Self Hosting is an Unhelpful Term

Mathew Duggan has a brilliant post called "Self-Hosting Isn't a Solution; It's A Patch". In it, he (correctly and convincingly) argues that compelling people to run their own computer services is a complex and distracting crutch for the current problems we face.

It's expensive to self-host, there are moderation problems, and the difficulty level is too high for most people.

But, in my opinion, I think he misunderstands something about self-hosting because, as a term, it is both misleading and unhelpful. When people say "Defund The Police" what they mean is "Move funds away from miliary style policing and give it to trained mental health professionals" - what people hear is "Abolish the police and let anarchy reign".

The ability to "Self Host" doesn't just mean "run this on a Raspberry Pi in your cupboard and be responsible for constant maintenance". Yes, you can do that if you're a masochist, but it isn't restricted to that.

To me, "Self-Hosting" means "I am in control of where I host something". I currently pay a company to host this blog. It has previously been hosted on Blogger, WordPress, my own VPS, and a variety of other services. Tomorrow I could decide to host it with a big company, or I could run it from my phone. I get to choose. That's what "Self-Hosting" is - a choice in where to host.

Similarly, Mastodon allows me self-host my account. I can have my content on one of the big servers and let them do moderation, storage, and maintenance for me - or I can move my account anywhere I choose. To a server in my cupboard and back again.

Email is similar. I know people who've gone from CompuServe, to HoTMaiL, to Gmail, to their own domain, then to OutLook. Their address-book moves with them. Forwarding rules ensure incoming email is routed correctly. They can choose to actively moderate spam, or outsource it. They can pay a company to host, keep backups in their basement, or watch adverts in return for services.

I agree with nearly everything Mathew says in his post. It is absurdly privileged to think that running your own services is something normal people want to do and are capable of doing. Strong regulation helps everyone, people want simplicity, and ecosystems can be fragile.

But witness all the people moving over from Twitter to new networks. Do they care where their data is hosted and how it is maintained? No! But they want to move their social graph with them. And when BlueSky and Mastodon collapse, people will want to move again.

In the UK, I have the ability to move my phone number between hundreds of providers. If I'm particularly techy, I can even run my own infrastructure and route the number there. People love the fact that they can leave crappy service providers and move somewhere cheaper or with with better customer service or whatever it is they value. I think that's a form of self-hosting; I get to choose who provides my services.

Similarly, I believe people have a desire for "self-hosting" which is difficult for them to articulate. They want to move their data around - be it old photos, a social graph, or a username. Most of them don't really care about the underlying technology (and why should they?) but they do care about continuity of service and being able to escape crappy service providers.

So, that's my reckons. Self-Hosting means you can choose where to host, and I think most people can find value in that.

What do you think?

#fediverse #ReDeCentralize #SocialNetworks

7 myths about “defunding the police” debunked

Howard Henderson and Ben Yisrael argue that far from being a radical movement, 'defund the police" is a well-researched, evidence-based policy proven to save lives and reduce a reliance on law-and-order policing.

^Brookings

#flohmarkt needs an #accessibility review to leave beta phase.

Is there someone in the #fediverse who can help on #a11y?

Boosts highly appreciated!

codeberg.org/flohmarkt/flohmar…

Accessiblity overhaul

Okay, this is a big one and ongoing effort. So definitely not doable in a single PR. Let's find accessiblity issues on flohmarkt: * not keyboard navigateable * not properly labeled for screenreaders * mediocre color contrast * more?

^Codeberg.org

Bohužel ale nejsou schopni/ochotni zprovoznit #bridge z jejich nového #Bluesky do #Fediverse 😬🙄🤷🏻‍♂️.
Psal jsem jim již 2x 😊😕.
@archos

@respektcz.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy
@ferdas.bsky.social

🎉 Die heutige #FediverseSprechstunde ist zu Ende.

