You're telling me vanilla Mastodon still doesn't support formatting? I've seen so many people writing posts with italics or other things, I'd thought I just wasn't posting right lol.

Anybody know any good Mastodon apps that allow you to use italics and such? Looking for Android and maybe also Linux Desktop if that's a thing.

#AskFedi #Mastodon #FediHelp

Consider #Snac2 as a cheap (in both resources and money) alternative to #Mastodon.

You don't even need a vps: it can run as a (fast) cgi.

You can check its accessibility on https://comam.es/snac/grunfink (that's one of the public instance view, obviusly the interface to post is different: your browser needs to properly support details/summary tag to works fine)

Have you already grown tired of waiting for #Mastodon to implement some proper #Markdown support ?

You still can't believe to be waiting for such a simple feature on 2026?

Well .. you can keep waiting until you grow varicose veins on your legs, or just move to #snac2 , call it a 9 years old and be done with it! 🥳

https://comam.es/snac-doc/snac.5.html

May 2026 be the year we can finally use some #Markdown for our posts on #Mastodon. 9 years since it was first discussed [1], never really rejected nor endorsed by @MastodonEngineering – It is about time to finally add it now. Boost if you agree ;)

[1] https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/761

While I don't want to switch to a Mastodon fork and prefer to stick to the official releases, I really miss the ability to post in Markdown.

#Mastodon

You can simply use relay instances to be interconnected with other instances to exchange posts and it works seamless with #Mastodon, #Pleroma, #snac / #snac2 and many other ones! If you're in tech, you might want to use:

https://fedi-relay.gyptazy.com

You can simply add it to get a bigger reach but also to get more interesting content into your own timeline which becomes even more important on single user- & smaller instances.

#activitypub #mastodon #fediverse #opensource #bsd #runbsd #freebsd #openbsd #netbsd #dragonflybsd #debian #proxmox #xcpng #talos #coding #programming #fediwall #relay #fedirelay #acitivitypubrelay #selfhost #homelab #community

Alt...

Activity Pub / Fediverse Relay

If there would be a way to tag and organise bookmarks on mastodon, I think I would be the biggest user 🙏
#mastodon #feature #bookmark

Two Fediverse clients I like are Elk and Phanpy, but both had the same issue: the inability to filter "replies" and "boosts" from the timeline. For me this is essential. I can't keep up with my timeline, and if I also see replies to posts unrelated to what I follow, it just becomes chaos. So I tried to implement these filters and opened a PR.

The Elk developers have already merged it into the main branch, so we should soon see the two hide options appear in Elk. Hopefully the same will happen in Phanpy as well, because this greatly improves the experience on two excellent Fediverse tools, which are also compatible with snac.

https://github.com/elk-zone/elk/pull/3482

https://github.com/cheeaun/phanpy/pull/1400

#Fediverse #snac #Mastodon #elk #phanpy

I wonder what the situation is with #Mastodon apps for #Android these days. At one point, the official app was very bare bones, and folks recommended using #Moshidon or #Megalodon for better access to the full Mastodon experience. Is it the same still?

I have been using Moshidon for a while now, and I used to run Tusky. Having checked the last update, Moshidon got updated last summer, the official app a few days ago, and Tusky in September.

Ok, #ActivityPub & #Mastodon geeks:

So, I use a combination a Firefox plugin & server settings to make sure all replies of threads I'm reading get downloaded for me to my local instance. Works great *except* it's really hard to keep track of what I read already & what I didn't. I just end up reading the whole thing over & over.

What I'd love is a way to “subscribe” (i.e., “follow a thread”) & have any reply on the thread put into my timeline.

Is there such a thing?

#AskFedi #AskFediverse

A new week has begun, and 2025 is getting closer to its end. The question we should all ask ourselves is this: what have we done, and what can we do, to make the Fediverse a better place?

The Fediverse is for everyone. The Fediverse belongs to everyone. We should not wait for someone else to do something. We can start ourselves.

