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Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

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Re: Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

#23
post #14
post #2

Mastodon is a really great piece of software, at least from the point of view from a user like me, and I really wish more people would use it. There's so much content out there, so many things to reply to and see, from different corners of the fediverse.

I actually signed up for a mastodon and thought it was a pretty nice and funky environment for a week or so. Then, I realized the full ramifications of federation and I realized that Mastodon was likely to go the way of IRC if it ever "caught on" with the masses, in that open federation was doomed to outside abuse. I then realized that because of this, my account being on a friends' small instance that he put up on a…

Here are a few links with more info for picking an instance:

Projects default picker: https://instances.mastodon.xyz/ (will release a new version tomorrow)

Biggest instances list: https://mnm.social/

Fediverse (GNU social + Mastodon) overview: https://radar.amberstone.digital/chart/fediverse

If you want more details from an instance: https://dashboards.mnm.social/dashboard/db/instance-detail?r...

Re: Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

#24
There is something inherently wrong with this I think. This trend with knowledge, like as any commodity, getting cut down into smallest intelligible or consumable piece and delivered that way is not suitable for disciplines like math. Sure twitter is good for memes, one liners, little nuggets of knowledge or headlines, and sometimes even tweet chains but math requires more context, more rigor, more attention by the consumer. Which is the opposite of Twitter.

Sure it can be used for link sharing, but in my opinion reddit offers a better kind of model for this with its structured comments section.

Re: Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

#26
post #14
post #2

Mastodon is a really great piece of software, at least from the point of view from a user like me, and I really wish more people would use it. There's so much content out there, so many things to reply to and see, from different corners of the fediverse.

I actually signed up for a mastodon and thought it was a pretty nice and funky environment for a week or so. Then, I realized the full ramifications of federation and I realized that Mastodon was likely to go the way of IRC if it ever "caught on" with the masses, in that open federation was doomed to outside abuse. I then realized that because of this, my account being on a friends' small instance that he put up on a…

I am not sure if I understand your issue. The whole point of federation is that you don't need to care about the instance, just about the people you want to follow.

Discovery is a little harder, of course. But if you already have some prior form of contact with the people you'd like to follow, then you can just get their handle and go directly to their page.

Re: Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

#27
post #14
post #2

Mastodon is a really great piece of software, at least from the point of view from a user like me, and I really wish more people would use it. There's so much content out there, so many things to reply to and see, from different corners of the fediverse.

I actually signed up for a mastodon and thought it was a pretty nice and funky environment for a week or so. Then, I realized the full ramifications of federation and I realized that Mastodon was likely to go the way of IRC if it ever "caught on" with the masses, in that open federation was doomed to outside abuse. I then realized that because of this, my account being on a friends' small instance that he put up on a…

Individuals can block instances they don't like. Abusers seem to filter into those with lax or nonexistent moderation policies, so it's not that hard.

Here are some suggestions:

mastodon.social: It was initially populated by furry Twitter and LGBTQ communities, and we're pretty good about onboarding people with culture primers every time there's a new flood of people. For the most part, this goes well, and it helps that the admin and moderators are amenable to keeping it a safe space for marginalized identities.

mastodon.technology: Probably what most people on HN will prefer.

The links in this post are good: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14567465

So far, popularity of instances is a pretty good guide for how well-run they are.

Re: Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

#28
post #24

There is something inherently wrong with this I think. This trend with knowledge, like as any commodity, getting cut down into smallest intelligible or consumable piece and delivered that way is not suitable for disciplines like math. Sure twitter is good for memes, one liners, little nuggets of knowledge or headlines, and sometimes even tweet chains but math requires more context, more rigor, more attention by the c…

The 500 character limit is actually quite liberating after using Twitter.

Re: Twitter, but for Math, with Toots

#29
post #14
post #2

Mastodon is a really great piece of software, at least from the point of view from a user like me, and I really wish more people would use it. There's so much content out there, so many things to reply to and see, from different corners of the fediverse.

I actually signed up for a mastodon and thought it was a pretty nice and funky environment for a week or so. Then, I realized the full ramifications of federation and I realized that Mastodon was likely to go the way of IRC if it ever "caught on" with the masses, in that open federation was doomed to outside abuse. I then realized that because of this, my account being on a friends' small instance that he put up on a…

Within day one of hearing about Mastodon I was easily able to discover that Mastodon.social was the "main" instance and that Mastodon.cloud and Mastodon.xyz were the other biggest instances with English speakers. And people are extremely good about answering questions and sharing information, if that's an issue.

Maybe not knowing that Mastodon.social was the main instance was a bigger issue back when you signed up?

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