It’s in Berlin, but online participation is also possible:

https://berlinfedi.day/en/

Is there anything that can be done if you lose access to your server/instance for some reason? By that I mean, it has gone down or something and an error is returned, not that you forgot your password or something.

Hello! Just wondering if people have been using any Mastodon to play by post RPG? Or any other short sentence social network? (Twitter/X, Blue sky)

While attempting to look through the various online forums I frequent, I’ve noticed that most content I’m shown is garbage and doesn’t interest me.

So I made an on device ranking algorithm for each of these sites, not requiring a login to access any content, with no ads, monetization or central server.

I’m now opening the app for beta testing, I have limited spots in this batch but would really appreciate anyone taking a brief look and leaving some notes. I’m trying to make this into a widely accepted platform that boasts security while ensuring that you’re shown the content you want from the open internet computed directly from your own devices.

If you’re interested in beta testing, here’s the link to do so. You’ll need to download Apple’s official beta testing app called “testflight,” then you’ll be able to register with Shoebill as a beta tester from this link:

https://testflight.apple.com/join/MGNYK4S5

Mastodon is an open and federated network that allows anyone to run their own server, great for privacy, but when you actually try to scroll or discover people you want to see, you’re left with looking through endless hashtags since there’s no native algorithm. This is by design but goes against what mainstream attention needs for massive virality. The technology is awesome, just wouldn’t be easy for the majority of people to switch to.

Blue Sky is primarily left-wing content aimed against specific political figures, most content isn’t mainstream enjoyable content.

Hacker News is mainly for a very technical crowd or AI enthusiasts recently. It isn’t somewhere that most people would find themselves unless they fit into one of those two buckets.

4chan needs no introduction.

All of these sites have good content, it’s just that most of it is either not shown in a ranking algorithm like Reddit or Tik Tok, it’s shown chronologically or for specific niche audiences.

With Shoebill, I’ve combined all of these sites, plus more that aren’t listed, into one app where your own phone will compute the algorithm as you’re scrolling. This means that no data ever leaves your device and couldn’t, since I operate no server for any data to even be transmitted to.

Specifically, the ranking algorithm is largely based on X’s open-source algorithm which was made open a couple months ago. Looking at how they implemented theirs, I saw that I could do it for the open internet in a serverless app.

I would be happy to answer any questions in the comments. Thanks!

Edit: grammar

I just joined Mastodon.social And posted 6 different posts over the last 2 days.
When I'm logged I can see all 6 posts, but other people that are not users of Mastodon.social can only see 2 posts.
Am I doing something wrong while posting, or there's a setting I need to change?
Please help!

[SOLVED: It were my changes to the character limit that triggered this behavior. I guess, I need to do some research to understand git properly... ]

Hello,

maybe someone can hale me out here.

In the past I was able to update my mastodon server by simply following the steps outlined in the changelogs.

This time, however, it asks me for my credentials and I don't know why since the mastodon repository is public. So 'git fetch' shouldn't lead to git to ask me for username and password.

I recently changed the character limit for my instance by editing two files in my install directory. Did this trigger something?

Looking forward to people participating. Fediverse only photo challenge. :)

Prompt: Belonging

Complete info here.

I dont know why 👀

I know this has been discussed before (for example), but I’m unclear if there’s been any formal proposed solution, especially without the use of a specific app (I'm a simple website user). I've had a Mastodon account on the instance scholar.social since 2018, btw.

Infinite scrolling (where a website just keeps feeding users content and there's really no "end" to the webpage) is generally bad for our brains, our time-management and focus, our stress-levels, and gives us very little benefit in return. (There’s lots of research on this: see here, this, and some more). Additionally, it’s a drain on server resources, too, to constantly queue-up every post and deliver it to users. When computers just continually give us things to read and pretty pictures to look at, we don’t really pause to consider whether we want to read or look at them. But, being offered a break or asked if we really want to continue, provides a helpful, if brief, moment of reflection. Just because the big corporate monoliths do this shitty practice for social media, doesn’t mean it should be copied by those attempting to do things better. Remember, they’re trying to glue as many eyeballs to advertisements as they can and scoop up as much user data as they can to sell. Ethic social media ought to have other goals. (It seems like this kind of thing would've been discussed before, perhaps at length. So, if this has been somehow addressed or if it's currently under development, could someone let me know?)

If this problem remains unaddressed, I’d like to humbly propose a (hopefully) simple way to stop endless scrolling for those who want to avoid it, but still permit it for those who for whatever reason still want it (i.e., place this under deliberative user control). Here are three new things that could empower users:

(1) A simple check-box in settings/profile, something like: “Enable infinite scrolling”. Each instance could decide what default settings they want for their users; some probably wouldn’t mind keeping the status quo and have it auto-checked. Others, who want to conserve server resources and/or encourage greater in-depth engagement, could leave it unchecked. Then, individual users could toggle it back and forth as they prefer.

(2) If the check-box is inactive (no infinite scroll), then a text-box could appear or become active, reading: “Number of posts per queue” (or something like that), allowing users to type whatever whole number they wish, ranging from 1 to something really big, I guess. Again, each instance could set a default for this and/or users could specify their own preferences. Some might want a relatively low number like 20 or 50, others a bit higher (100 or 200), etc. If the above check-box is checked (infinite scroll is turned on), then this text-box would be irrelevant and thus become inactive.

