If I worked for Mastodon, I would create a turn key solution for parties that want to set up a Mastodon server for all their party candidates.
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@gunchleoc @randahl
I don't understand how logged-in action defends against bad actors who, for example, could upload CSAM material to someone else's private server. Which is Mastodon's default behavior, to cache potentially illegal material provided by a 3rd party.As if these bad actors, as well as the law enforcement they would snitch to, could not get access to a federated logon account?
@ceremus You'd need to be logged in at the server with a local account to see it, a federated account won't do.
Of course, people can still tag you to ensure that the post ends up on your server and it's hard on your mental health to have to look at this shit, but it mitigates the danger of being reported.
Mastodon is working on a system to allow integration of 3rd-party tools and you could use that to get access to a detector, but that will still take a while to get done.
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@kristinHenry @_elena @randahl @MLNow @ProPublica
And the best politicians still have to swim where the fastest currents are.
It is in Mastodon’s ‘DNA’ to create slower waters
@urlyman @_elena @randahl @MLNow @ProPublica
Yes! I am hoping that more of the better leaders and journalists will learn to embrace our slower waters.
To really communicate, beyond the soundbites.
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If I worked for Mastodon, I would create a turn key solution for parties that want to set up a Mastodon server for all their party candidates.
Ilhan Omar is still on X.
Bernie Sanders is still on X.
AOC is still on X.Make it easy for them to switch. Then make sure they are aware of this option.
@randahl @osma I tell people about Mastodon, so thanks for the link. My FB account is still there as I have been with it since the beginning. The people who are my friends are actually only people that I have met, the only one who is a request on my side is Philip George, who writes tremendous short articles.

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@urlyman @_elena @randahl @MLNow @ProPublica
Yes! I am hoping that more of the better leaders and journalists will learn to embrace our slower waters.
To really communicate, beyond the soundbites.
@urlyman @_elena @randahl @MLNow @ProPublica They could also learn some things here, as well.
If they can be bothered to listen and engage.
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@randahl yesterday at FOSDEM there was a member of the European Parliament who was asked why so many politicians are still on X and her answer made total sense (sadly):
Politicians stay on X because journalists are still there, so they feel that if they leave they will become irrelevant / not be written about.
And journalists stay on X because politicians are there.
It’s a vicious cycle
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If I worked for Mastodon, I would create a turn key solution for parties that want to set up a Mastodon server for all their party candidates.
Ilhan Omar is still on X.
Bernie Sanders is still on X.
AOC is still on X.Make it easy for them to switch. Then make sure they are aware of this option.
@randahl @osma
A turn-key solution needs more than just hosting. It's less about making it easy to switch, it's more about teaching them how to do it and why they should.As an individual, where would I even point people to, e.g. if I was emailing my congressman?
Is there an elevator pitch, or a pitch deck? If you had 5 minutes of their time to convince them to change their social media footprint, what would you tell them?
What tools support it? I'm guessing that most orgs that have a social media presence on multiple networks use some tool to help manage it. Skimming quickly, Zoho, Buffer, and Typefully support mastodon, so if they use one of those it's an easy addition to their current workflow.
Is it enough to *also* post on mastodon, or should they also stop posting on Nazxitter? Yes they're trying to reach journalists but they're also trying to reach people who may be even less tech-savvy than the politicians and journalists themselves.
So many questions, maybe someone has answers?
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@randahl yesterday at FOSDEM there was a member of the European Parliament who was asked why so many politicians are still on X and her answer made total sense (sadly):
Politicians stay on X because journalists are still there, so they feel that if they leave they will become irrelevant / not be written about.
And journalists stay on X because politicians are there.
It’s a vicious cycle
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If I worked for Mastodon, I would create a turn key solution for parties that want to set up a Mastodon server for all their party candidates.
Ilhan Omar is still on X.
Bernie Sanders is still on X.
AOC is still on X.Make it easy for them to switch. Then make sure they are aware of this option.
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@randahl Great! And change the name. Mastodon sounds so unappealing.
@sourdoughstereo
You don't have to change the name, but its worth, thinking about other more flexible Fedisoftware. Imo. especially for parties and other organizations there are much better choices here than Mastonon, the one with the most limitations.
@randahl -
@urlyman @_elena @randahl @MLNow @ProPublica They could also learn some things here, as well.
If they can be bothered to listen and engage.
@kristinHenry @_elena @randahl @MLNow @ProPublica
Yes! As you point out, they clearly could be in *both* kinds of place and begin to shift the balance in doing so
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If I worked for Mastodon, I would create a turn key solution for parties that want to set up a Mastodon server for all their party candidates.
Ilhan Omar is still on X.
Bernie Sanders is still on X.
AOC is still on X.Make it easy for them to switch. Then make sure they are aware of this option.
@randahl @osma not only does setting up #Mastodon and properly #SelfHosting it takes quite a lot of resources and time, it's neither easy nor fast to setup either.
I remember @fuchsiii swearing amidst the #JankWare that is Mastodon, because it makes #WordPress look like 30+ years enterprise-grade minimalist #Unix code by comparison.