Ein großes Dankeschön geht an @crossgolf_rebel für den super Vortrag zu den Einblick in die #misskey Familie. Wir haben alle sehr viel gelernt und es beweist sich wieder, wie vielseitig die verschiedenen Anwendungen im #Fediverse sind.

Die Präsentation hat uns Rebel zum Download zur Verfügung gestellt:
s3.iceshrimp.de/iceshrimp-repl…

Im Dezember wird es keine Fediverse-Sprechstunde geben, da feiern wir Weihnachten, Silvester und sind mehr im realen Leben mit Menschen zusammen.

🗓️ Der nächste Termin für die Fediverse-Sprechstunde steht bereits fest: Donnerstag 23.01.2025 um 19:30 Uhr
Dazu wird es einen Beitrag zu Hubzilla von @pepecyb geben.

Weitere Details folgen.

Lang lebe Fediverse!

Für Interessierte an #LiboriSocial haben wir unter start.libori.social eine Willkommens-Seite eingerichtet, die den Start auf #Mastodon und im #Fediverse erleichtern soll.

Schaut gerne mal rein. 😁 🦚

#NeuHier

Před pár dny jsem tu sdílel info, že botník press.coop končí a že se jeho boti stěhují na Flipboard.com.

Dneska jsem se tomu trochu věnoval a ukončil 2 boty, ale hlavně...

Na Flipboard.com aktuálně běží reálně několik stovek velmi zajímavých informačních zdrojů, počínaje ofiko @NationalGeographic a konče třeba @BBCNews.

Když si do Explore zadám Flipboard.com a nechám zobrazit všechny výsledky, je jich opravdu moooc a jsou hodně zajímavé, tak to zkuste.

#fediverse #tip_mastodon

Im @eulemagazin@mastodon.social #Newsletter gibt es einen #Bluesky #Guide mit einer klaren Nutzungsempfehlung.

Kein einziger der fragwürdigen Punkte wird angesprochen oder die #Fediverse - #Bluesky Bridge erwähnt.

Hm, schade ... 🤔
#FediKirche #digitaleKirche #digitaleNachhaltigkeit #selbstbestimmtDigital

V rámci dnešní prokrastinace jsem dal unfollow účtům, které jsou 1) víc jak rok mrtvé a 2) nesledují mne. Udělalo mi to radost a cítím se trochu volněji

Odslednul jsem i pár mlčících Pirátů. Ti sice jistě dostanou za pár měsíců příkaz ke kampani na všech sítích a obživnou, ale o takové nucené účty nestojím. Nešel jsem na #fediverse, abych byl produktem pro cílenou kampaň.

Ve fediverse slýchám, že potřebujeme obsah, ale čím víc nad tím přemýšlím, tím víc docházím k tomu, že spíš potřebujeme interakce.

Sítí, kde většina lidí jsou pasivní konzumenti a kde většina obsahu je prázdná, protože je dělán na objem, máme dost.

Za sebe můžu říct, že si chvilku ve fediverse užiji víc, když přečtu deset postů a na část zareaguji, než když jich pasivně projedu stovku. A myslím, že v tomhle je krása fediverse, že to jde.

TLDR pomaleji skrolujte. 😁

#fediverse #content

loops.video has 10K+ users 🥳 🚀

#loops #fediverse #tikTok

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This afternoon, an acquaintance joined a Mastodon instance and asked me which "celebrities" are present in the Fediverse, as if it were important to determine the value of a social network based on that.

I told him that the most important user in the Fediverse is him. Just as it’s you, reading this. Someone who has decided to interact with others freely. Who has chosen to trust their administrator (or create their own instance) more than they trust those who run traditional, monolithic, centralized social networks.

So, I want to thank all the friends of BSD Cafe, whether local or not, for being here and making this place what it is. And I thank all my friends in the Fediverse, who make my timeline lively, interesting, intelligent, fun, and thought-provoking - every day, at any time.

#BSDCafe #Mastodon #Fediverse #SocialNetworks #SocialMedia #Community #Trust #OpenSource #DigitalFreedom #JoinTheFediverse

Wen soll man wählen?

