@jaz We've had an account for a couple of years, and though we've not (yet) enticed many similar music orgs in Wales to join us, we like the civility here and technical openness. (Especially compared to our previous social media choice; left in 2024 for obvious reasons.)

@jaz #tellEveryone that the posts that show up on my feed are the ones my community wants me to see and the ones I've decided are best for me, with no input from a corporation. I decide what hashtags to follow and what people to follow. People decide what to post, what hashtags to use, and what posts from their feed would look good on mine too. Every timeline is a community project built with love, and no one gets to buy my attention.

@jaz just a lot nicer and friendlier that commercial social media. Here I can focus on the conversation and not have my focus disturbed by ads

@jaz No ads. No algorithm.

@jaz #TellEveryone that the Fediverse is where we are building a new kind of social media, with every server being a slightly different experiment in how to build community. No server has to be right for all people, and ideally everyone can find a server that is right for them.

I joined social.coop in particular because i want to actively be part of a cooperatively run social media, not just benefit from a service someone else runs.

@jaz People are just so civilised here. It’s like being back in the EU again. #TellEveryone #Mastodon

@jaz

Most other social media platforms bring out the worst in me.

The Fediverse encourages me to bring my best self.

#TellEveryone

@jaz No ads, no bloody "influencers", no feeling of competition like you have to amass tons of followers, no obligation to be sensationalist for clicks, OK to witter on about sheep or whatever else I fancy, nice to end up following all sorts of people I would never encounter otherwise, some of whom also like to witter on about sheep. Welsh instance is particularly nice as I live here and dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg so it's nice to practice reading Welsh and even trying a bit of my own.🐂👍

#TellEveryone

Hi @jaz Quand je suis arrivé ici en 2007, j'étais encore sur Twitter (5000 followers +) mais je ne m'y retrouvais plus.
J'avais besoin d'un autre état d'esprit qu'il y avait au début de twitter.
Même si nous ne sommes pas d'accord sur tout (heureusement), ici est un endroit safe pour toutes les communautés, ethnies.
On partage, on se soutient, on s'aide, se réconforte, on rit, on s'émeut etc
Je vois Mastodon comme un Irc moderne et un lieu bienveillant même si tout n'est pas parfait.

@jaz It's the platform we are building together. #TellEveryone

Thank you everyone for the amazing feedback! I know I can't expect too much after posting the question in English, but I'd love some non-English replies...

@jaz 👉 #lovesfedi #allimsayin
#telleveryone

@jaz 👉 #lovesfedi #allimsayin

@jaz I am really enamoured with ~the process~ of the Fediverse. Kind of like watching a tree grow, cycling through seasons, gaining branches, shedding leaves.

@jaz I like the fact that I have a proper timeline, unfiltered by algorithms and I can see everything (if u want to). The fediverse seems so much more like a community where I can follow people I find interesting and fun. It’s also a nice surprise when you keep seeing the same people pop up in your timeline regularly even though you don’t follow them, they are just common mutuals - it just makes it feel like such a close knit community.

@jaz I love the existence of a Welsh server. My Welsh is still so bad I would never dare talk to someone, but I'm finding it easier to read Welsh toots (tŵtau?)

@jaz #telleveryone the diy community is equal to none. The emphasis on repair, the #sewing #mending #visiblemending people, the #solarpunk vibe. People take initiatives, ambitious or tiny.

@jaz The sheer amount of people who take great photos and then, after uploading, seeing the positive responses of others; that's entirely unlike that Other Site where it's constant ragebait and bot activity. More cats too, which is obviously a good thing.

#TellEveryone

@jaz There's no algorithm to determine what I see. I see the posts from the people I follow. Period. #TellEveryone

@jaz
The people, of course.

Every single person in here has made the deliberate choice of stepping out of the beaten track. So pretty much everyone here is self-selected for having the ambition of finding their own path through life.
I 💖 it!

[The flip side is obvious - self-selection has costs in terms of overall numbers, entry barriers, accessibility, etc. Unfortunate, but everything comes with both pros and cons.]

#TellEveryone 📢

@jaz You only really get the "own your own data" thing by running your own server, but that's what I do, so that's what I get.

I know I can't be banned or moderated badly by the whole fediverse at once. I know where my data lives, I know where it's backed up, I know I haven't signed away wordwide reproduction rights to anyone. I know nobody will be inserting adverts or biased selection algorithms because I control what runs on my server.