- Follow people who post content that interests you. You do not always have to agree. Constructive disagreement helps us grow.

- Always remain respectful and civil. This is what can make the difference between the Fediverse and social platforms that profit from anger. Let us make it a place we want to go, not a place we feel forced to go just to prove someone wrong.

- Make it a better place for yourself. Our timelines are exactly what we choose them to be. This takes a bit more effort, but the result will be far more satisfying.

- Help administrators identify problems. Pointless criticism is useless. Doing your part, on the other hand, is priceless.

- Boost what you believe is worth boosting. That is how things spread. If quote posts are available, explain why you shared something. You can also share content you disagree with, if you think it may be interesting for the people who follow you.

- Do not approach people coming from other platforms with closure or arrogance. It takes time to understand and adapt. Acting like schoolteachers helps no one.

- The Fediverse belongs to everyone, therefore it belongs to no one. If you run your own personal instance, that is your kingdom, but you could be defederated by everyone and end up alone. If that is your goal, fine. Otherwise, remember that federation is, at the same time, an honor, a responsibility, and a privilege.

- Have fun. Grow. Live. The Fediverse is an extension of your life.

If you have questions, ask. You will find many people who will be more than happy to answer.

And to you, who are reading this, thank you for being here.

#Fediverse #Mastodon #snac #snac2 #akkoma #pleroma #gotosocial #honk #mitra #SocialNetworks #Lemmy #PeerTube #Misskey #Sharkey

@junior A lot of years ago I heard about some decentralized Web 3.0 services like Diaspora and even touched them — but there were no interesting things to read and no interesting people to subscribe, so I continued to use Twitter and other centralized platforms.

Then, since 2022, some of these platforms became not so welcoming place to communicate — state-controlled trolls, just a morons and a stream of apocalyptic news leave no place for interesting things. And some of these platforms were simply blocked by state, since they are competed with official propaganda.

At the same time a read a blogpost of @vas3k about Web that couldn't be so simply blocked, not depends on some corporate entity, etc: https://vas3k.blog/blog/unstoppable_web/

Thusly, I started to think about #Mastodon since it was described as a one of the biggest federated thing — it should provide me a way (as I think) stay independent from corporations and companies with their lies about "human approach" and "customer-oriented services" (stares to fucking NameCheap ). If my Mastodon instance admin decide to go crazy or just be forced by state to ban all Russians — well, when I simply migrate to another server, without this madness.

So, I selected the mas.to server using the instructions from aforementioned blogpost. And I used it for some time, learning how Fediverse works, by the way.

First of all, I tried to type some hashtags for Emacs, Thinkpad and FreeBSD and found a lot of interesting people and a lot of interesting discussions — so my timeline became filled with interesting toots very quickly.

Also, I discovered an extremly useful (compared to other social networks, lol) feature to hide all unwanted toots by word filters. So, finally I was able to clear my timelines from any unwanted toots.

After near a year I found, that all cool kids have a small separate servers where they write about cool things. At this time I already found that mastodon server should be selected carefully to have a local timeline readable — on the mas.to, since it was located in the USA, there were a lot of USA news in it's timeline. Which is obviously wasn't interesting for me.

I already know @stefano and know about mastodon.bsd.cafe instance and as for BSD user — my next step was obvious

#mastodon #fediverse

#OverUnder 046 with @stefano

He's a #Unix enthusiast, he hangs out at the #BSD cafe, and write about various systems.
If Unix tips interest you, you should definitely check him out.
Today, he shares his thoughts on #DragonFlyBSD, #AWS, #TuxedoComputers, #zsh, and #Nespresso.

#terminal #shell #opensource #coffee #blog #cloud #Tuxedo #fediverse #mastodon

https://lazybea.rs/ovr-046

#fediverse #activitypub

My friends, I'm so excited and happy to introduce a new project: the illumos Cafe!

