This isn’t the first time I’ve moved to a new server, and at first blush it does still feel like a missed opportunity to not be able to move your posts over to the new instance.
I then remember that —beyond potential technical issues— every server is a community with its own policies about content and as such, me showing up with years of content that may not be in line with those policies is a moderation burden that no one is asking for.
@angelo There's a new standard for doing this; the first experimental implementations are being rolled out now. I hope in the next year or two we see servers like Mastodon implement it.
@johnefrancis @angelo I seem to recall something like "live on-line account" maybe?
@angelo It's definitely not perfect; it really depends on your old server being operational, and that there aren't any blocks between your old server and your new server. That rules out two main use cases (old server is taken offline; old server is defederated by many sites on the Fediverse). That said, I think it's a big step forward for data portability.
@evan very interesting!
So: I treat the content I post to any platform I don’t own as ephemeral. If it’s worth capturing in perpetuity, maybe social media isn’t the right place for it.
@timbray that is an excellent point. 🙂
