10 November 2022, 8:50

Hi everyone,

The Mahara team now has an account on Mastodon in the Fediverse: @[email protected]. This Mastodon instance is hosted by the New Zealand Open Source Society and data is stored in our Catalyst Cloud here in Aotearoa (think data sovereignty). That's why it was a good fit for us to join that instance and explore the Fediverse from there.

If you are thinking of setting up an account, be mindful about the terms of service and the privacy policy of the instance that has captured your attention. Each has its own rules, which are often laid out in simple terms and may differ from other instances. There is also a strong sense of community and etiquette. What is allowed on one instance may be frowned upon by another. Respect the community norms set out by the team running an instance.

Some instances may ask for a monetary contribution: Don't dismiss those. The instances are often run by volunteers and enthusiasts, but servers, bandwidth, moderation etc. do cost money. Without ad income which finances a good chunk of work on commercial and proprietary platforms, individuals need other ways of income. If you can afford to, consider paying so your service can be offered in future as well and sustain the community behind it.

There is now lots of information available on how to join, why to join the Fediverse, and how it differs in particular from Twitter. If you don't know where to start, aurynn shaw, who runs Cloud Island in Aotearoa, and Shlee, who is the admin of aus.social, were interviewed last night and provide insight into why they are part of the Fediverse and what it means to them to run Mastodon instances.

A little plug for aurynn: If your organisation has been thinking of setting up your own instance of Mastodon, she has the knowledge and the tools and can consult.

For the time being, we are going to keep our Twitter account and provide updates there, but do follow us in the Fediverse.

Have a great day

Kristina
@[email protected]