposite here, most of the times

@FediTips

it is a rather abusive site, with really horrid moderation, where harrasment and Doxxing is not adressed.

@FediTips I moved to mastodon.social because the instance I originally joined on shut down because they couldn't afford to stay up.

@FediTips also some of us have a much lower threshold for "is it spam?" when it comes from mastodon.social - you might find yourself blocked as probably a spammer for reply/follow/boost behaviour that would get a pass coming from server with lower levels of throwaway accounts.

@FediTips I'm new to Mastodon this week and I self-hosted a single-user instance. Glad to hear I'm helping protect the Fediverse, as well as having lots of fun theming and customising! 💜 💫

#Fediverse #JustJoinedMastodon #FOSS #SelfHosted

@FediTips That particular server also happens to be the origin of at least three-quarters of all of the spamming and abusive toots I've ever seen here.

@FediTips thanks for talking about this. the community needs to be actively involved in keeping a network decentralized if they want to reap the benefits of decentralization.

Good thing moving to another server can even be done on here. Things look so bleak in this regard outside the Fediverse. (bluesky might have this functionality but no one runs servers other than bsky.social)

@FediTips Larger servers also tend to have worse moderation

What does that mean, exactly?

@FediTips

are harder to defederate, threatening safety.

nonsense.

@FediTips On the other hand won't shut down for ... whatever reasons.

@FediTips
How does the transfer of follows / followers work when one or both accounts require approval for followers? Does the person get a new follow request?

@FediTips My friend, I believe you are wrong about this — though I do not question your sincerity or your noble intentions. We've had this disagreement before, and I am so bummed that you're still launching these unfair and inaccurate attacks.

More significantly, I question (again) your using the @fedi.tips account – which many people naturally assume is an official and impartial and 100% solid source — which it *is* mostly, except for this one strange blind spot — for a personal vendetta.

@FediTips

25%?!! Oh come on. You'd think the folks IN FAVOR OF DECENTRALIZING WOULD DECENTRALIZE.

Or even fork off another one of their own. Or multiples.

@FediTips I’m on @Flipboard joined after 2025 Inauguration Day. So far so good and hopefully stay this way for many more years

@FediTips More and more I see the value in running your own instance. I haven't tried with the Mastodon software yet, but #gotosocial was shockingly easy (for someone with a fair amount of linux experience anyhow) to get online in a tiny VPS.

I set it up to collect online writing I wanted to save while deleting Blog, FB, Twitter, LJ, Reddit, etc. Mostly longer-format stuff, and I was able to set post length to 12000 to accommodate some of the larger pieces.

@FediTips I was going to start on an art mast but i didn't want to post my art because I hear fedi hasn't been good about protecting artists from scraping.

As a new user I wasn't sure if I was able to see the rest of mastedon, I kind of get how it works a little better now

@FediTips I have a beef with this instance and its Mods, you wouldn't believe it. Seeing your post, I don't know, I feel validated, so thank you.

@FediTips

I think I changed my position in time.
If you are already on mastodon.social and you are a regular fediverse user , it's probably a good idea to move to another instance.

But this is for people that happen to know already the advantages of a decentralized network.
Reality is that most people not in #fediverse, don't care still, they don't get the point.
They'll understand it later on.

I think new users, in the account creation process, should land to mastodon.social or anyway a predefined default server/group of servers.

They will have the freedom to move later on, if they remain active users, if they care.
The exit door is something they don't have elsewhere.

This could be represented graphically leaving a default that's so natural to accept if you are in a hurry, like everyone trying a new thing is.
See how graphically is represented the onboarding procedure on BS.

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@FediTips

Can you tell me your source of data for calculating the percentage of the Fediverse that is on any given server? I have used instances.social for my research but my numbers don't align with yours, and I am genuinely curious (not nit-picking)

@FediTips
never understood moving. all you do is make an account elsewhere and use that account. can import w/e old stuff you want. have about a dozen rn. if one gets too noisy I filter or quit visiting until things settle down. several have gone away like mozilla.social. no big loss. don't really ever want old posts. maybe pictures. posts delete after a few weeks, which is probably for the best.

instance sorting; https://fediverse.observer/

@FediTips These problems sound theoretical. What actual harm/problems have occurred because of one or more of these "reasons"? I've been on mas.social since I migrated and haven't seen/experienced/heard of anything.

@FediTips If you're going to move, do it early. It's easy to move but you can't move the posts you've already made. So you lose your history.

Feature request. Migrate your history when moving servers.

@FediTips the problem with the fediverse is its fragmentation.
There should be a registry where all instances automatically register on setup, which checks in regular intervals if the instances still exist.
This is not rocket science.
Private, non-federating instances could opt out on installation and later as well.

@FediTips possibly because it’s the one you get offered when you download the mastodon app and the more it spreads, the more users we may have who just want the easy entry path (I firmly believe FB only took off when it came pre installed on mobile phones so the cost of entry was tiny). If we can lower the barriers or persuade them to not make it default then that would be ace.

@FediTips I concur! Fully intend to move along but haven't had the time to hunt down a new home. Soon!

I will hate to lose my early "joined on" date, and the getting the early experience for brand-new features.

But I should do it and maybe move somewhat often so I retain familiarity with how to do it, so I'm easily mobile.

I did a migrate for a less-used biz identity and it was very smooth and painless, I must say.

@FediTips another tip if you migrate from mastodon.social you will get another feed called local. Let's be honest mastodon.social's local feed is extremely busy. On other smaller instance local feed is like a actual local community (like your neighborhood).

@FediTips I started on a smaller server but using a combination of an old box that was collecting dust, a copy of Debian 12, a new domain and noip I rolled my own at home, which is one of the "selling" points of mastodon. Granted it does take a certain level of technical knowledge and bravery, but a few bucks, an old machine I don't care about, and a good dose of trial and error ( follow the instructions carefully) and I am my own instance. Then migrate and follow.

@FediTips Also always a good idea to mute the entire mastodon.social instance

@FediTips
They were my first instance and honestly, if I had stayed there, I probably would have left Mastodon completely. The people there were not nice to new comers at all. Shaming or demanding I follow "the rules" which are very confusing to someone new. So many reply guys and nitpicking it felt like a softer version of Twitter. After seeing a similar post of yours, I migrated elsewhere and it was a much nicer experience.

@FediTips Mastodon.social also shadow bans political views that are antigenocidal

They do not tolerate support of the Palestinian people or exposure of the genocide and you will lose your account and you will lose all your followers and people will not be able to follow you from there even without defederation

@FediTips I joined social, because the instance I was on initially was shut down with a week's notice. I was thinking of joining more of an art instance, but had no time to research which ones are big enough/have big enough staff that it won't happen again :/

@FediTips @e_tuco bueno, pero es un punto de entrada fácil. Es necesario para empezar. Lo más expulsante del fedi es no saber qué servidor poner al momento de registrarse. Eso se aprende después. Tiene que haber un punto de entrada fácil