- Add to that the cost and complexity: Mastodon isn't a simple #XAMPP-esque application any #WebHoster supports, but needs like a rootful #VPS (with decent #IOPS if one wants to host more than a single user and doesn't flush caches daily!)...
But for #Omar, #Sanders and #AOC, these ain't valid excuses as they have paid full time staff on retainer to do their #SocialMedia and compared to the #AntisocialMedia / #MainstreamSocialMedia, the #Fediverse is way less painful and has way more granular and effective #moderation #tools built-in than even paid tools (i.e. #HootSuite) and paid #API|s ever offered on #Shitter!
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@alexfortis @randahl @osma #SourceOrDidntHappen - also I'd like to read their reasoning...
- Cuz I'm shure there's either a #Catch22 or the vote was wrapped with some #Rider that is completely unrelated, as is customary in the #USA!
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@randahl @osma not only does setting up #Mastodon and properly #SelfHosting it takes quite a lot of resources and time, it's neither easy nor fast to setup either.
I remember @fuchsiii swearing amidst the #JankWare that is Mastodon, because it makes #WordPress look like 30+ years enterprise-grade minimalist #Unix code by comparison.
- Add to that the cost and complexity: Mastodon isn't a simple #XAMPP-esque application any #WebHoster supports, but needs like a rootful #VPS (with decent #IOPS if one wants to host more than a single user and doesn't flush caches daily!)...
But for #Omar, #Sanders and #AOC, these ain't valid excuses as they have paid full time staff on retainer to do their #SocialMedia and compared to the #AntisocialMedia / #MainstreamSocialMedia, the #Fediverse is way less painful and has way more granular and effective #moderation #tools built-in than even paid tools (i.e. #HootSuite) and paid #API|s ever offered on #Shitter!
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@ceremus You'd need to be logged in at the server with a local account to see it, a federated account won't do.
Of course, people can still tag you to ensure that the post ends up on your server and it's hard on your mental health to have to look at this shit, but it mitigates the danger of being reported.
Mastodon is working on a system to allow integration of 3rd-party tools and you could use that to get access to a detector, but that will still take a while to get done.
@gunchleoc @ceremus @randahl Granted, these issues are also on #AntisocialMedia and not new.
- Ask @antidiskriminierung why they left #Shitter, and it's mostly because #ApartheidEmeraldBoy & #SwastiCar-Corp owner decided that "#Moderation is for loosers"...https://infosec.space/@kkarhan/116000461559125438
Any service that allows #UserGeneratedContent and #Comments without allowlisting beforehand has the statistical inevitability to be abused for #CSAM, #malware and #piracy.
- At least it's trivial to add #Blocklists in #Mastodon, now the devs need to pull their thumbs out their asses and enable blocklist feed support for good...
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@stinerman why?
@randahl @stinerman yeah, would love to know her reasoning...
- Cuz I'm pretty shure she doesn't DIY all her social media herself...
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@the_moep @randahl @osma @fuchsiii Granted, that doesn't do #Backups, #Restore, deliver a sound configuration you can expose to the #Internet nor prevents bad actors from hammering your instance...
- Also this shouldn't be a necessity. Most people don't #SelfHost their #eMail, and that is way less complex than #Mastodon...
We may feel comfortable #SelfHosting but 99,99% of the "#Normies" who are so #TechIlliterate they'd only think of #Docker as in LifeInvader "Dock" from GTA5 or think of something else with shipping.
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@randahl yesterday at FOSDEM there was a member of the European Parliament who was asked why so many politicians are still on X and her answer made total sense (sadly):
Politicians stay on X because journalists are still there, so they feel that if they leave they will become irrelevant / not be written about.
And journalists stay on X because politicians are there.
It’s a vicious cycle
@_elena @randahl This is why I think we need to adopt the "snowball" approach. We need to keep pressuring politicians and journalists on why they are still on X. And we need to be prepared to being ignored a lot of the time. But occasionally we will succeed. In the Netherlands, for example, @volkskrant no longer posts on X and are working to #LoseTheXLink (still there but defunct). Every small success adds up, until we might one day reach a tipping point. Keep pushing.
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@mihamarkic @randahl @_elena Most of them post their emails on their contact pages. Have you been sending them emails asking them how they can justify staying on platforms such as X? I have. I have asked others to do the same. Have you?
It's not just a case of hypocrisy. It's also true that their social media presence is not their primary focus. If nobody ever approaches them over it, it's out of sight, out of mind for them.
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@randahl yesterday at FOSDEM there was a member of the European Parliament who was asked why so many politicians are still on X and her answer made total sense (sadly):
Politicians stay on X because journalists are still there, so they feel that if they leave they will become irrelevant / not be written about.
And journalists stay on X because politicians are there.
It’s a vicious cycle
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A cycle is only a cycle if you don't step out of it.
And I will also say this, if your political "success" depends on lazy journalists grabbing your lazy messages from X and slap dashing lazy articles with X screenshots of what you "said", then you are not the politician you think you are.
And for the others, what you fear is not what actually will happen. Stepping away from X will not make you irrelevant. On the contrary, it will put you in the spotlight.