#telleveryone

@jaz

Good morning lovely 🌹
I never used Social Media until I joined the #fediverse it's a welcoming friendly place.
Full of chatty silliness as well as serious discussion which is done in a sensible adult way.

I have made some strong connections with people across the world 🌎 that I would never have met IRL.

THANKS to all of you, you know who you are ❤️❤️❤️

#TellEveryone 📢

@jaz

There are lost of things that I love about Mastodon, but the thing that saves me every day is the ability to edit posts.... there is a cottage industry among my followers spotting my typos (and also occasional analytical miss-steps) & being able to edit the post is just brilliant.

#TellEveryone

@jaz Mostly nice people and algorithm free. #TellEveryone

@jaz Interesting and intelligent people who talk about ideas, not celebrities. I learn something new everyday from my Mastodon feed. #TellEveryone

@jaz
✍️ 📝
Public common good tool in the spirit of Wikipedia I think.
I highly recommended it for the amateur radio operators. A good way to be of service to the citizens and possible disaster recovery organizations like the Red Cross etc. 🙂

I personally like to read from the University professors also. 📚

Excellent way to practice and improve multi language skills.

✅ Ok to use the answer (If judged worthy 😉 ).

👋

@jaz A real feeling of community and no ads! This is how social media should be. #telleveryone

@jaz non-toxic ☢️

@jaz People are generally civil even if they disagree with you.
#TellEveryone

@jaz

Self-hosting is the reason I'll never leave, at this point. I found the Fediverse during the beginning of my journey down the online privacy rabbithole. My threat model has changed since those days, and continues to change, and will. The one thing the Fediverse makes possible, that no corporate social media platform can or will, is the reality of being able to host it yourself. Doing so puts your data in your own hands and no one else's.

#TellEveryone #Fediverse #BetterSocialMedia

@jaz knowing that this community is run by the community. ☝🏽

@jaz The diversity of software stacks that cooperate in making it all works, APIs/protocols that anyone can build on (useful/silly bots, clients, servers, alternative UIs, themes, etc).

#fediverse #bettersocialmedia #telleveryone

@jaz Meaningful interactions, even the bot accounts have human folks behind. Even the corporate accounts have nice people behind

@jaz @Em0nM4stodon I make weird music and learned that it had a name and that a whole bunch of like minded folk were doing that here too. It’s called #BonkWave or #NotBonkWave and these are the finest bunch of new friends that I could hope for. I feel like I am home.

@jaz i like the lack of points, how you only get shown if your post has 1 reply/boost. much less addictive. #TellEveryone

@jaz commercial social media is a pub or club down the high street. This place, run (largely) by volunteers, is the scene at your local community centre.

Just on a night when the Lego Club, photo exhibition, and furry disco are all on.

@jaz

The Fediverse is made up of individual humans. It's chaotic, some parts of it are rude, and there's a learning curve. But the path forward for Fedi is towards democracy, rather than authoritarianism.

#TellEveryone

@jaz

#Fediverse & #ActivityPub shows people are clamoring for an online town square that is not, to quote Frank Zappa, “strictly commercial”. Commercial entities, nonprofits, & everyday citizens all have equal power on this platform — which has not existed on the Internet since the collapse of USENET¹.

Even if it sometimes looks like this…
https://inv.nadeko.net/watch?__goaway_challenge=resource-load&__goaway_id=af0ba41560161defc498a77b9c3e6b8d&v=Oy5ybRNSkb8
…that is what a Free Society looks like.

#TellEveryone

¹ USENET did have access privilege problems that Fediverse does solve.

@jaz I joyscroll for a short while then I reach the end. I close the tab.

This is a weird way to compliment a system.

@jaz #TellEveryone my favourite thing about the fediverse is that it enables a social media service to be optimised for a particular community, and their specific needs. While still giving its members the opportunity to connect to a much larger pool of people.

Fediverse services don't have to try to host everyone in the world to get critical mass. So they can do a better job serving the people who choose them.

@Crissy

@jaz @tchambers I enjoy being here because I can finally read what I want, not what bots want; because it's made by people for people, based on open standards, you can use any client fitting your needs (RSS included, and even considering digital accessibility needs). #accessibility #fediverse #TellEveryone

@jaz #tellEveryone
I actually see content that I signed up for. Not what a shady algorithm wants me to see.