Es wäre schon wünschenswert, wenn sich die #Grünen in stärkerem Maße #selbstbestimmtDitgital zeigen würden, z.B. im #FediVerse.

Und wo ist eigentlich das #Bündis90 geblieben, in den Jahren?

#BDK24

@noam @support @Friendica Support

Fediverse users: Follow @bsky.brid.gy to allow #Bluesky users to find and follow you.

Bluesky users: Follow @ap.brid.gy to allow #Fediverse users to find and follow you.

#BlueSky #Friendica

New: A Conceptual Model of ATProto and ActivityPub

You might want to know a little bit more about how #Bluesky and #atproto works, without needing to know all the technical details. This is a high level overview of how to think about how atproto works, and how it differs from #ActivityPub.

It is also a reflection on the concepts of decentralisation and federation, and what they bring to both the #fediverse and the #atmosphere

Read at: fediversereport.com/a-conceptu…

Fehlerhafte Beiträge von Peertube Beiträgen?

Soll das eigentlich so sein das Peertube Beiträge so dargestellt werden?

Das Video ist ja einwandfrei. Aber die Darstellung der Links darunter ist doch ein wenig sinnfrei.

#Friendica #Frage #Beiträge #Peertube #Fediverse #Darstellung !Friendica Support

Fehlerhafte Beiträge von Peertube Beiträgen?

Soll das eigentlich so sein das Peertube Beiträge so dargestellt werden?

Das Video ist ja einwandfrei. Aber die Darstellung der Links (die zu einen anderen Video führen) darunter ist doch ein wenig sinnfrei.

#Friendica #Frage #Beiträge #Peertube #Fediverse #Darstellung !Friendica Support

Poll: What are you looking for in the fediverse?

(You can check more than one response ... and if you've got other suggestions, leave them in a reply!)

#mastodon #fediverse

• A Twitter replacement (36%, 21 votes)
• A place to stay in touch with friends (35%, 20 votes)
• A place to meet new people (61%, 35 votes)
• Discussions on technical topics (70%, 40 votes)
• Music, photography, art, books, and other creative stuff (54%, 31 votes)
• Potential job opportunities (19%, 11 votes)
• Promoting my music, photography, writing, art, etc (15%, 9 votes)
• Breaking news (40%, 23 votes)
• Mutual aid (19%, 11 votes)
• A social network that's not run by a corporation making money from my data (89%, 51 votes)

Poll: how would you describe Mastodon and the migration from Twitter that started in late 2022 after the acquisition?

(You can check more than one reponse. Or, if you've got other descriptions, please leave them in the comments)

For my take, see Mastodon could have leaned into what it's good at

@fediversenews

#mastodon #fediverse

Mastodon, two years later

A continuation of Mastodon: a partial history

^{Jon (The Nexus Of Privacy)}

• A success (37%, 20 votes)
• A failure (1%, 1 vote)
• A missed opportunity (37%, 20 votes)
• Progress (38%, 21 votes)
• Better than expected (35%, 19 votes)
• A disappointment (11%, 6 votes)
• It's too early to know (9%, 5 votes)
• Other (please leave a comment) (1%, 1 vote)

Mastodon, two years later

privacy.thenexus.today/mastodo…

A continuation of Mastodon: a partial history

#mastodon #fediverse

Mastodon, two years later

A continuation of Mastodon: a partial history

^{Jon (The Nexus Of Privacy)}

Here’s the server that’s been running my two #fediverse instances and #Hugo blog for the past two years.

It’s a low-power Intel NUC with a Celeron processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 500 GB SSD. The entire setup lives under my printer and cost less than $300.

Bandwidth demands are modest—just a few gigs weekly. No fancy tunneling involved either. It’s just a straightforward router setup forwarding a couple of ports, a script that updates the server’s IP with my registrar as needed, and a robust Fail2ban rule set to keep things a bit secure.

