Honestly, still confused about Mastodon. I mean I know how it works, federation etc., but which server/host to choose?
@purisubzi Folks pick instances based on interests, geographic location, size, funding source or TOS. The local timeline will be filled with content posted locally, so interests or location matter some here. You’d want to pick one with a solid TOS that fits you and has moderators/admin around to enforce that.
@mcg Thank you. I hadn’t thought of the local angle. It think I’ll just have to spend more time looking through various directories and see what fits.
@purisubzi And you can always migrate to another server in the future. You're not stuck on the instance you choose for all eternity. Unless you want to. 😊
@sod @purisubzi Yup migrating will setup a pointer/redirect on the old instance and move followers. Migrating “following” is a manual Import/export. Posts are not migrated but you can download an archive.
@sod Thank you for that! I knew about profile hopping before, but that documentation makes it even clearer. I think I just need to set aside some time over the next few days to explore various servers and see which works.
@purisubzi @sod I had been using Twitter for my "professional" presence. So I just created a separate Mastodon profile for that. I chose one of the smaller servers (sciences.social). Some other instances have closed down their registration for now. You can use this search filter directory to find one.