@jaz

I love that I can favorite and comment on videos on other websites using my microblogging account. I also love that I can see new videos, photos and posts from people on different sites, all in the one place!

@jaz For me, it's the people.

There aren't algorithms, or pages that spam you, or posts from groups you don't care about; you follow those who post things you find interesting, you follow hashtags to connect you with content that's right up your street, and your home timeline is tailored to your preferences and only show people or hashtags you choose to follow.

People are helpful, kind, interesting; bad social media has lost sight of that. The #Fediverse reminds us of the good.

#TellEveryone

@jaz Engagement on the Fediverse feels more meaningful than on most mainstream social media. It feels like the percentage of lurkers is lower here too! #TellEveryone

@jaz
> In one or two sentences ...

No.

@jaz There are so many reasons I love the #fediverse

The main one at the moment is that is gives me a safe and happy place to spend my time when I wake up at 2am with nothing to do and no one to talk to (they are all sleeping).

I can scroll away for hours and be entertained and engrossed in new and interesting topics.

I also don't have any pressure to be active until I fully wake up, which is now at 5am.

#TellEveryone ❤️

@jaz No algorithm is a big one for sure.

I also like how each instance can be tied to a geographical area, that's a neat feature.

@jaz People are friendlier and interact with my posts more #TellEveryone

@jaz I like the diversity of people and their interests. #TellEveryone

@jaz I really enjoy the Fediverse as I don’t feel controlled or forced to be exposed to stuff that I don’t want to be exposed to. It feels safer for me to be here; the people I’ve met and connected with are what really make the Fediverse though. Finding people with similar interests through the hashtags is great. Long live the Fediverse!
#TellEveryone

@jaz

On Xitter, I felt like I was whispering in the dark. Here I feel like I'm participating in a larger conversation. I have curated followers and followees. I chose them and they chose me. It's not weird to follow a stranger here or ask to be followed. That's how it works. It's organic. It isn't an algorithm. It's human-centric.

Alt-Text is a big deal here. I'm not visually impaired but I am neurodivergent, and good Alt-Text often provides the additional context I need to understand the image or meme. I like that we are encouraged to use Alt-Text in that way, not as just an exact description or transcription.

Third thing: you can edit your Toots.

#TellEveryone

@jaz Connection with real people and seeing the content I want to see - no algorithms is the best! I have curated a feed of crafters, gardeners, people from the toot.Wales community... #bettersocialmedia sums it up perfectly 😁

@jaz
I can #TellEveryone that somehow it happened that only at #Fediverse I was able to find at some time so many people to follow solely by my interests, and news sources I tend to trust more, that I often spend too much time reading all these toots and interacting with people, that I may need o curb down time spent here :)
Simply speaking, manually picked following of people and tags works better than any automated algorithm.

@jaz I find the general level of conversation to be much less antagonistic. I wouldn't say it's always perfect or non-argumentative but it feels like people are making genuine effort to communicate more effectively and not just spewing whatever unpleasantness they feel like and that's sadly quite rare on the internet. #TellEveryone

@jaz
Probably the best feature is the lack of an algorithm driving content to people that don't want it. My time line is full of makers, artists, academics, researchers, lefties and radicals of various stripes and genders.

@jaz My feed is one I selected, and I don't see ads. I know some of my mods and I can directly support my instance, so I am not the product. I have learned about all kinds of interests and hobbies and points of view I would never have seen on other sites. It reminds me of 1990's internet blog rings, which I loved.

#TellEveryone

@jaz ❤️ tech.lgbt instance by @david where there’s real inclusivity for BIPOC & LGBT+

Feel it’s more authentic to connect with real people here on the Open Web vs. enshittified Big Social

Met awesome individuals like @Em0nM4stodon (when i 1st joined) due to shared interests in privacy & safety online for women and marginalized folx

So many more reasons than what fits in a toot 🔥

#fediverse #BetterSocialMedia #TellEveryone 📢

@jaz

I LOVE the #Fediverse as there are no algorithms controlling what you see and no adverts telling you how to spend your money.

The #Fediverse is a much, much #BetterSocialMedia as our conversations are civilised...even when we disagree with each other, we do so politely and respectfully.

The #Fediverse is decentralised...it's owned by no one person and by everyone. Toots are moderated carefully without quashing free speech but still maintaining a safe space for us all.

#TellEveryone ❤️❤️❤️