The positive and constructive spirit of the BSD Cafe, created and maintained by all the friends who participated from day one in building a strong and friendly community, deserves to spread to other operating systems. Because there are other OSes that deserve attention, certainly more than they're getting right now.

Operating systems based on illumos (like SmartOS, OmniOS, Tribblix, OpenIndiana, etc.) are mature, stable, secure, and perfectly usable for a wide range of tasks. ZFS is native, zones are an excellent method for containerization, and bhyve and kvm coexist beautifully - and so much more, too much to list in a single post.

So from today, the illumos Cafe will stand alongside the BSD Cafe in creating a positive, respectful, and growth-oriented (but also relaxing!) environment, starting right here in the Fediverse with a Mastodon instance and a snac one.

I've written an introductory article about the project, including some technical details. I invite everyone interested to read it: https://it-notes.dragas.net/2025/08/18/introducing-the-illumos-cafe/

Choose your table, take a seat and enjoy your time at the illumos Cafe!

#SysAdmin #IT #BSDCafe #illumosCafe #Community #OpenSource #OSS #illumos #SmartOS #OpenIndiana #ZFS #bhyve #kvm #Fediverse #Mastodon #snac #ITNotes

#CrazyFediverseAnalogies

Announcing FediMeteo – Weather in the Fediverse!

UPDATE: I have created an account for updates and other information on FediMeteo - follow the account @admin to stay updated!

UPDATE: Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland have just been added

Weather has always influenced our lives: from agriculture to outdoor activities, to extreme events that, thanks to modern technology, can now be predicted with greater reliability. Personally, weather plays a significant role in my daily decisions, which is why I decided to create a service tailored for the Fediverse.

FediMeteo uses Open-Meteo data to publish updates every 6 hours, including current weather conditions, forecasts for the next 12 hours, and predictions for the upcoming days. Each country is served by its own dedicated instance (e.g., it.fedimeteo.com for Italy), managed through snac to ensure simplicity and efficiency in publishing.

You can follow FediMeteo directly in the Fediverse (on Mastodon and compatible platforms), via RSS, or by visiting the dedicated page for your city (e.g., fr.fedimeteo.com/paris).

Currently supported countries include:
Austria, Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, – with many more regions coming soon!

FediMeteo is hosted on a FreeBSD-based VPS, with each country isolated in its own jail to ensure security and scalability.

Visit the main site to explore the national instances and start following your local weather updates today:
https://fedimeteo.com

Happy weather monitoring to all! 🌦️

FediMeteo is dedicated to my grandfather, who every evening would give me the weather forecast based on TV, radio, and his personal experience. He would convince me that the weather would be bad, so he had an excuse to accompany me to school instead of me going alone.

#FediMeteo #Announcements #FreeBSD #FediMeteo #WeatherForecasts #Weather #Meteo #snac #Fediverse #Mastodon

Mastodon #research 🚀

I’m working on my master’s thesis at the University of Vienna, and I’d love your input! My research focuses on sustaining long-term user activity on Mastodon, contributing to a more active Fediverse. If you have a few minutes, please take my short survey:
👉 https://sosci.univie.ac.at/MastodonActivity/

Your thoughts will contribute to meaningful research. Feel free to boost this post so we can reach as many users as possible. Thank you so much! 🙌

#Mastodon #Survey #FediverseResearch

When I talk about the importance of going all in on the Fediverse, I speak based on experience.

At Opera we built a massive user community. When I quit, we had something like 35 million registered users and 35 million monthly visitors.

The new Opera management did not see the value of that. They believed it was cheaper and better to just use Facebook and that investing in your own community was a waste of money. So they closed down MyOpera and built a following on Facebook and Twitter instead. Then they got caught by the bait and switch when Facebook changed and you would no longer reach your audience, without paying. Later on Twitter changed as well.

This is important to explain to companies and institutions as they go shopping for social media sites to invest in. The best investment is clearly in your own site, being part of the Fediverse. It is not even all that expensive to do. It may take longer to build, but at least it is your own.

