Looks like Mastodon (https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/) have taken off (a bit) as alternatives to twitter, so I wanted to create a thread about it. There's a really good article about it here. The cool thing is that you can host your own instance (anyone from any instance can follow you, and you can follow anyone from any instance, it's cool) and control your own fate, and TBH the network has been been around for so long (2007), and so many people have joined recently, I don't see it dying for a long time. 

Here's my account: https://rx14.co.uk/

Thoughts and profile links are welcome. I suggest https://niu.moe/ as a nice instance to sign up to. Discuss.

    I don't use Twitter much aside from casual browsing when all other entertainment avenues have been used up. Made one anyway, it seems like a neat idea but realistically I don't see myself using it too much.

    https://niu.moe/@seel

    Also edited your post so that the username isn't completely garbled up because of the forum thinking you're trying to @ someone.

      I'm also not a huge fan of twitter, but I'm willing to give this a go.

      https://niu.moe/@tn5421

        I haven't typically been a fan of twitter either but I seem to have been hooked by this somehow...

        Posted this at like 1am so I didn't get the formatting perfect lol. Ended up just linking to https://rx14.co.uk/ because it'll just redirect if you're not logged in.

          That's quite appreciated <3

            I guess I don't fully get the point of Twitter. Just seems like a forum but with a complete lack of organisation to me :/

              boi, get dis shit set up at melancho.ly for me

                malmon wrote:

                I guess I don't fully get the point of Twitter. Just seems like a forum but with a complete lack of organisation to me :/

                It's useful for large organizations who wanna keep in touch with their customer base. Aside from that, it's really just celebs tweeting out opinions on random bullshit.

                  Backlash wrote:
                  malmon wrote:

                  I guess I don't fully get the point of Twitter. Just seems like a forum but with a complete lack of organisation to me :/

                  It's useful for large organizations who wanna keep in touch with their customer base. Aside from that, it's really just celebs tweeting out opinions on random bullshit.

                  It's a way to interact with people you otherwise would not.

                    Say hello and introduce yourself <3

                      just a thought but if niu.moe goes down then i technically lose this profile no?

                        seel wrote:

                        just a thought but if niu.moe goes down then i technically lose this profile no?

                        Be sure to export your stuff every so often

                          tn5421 wrote:
                          seel wrote:

                          just a thought but if niu.moe goes down then i technically lose this profile no?

                          Be sure to export your stuff every so often

                          So I could technically transfer this account to my own instance if I chose to?

                            If I was to host my own instance, would the images uploaded by the users of my instance all be stored on my server?

                              malmon wrote:

                              If I was to host my own instance, would the images uploaded by the users of my instance all be stored on my server?

                              Yes, most likely.

                                We have over 110,000 people just on Mastodon alone (not including GNUSocial). I'm sure there will be someone you can talk to!

                                seel wrote:

                                just a thought but if niu.moe goes down then i technically lose this profile no?

                                Yup, however I know the sysadmin and he knows what he's doing.

                                seel wrote:
                                tn5421 wrote:
                                seel wrote:

                                just a thought but if niu.moe goes down then i technically lose this profile no?

                                Be sure to export your stuff every so often

                                So I could technically transfer this account to my own instance if I chose to?

                                Yes, however transferring instance is a bit of a pain right now. See https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon/issues/177#issuecomment-292436343

                                malmon wrote:

                                If I was to host my own instance, would the images uploaded by the users of my instance all be stored on my server?

                                And of all the toots you ever see, unfortunately. Hopefully this will be configurable for the people with little disk space...

                                  RX14 wrote:
                                  malmon wrote:

                                  If I was to host my own instance, would the images uploaded by the users of my instance all be stored on my server?

                                  And of all the toots you ever see, unfortunately. Hopefully this will be configurable for the people with little disk space...

                                  Hmm, the only issue I have with that, really, is that (especially in the UK), I'd have to pay attention to what my users are posting. Or I guess I could just not let other people sign up to my instance? That being said, I'd still need to be careful of what I post!

                                    malmon wrote:
                                    RX14 wrote:
                                    malmon wrote:

                                    If I was to host my own instance, would the images uploaded by the users of my instance all be stored on my server?

                                    And of all the toots you ever see, unfortunately. Hopefully this will be configurable for the people with little disk space...

                                    Hmm, the only issue I have with that, really, is that (especially in the UK), I'd have to pay attention to what my users are posting. Or I guess I could just not let other people sign up to my instance? That being said, I'd still need to be careful of what I post!

                                    Don't worry about trying to follow the letter of the law. Most laws exist to mediate what happens when something goes wrong. If you never do anything terrible, you'll never be in front of a judge in the first place. As long as there's no CP, you'll be fine.

                                      RX14 wrote:
                                      malmon wrote:
                                      RX14 wrote:
                                      malmon wrote:

                                      If I was to host my own instance, would the images uploaded by the users of my instance all be stored on my server?

                                      And of all the toots you ever see, unfortunately. Hopefully this will be configurable for the people with little disk space...

                                      Hmm, the only issue I have with that, really, is that (especially in the UK), I'd have to pay attention to what my users are posting. Or I guess I could just not let other people sign up to my instance? That being said, I'd still need to be careful of what I post!

                                      Don't worry about trying to follow the letter of the law. Most laws exist to mediate what happens when something goes wrong. If you never do anything terrible, you'll never be in front of a judge in the first place. As long as there's no CP, you'll be fine.

                                      Loli counts as CP in England.

                                        malmon wrote:
                                        RX14 wrote:
                                        malmon wrote:
                                        RX14 wrote:

                                        And of all the toots you ever see, unfortunately. Hopefully this will be configurable for the people with little disk space...

                                        Hmm, the only issue I have with that, really, is that (especially in the UK), I'd have to pay attention to what my users are posting. Or I guess I could just not let other people sign up to my instance? That being said, I'd still need to be careful of what I post!

                                        Don't worry about trying to follow the letter of the law. Most laws exist to mediate what happens when something goes wrong. If you never do anything terrible, you'll never be in front of a judge in the first place. As long as there's no CP, you'll be fine.

                                        Loli counts as CP in England.

                                        My condolences.