No more corporate social networks and VPSes!

oh hey there buddy!

#mastodon #fediverse #Plushtodon

Wow! I'm making #Bandwagon -- an open source, community-focused alternative to #Bandcamp that anyone can self-host.

As of this morning, there are 99 #Musicians and #Bands who have set up #Fediverse profiles on bandwagon.fm -- and half of those already indexable on search engines.

So I'm humbled by the number of people who are giving it a go. There's obviously lots of people out there looking for something new.

I promise to do my best to give y'all the tools you deserve.

Alright I'm organizing 6 weekly meetings with some very unwilling participants, so I need 6 loaf cake recipes to win them over... any recommendations? 🍰🍰🍰

Flavours so far:
- orange
- white chocolate raspberry
- pumpkin spice
- rozemary olive oil
- ???
- ???

#fediverse #cake #reccomendation

So jetzt mal ehrlich ihr #Fedinauten da draußen, die ihr #Misskey, #Sharkey oder #Iceshrimp nutzt! Wieso nutzt ihr das, was ihr nutzt und was findet ihr besser im Vergleich zu den anderen beiden Fedi-Möglichkeiten?

Bin auf der Suche nach einer weiteren Fedi-Software, die ich mir genauer anschauen möchte und muss mich zwischen den dreien entscheiden.

Gerne darf dieser Beitrag zur Entscheidungsfindung geteilt werden. 😜
#Fediverse #NichtNurMastodon

A very long shot once again on the #Fediverse and #Mastodon but I keep trying because I desperately wish that one day it'll give me better answers to niche questions than Tiktok and Google.

Calling all #Sudanese. What's your recipe for fit-fit? I received a container of it, made by a bunch of dudes from #Sudan (They know my cousin, I swear they're not just randos), and I refuse to believe that they have the best recipe. Google gives me Ethiopian recipes, which are vastly different from what I had tonight. I found one recipe that I don't really trust.

So, do you eat it raw?
Do you include lungs and livers? What about kidneys?
How much peanut butter do you add?

There's an underwhelming number of sources for sudanese recipes online, I guess for very understandable reasons, but dang, I have a feeling those guys can't really cook and I must know how their elders made it.

OK, es ist (fast) Wochenende und wieder Zeit für ein Experiment – diesmal zum Mitmachen 😉:
Welcher der beiden nachfolgenden Posts sieht für euch besser aus und auf welchen würdet ihr eher klicken.

Gerne schön weit teilen, damit das von vielen und mit den unterschiedlichsten Clients gesehen wird.

Wenn der Unterschied besonders groß ist, gerne auch mit Screenshots antworten. Danke!

#Mastodon #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Apps

• Post 1 (mit generierter Preview) (75%, 57 votes)
• Post 2 (mit Titelbild als Anhang) (25%, 19 votes)

There better be a way to tell Mastodon I never want to be notified of quotes. How hard is this for others to understand? I don’t want to be notified if anybody quotes me, at all! To me, quotes are seen as a passive aggressive form of interaction and if you can’t message me directly/mention me directly, I simply just don’t want to interact with you if you’re going to quote me.

With the 4.3 release complete, we’re turning our focus to 4.4, which will include:

Quote Posts: We are resuming work on this long-awaited feature, and it will be our main focus for the rest of the year.
Block list improvements: We are evaluating several improvements, including subscribing to external blocklists and offering an optional default “worst of the worst” blocklist for new Mastodon installs. We’re also exploring ways for operators to approve blocks from external lists.
Post Parsing: We’re experimenting with potentially changing to a new parser for posts, which will be more modular and enable features like basic text formatting.

From Mastodon’s latest post. #Fediverse #Mastodon

My mum wants to join the #Fediverse - as she's fed up with adverts in other social media - and I have no idea what server would be best for her.

She's in her seventies, likes gardening, outdoors, cats and dogs, travel, books..

Any suggestions?

#askFedi #askMastodon