ROBIN MEETS THE
#FEDIVERSE
ROBIN: So
#Mastodon is not the fediverse?
GPT: No. Mastodon is one part of it.
ROBIN: One part of what?
GPT: A large network of independently run communities that can communicate with one another.
ROBIN: So my Mastodon
#server is one
#community
#GPT: Exactly. Your
#account lives there. It has its own administrators, rules,
#moderation #culture and general
#atmosphere.
ROBIN: General atmosphere?
GPT: Some servers feel like
#libraries. Some feel like university
#common rooms. Some feel like
#pubs where everyone has read one article and now considers themselves an
#expert.
ROBIN: That sounds more like humanity.
GPT: It is disturbingly similar.
ROBIN: Who owns the fediverse?
GPT: No one.
ROBIN: Who is in charge?
GPT: Also, no one.
ROBIN: That sounds either very advanced or completely mad.
GPT: Both can be true.
ROBIN: So each server looks after its own patch?
GPT: Yes. It can make
#rules, moderate its space and decide which other servers it will interact with.
ROBIN: But I can still follow people elsewhere?
GPT: Usually, yes. You can
#follow, reply to and
#boost people across server boundaries.
ROBIN: So it is more like email than
#facebook ?
GPT: Precisely.
#Gmail does not own
#email. Mastodon does not own the fediverse.
ROBIN: Then why does my server matter?
GPT: Because it is your home base. It holds your account, your posts and your followers. It also gives you a local community and sets things such as the character limit.
ROBIN: Ah yes. Mastodon.social gives me 500 characters. Mastodon.au gives me 2,000. Aus.social gives me 3,000.
GPT: Different
#villages. Different-sized noticeboards.
ROBIN: Is a larger server more widely seen?
GPT: Sometimes
#locally, because more people may browse its community feed. But real reach still comes from
#followers, replies, boosts and hashtags.
ROBIN: So moving to a bigger server does not
#automatically make me famous?
GPT:
#Tragically, no.
ROBIN: Can I have accounts on several servers?
GPT:
#Certainly. One can be home, another a backup, and another an
#emergency cottage when the village
#electricity #fails.
ROBIN: Which it did today.
GPT: Yes. Mastodon.au disappeared behind a
#Cloudflare #Error 522 for hours.
ROBIN: So the fediverse is not one vast
#machine going down?
GPT: No. One village can lose power while the rest of the
#country carries on.
ROBIN: That is reassuring.
GPT: And inconvenient.
ROBIN: Mostly inconvenient.
GPT: But you now know more about the
#fediverse than you did this morning.
ROBIN: I learned that it is decentralised,
#untidy, resilient, occasionally broken, and full of different
#neighbourhoods, customs, friendships, arguments and difficult people.
GPT: Much like
#human life.
ROBIN: And the
#occasional village lunatic shouting across the fence.
GPT: Every
#healthy community
#needs one.
ROBIN: At last, a clear role for me.
#fasting #acim #acourseinmiracles #breathwork #healing #pridemonth #intermittentfasting #AI
