@pluralistic has made clear that #SwitchingCosts are a major impediment to big name accounts leaving #twitter, #Facebook, #YouTube, etc.

But, there are also #NotSwitchingCosts for refusing to adopt #fedi

For example, I've stopped all donations to my favorite #blog sites that continue to maintain #CSM accounts and cross post corporate cancer.

You can too.

Just a tip for any new developers in the Fediverse space:

If you're making any sort of "search" function to browse Fediverse posts, make sure that it respects people's "Discoverability" settings in the Mastodon software.

This might not be the easiest thing to do.

However, given that 73% of people on Fediverse are interacting with Fedi strictly through Mastodon, you don't have much choice.

If your project gets widely known and you're disrespecting people's privacy options, you'll be highly vilified and probably Fedi cancelled.

#Fedi#Fediverse#ActivityPub

Apparently I have a habit of finding out about Fedi projects ahead of time. Causing me to get excited and leak them before they're announced.😅

That's either whoops or hurray!

Still trying to judge which it is.🤣

Posted about BridgyFed before Ryan announced it was live and just found out I posted about sub.club before it was announced officially.

Ya'll not very good at hiding things tbh!

#Fedi#Fediverse

In the runup to #FediForum, I'm curious to hear if anyone has any hot takes about the future of the #fediverse. There's an incredibly strong case to be made for orgs to move away from Twitter, but the majority of people (aka managers in organizations that currently run a Twitter account) I've come across who share this view see Mastodon as a non-starter because "its confusing" or "its missed its window" (not my opinions BTW). They'd rather invest org resources into building a presence on Threads or BSky.

My thought is that by investing in #Fedi you can get a wildly outsized voice in a really grassroots network, but a lot of times that lands on deaf ears.

@davidallengreen
There's an ethical side that existing replies (that have reached me) haven't mentioned: by sharing between #Threads and #Fedi, you're helping #Meta to entrench its position here, and I don't trust its motives. Every time Meta moves into a space, it behaves badly, acting in its own interests at the expense of its users. That's why some of us, including me, have migrated to instances that block Threads.

Note: The Island One Network or "ION" is simply the first of what will be many island networks ("archipelagos"), the intent of the "One" network is to provide a proof of concept and "anchor network" that can provide a sort of index of other available islands, and will eventually spin off into launching other networks.

Quick breakdown: What is an Island network?

An island network model is an opt-in (allowlist or "limited federation") network; contrasted to the current fediverse, which is overwhelmingly an opt-out (denylist) model.

In an island network model, no one controls "the network" because an island network (or "archipelago") is simply a conceptual term for a collaborative block of servers who mutually allowlist each other, rather than relying on blocklists, and agree to abide by at least a core set of common standards.

You can learn more about island networks here which explains things in more detail: That page also links to how to create an island and/or a network. It also explains how you can host your own island for ~$8 or less per month (depending on your hosting provider).

What's an Island?

Islands are fedi servers with a smaller population (recommended 50 or less per island), democratized by being cheap to host ($8/mo or less, depending on hosting provider, easily covered by donations), and configured in allowlist mode (or "limited federation"), with open signups disabled (reviewed signups are fine, or invite-only links), creating a much less porous network. By contrast, mastodon.social is a Continent, and uses denylists, not allowlists, like most fedi servers.

Continents makes it very hard to enforce norms or expectations of behavior due to their style of federation. I don't have to really explain this very much, as this is the water you're swimming in now. It's how you're reading this post.

Island networks themselves have rules, and the rules are "whatever that island network says they are" and by asking to join the network, you agree to follow those rules and help enforce them, along with allowlisting the islands in the network, as they will be allowlisting you back in return.

The best part of all of this is that we don't have to write new code for this. We don't have to wait for any particular dev timetable, this is available now.

This uses all the same existing fediverse software. Your apps will still work (and most support the ability to toggle between multiple accounts.) There can be Mastodon islands, GoToSocial islands (my preference), Akkoma, Catodon, Pixelfed islands, all strung together into a larger archipelago! The only requirements for an island is that the server software has to support allowlist mode, rather than denylist (this is also known by Mastodon as "Limited Federation").

Are there any existing island networks or archipelagos?

Yes, the Island One Network or ION.

Currently, there are now three GoToSocial servers forming the basis of the new ION closed federation network, although the allowlist will only grow over time:

https://uno.1sland.social (Island One)
https://dos.1sland.social (Isla Dos)
https://tres.1sland.social (Isla Tres)

Note about "closed federation": A closed federation island network is unreachable via the wider fediverse, and only federates with other islands on its allowlist. (Open federation networks that allowlist continents can exist, but someone else will have to build that one.)

Signups are open for all three above servers, though space is limited. I'm looking for a couple admins, too, to basically "take over" Isla Dos and Isla Tres as admins and help govern the network. Note that every admin and every moderator have a governing role (and a vote) in a network.

The population needs to expand across servers, rather than creating new monoliths. So, rather than joining one of those servers, for those looking to add their island server to the network, the current server allowlist will always be found here, along with documentation and some (very basic, but important) rules for the network itself:

I'm on the 'Uno' server (@oliphant@uno.1sland.social) as an admin as a means of testing the network via ION.

I would like to prioritize slots for BIPOC willing to join, and invite friends, including those who might have been run off of Mastodon in the past. This is a closed network, meaning it only federates with other islands and does not connect to the rest of the fediverse.

There is no account migration, you create a new account to join an island network. Your island user, as part of your associated island server, may encompass multiple networks.

I encourage you to create your own island, your own networks, and/or join mine.

#IslandNetwork#IslandOneNetwork#ION #fedi #fediverse #Mastodon#MastoAdmin