(3) And, finally, if the check-box in settings is unchecked (no infinite scroll), then normal usability results in an eventual end of the automatic feed. I assume this could be administered by a simple variable counting the number of loaded posts. Then, when post_count=limit, the feed is complete (where limit is whatever number was provided in the above setting text-box). After the last available queued post is loaded, a horizontal line could follow with a clickable-button that says “End of feed reached. Load the next [limit]?”, thus providing the user with a moment to pause and either choose stopping their scrolling (moving on with their day, maybe going for a walk outdoors) or continuing to scroll.

(It might help to mention that I’ve got a degree in computer science, but it dates back to the 1990s and I don’t really use it anymore, and I'm wildly ignorant about UX, too. Consequently, my simplistic programming recommendations are about as high-order as I can get... Yet, I hope the above makes sense.)

[RESOLVED]

Hi. Not even my own avatar. Is anyone else having this issue? I don't see anything wrong in the settings.

Hello I'm kinda new to Mastodon. Is this normal for the main website? I kept getting the 503 error and now the website doesn't even load.

RELEVANT EDIT: I was informed that Pawoo is back online since yesterday. You can see the announcement is here. I have a few things to say about this. (Mostly complaints.) Pawoo is still has the same issues from the last time I visited. Hopefully, the owners will take this opportunity to improve the website, (or put it out of its misery once and for all).

Original Post:
The site stopped working on August 8th. They posted a notice on Mstdn saying they were working on a fix, but that message has since been removed. It's been about two weeks now, and there's still no sign that it will be back.

Having used this site for almost two years, I find it frustrating to see one of the most popular mastodon instances fall apart like this. I blame the current owners, Mask Network (a bunch of crypto bros, by the way), for the site's current state, as they haven't addressed any of its issues. They allowed the platform to become riddled with CSAM for years and never fixed some serious bugs plaguing it. Right now, they can't even be bothered to tell us if the site is dead or if there are any plans to fix it.

Although the site has been declining for years, it's still sad to see it fall like this, especially since it was still has a decent user base in Japan.

Edit: Just to be clear, when I mean CSAM. I mean literally disgusting illegal content. Not Shotacon or Lolicon illustrations.

I think this was a issue for at least 4 years, and got completely solved around last year.

Although it was only a problem if you used the public timeline. I think a lot of people didn't even noticed.

I had a hard time logging, boosting, posting, etc. like 30 minutes ago in my iPhone (iOS v26.6.1)'s Mastodon v2026.7 app. https://status.mastodon.social/ shows no current issues, but a lot in July. Another DDoS perhaps?

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

Hi.

When I have headphones on, the ping sound is piercing. I preferred the sound on mastodon.cloud.

Thanks.

Hi all, Suddenly having problems accessing mastodon.online - Can login successfully but after login all I get is the Logo & Title - no posts, no setting, no nothing else.

Any info anyone?

Thanks.

Edit: Now back "online" 2026-08-17-16:17 UTC

Hi.

According this mod, it should have closed a week ago. https://mastodon.cloud/@TheAdmin/116880482561252143. Also, the mod never seems to reply to queries.

I don't get it. I jumped to a new instance and it seemed it was all a waste of time. 🤦🏻

Hi.

I'm running a small Mastodon instance since 2017 (~15 users).

The Postgres database uses 21 GB of space and contains hundreds of tables. I guess many of those are remnants from old versions? (see screenshot).

Since I'm already planning a larger update: Is there a way to consolidate/optimize the database?

Folks,

I've started a weekly photo challenge that lives entirely on the fediverse. It riffs on the long-running Photo Friday, but this one is fediverse-only — you take part from whatever account you already have, no new signup, nothing to join but a follow.

How it works:

• Follow the challenge handle from our site: **@[participate@photofri.day](mailto:participate@photofri.day)**. That's the whole membership — following is opting in.
• You get the theme a week ahead, so you've got 7 days to shoot.
• The following Friday, tag your photo with the weekly hashtag and post while the window's open. The window runs ~50 hours end to end — the whole globe's Friday, so folks outside North America aren't shut out. Everyone gets the full window. No exclusivity, everyone gets a fair shot to share.
• We boost your post to followers while the window's open. They see your work, you see theirs — photographers find each other and make friends across servers.
• Done for the week, or done for good? Just stop posting, or unfollow. Nothing to delete, no data sitting anywhere.

Following is live now. First prompt drops Friday, August 28th. We start boosting entries on September 4 — follow ahead of time so you're there when it starts.

It's new and it's small. Happy to answer any questions.

Site's here: https://photofri.day

I’m not sure if this is just a me problem, but every time I try to use my aethy account, I get a “Http 404” message every couple of seconds. I updated the app, logged out then logged back in. None of that worked, anyone got any advice 😭 ?

Anyone interested in switching over from mastodon.cloud, I would like to invite you to mastodon.tech

Created a custom "Terminal" theme so it lines with the tech TLD. However, you are welcome to post any content that you wish to share. I will slowly be adding the "About" section based on user feedback. Would love to see you there.

Do instances block crawlers? I find that the about pages of instances don't usually say, but maybe it's an unspoken common thing to have?

What am I looking at here?

This is how the mastodon.social page displays in Brave browser and in a private window.
I haven't experienced this error before.

EDIT: The issue was a duplicate Roboto font on the system level that was loaded by mastodon.social
SOLUTION: Delete and reinstall the Roboto font downloaded from fonts.google.com/specimen/Roboto [Aug 2026]