Not saying you cannot build a following on those other sites, but your long term strategy should be the Fediverse with your own server.

We try to lead the way here and thus we build Vivaldi Social. Not just for our selves, but to make a point and support the Fediverse.

#fediverse #Mastodon #Twitter #Threads #BlueSky #Vivaldi

Mastodon Follow Pack FAQ 1.0

What are Follow Packs?

They are just packaged topical lists of up to 35 accounts you can follow from your Mastodon or other Fediverse account. You can follow the entire pack by importing a file. And the entire pack loads into a list, so it becomes a feed for that subject. You can also just browse for accounts you might want to follow individually.

So, they’re like Bluesky Starter Packs?

Yes, but not quite as convenient. It’s not hard, but because Mastodon does not have a one-click way to do this, you need to download a follow pack file and then use Mastodon’s import facility. Instructions are provided in the directory and also below.

What Follow Packs are there?

Packs are being added all the time. Right now there are packs for Astronomy and Space, Climate, US Politics and Miscellany. For a current directory check out the Mastodon Migration FediBlog at: https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/2024/11/20/mastodon-follow-pack-directory-nov-20-2024/

How do I do do it?

Check out the latest directory at https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/2024/11/20/mastodon-follow-pack-directory-nov-20-2024/ . Basically determine which pack you want to follow and download the .csv then import the pack. Instructions are provided. Follows are loaded into a list in your account.

OK, but I don’t want to mess up my lists. What happens if I already follow an account in the pack?

That’s fine. The followed account will just be added to the new list, and if you already had that account in a list, it will now just be in both lists.

Can I then add more accounts to the list?

Sure! That’s the idea. Many of these accounts boost other great accounts in their topic area. You will quickly find additional accounts you will want to follow. When you do follow a new account add it immediately to the list by clicking the “…” button at the top of the profile and selecting “Add or Remove from lists”

What if I don’t like your pack list title?

Simply change it. Click on the list, then the gear icon and you can edit the list name and contents. Also, you can determine if you want to “Hide these posts from home” so they don’t clutter up your home feed.

What if I’ve been added to a list and I don’t want to be in it?

Every follow pack has a listed administrator. Message them to ask to be removed.

How do I know if my account is in a Follow Pack?

You can search through the directory. Also, whenever a new directory is posted all members of every pack are notified by being copied on the post.

What if I don’t want to follow accounts from Threads or Bluesky?

Any pack that contains Threads or Bluesky bridged accounts will have a special notice. Just don’t import one of them.

#FollowPack #StarterPack #MastodonMigration #MastoTips #Help #Directory #Guides #Mastodon #Fediverse #FediBlog

Follow Pack Notices

OPT-OUT NOTICE: If your account is listed in any Follow Pack and you do not want it to be, please message the pack administrator and refer to the pack from which you would like your account removed.

BRIDGE ACCOUNT NOTICE: Packs that include accounts that bridge outside the Fediverse will be identified with a special notice.

REPLIES ON MASTODON NOTICE: Replies include all named accounts. Please edit any replies to remove addresses you do not intend to send the reply.

Follow Pack Instructions

Download the pack .csv file and import into Mastodon to follow all accounts:

– Click on a FollowPack .csv file link to download
– Click on Preferences (gear) icon on bottom right
– On mobile or narrow desktop click top right “hamburger” button
– Click Import and Export >>> Import
– Import type dropdown: Select “Lists” (NOT “Following list”)
– Verify that ‘Merge’ is selected (IMPORTANT)
– Click Browse… button >>> Select “[file name] – list.csv”
– Upload >>> Confirm

______________________________

This post comes from the WordPress Mastodon Migration Blog: https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/

You can receive all new posts to this WordPress Blog on Mastodon by following Mastodon account:

https://mastodonmigration.wordpress.com/@mastodonmigration.wordpress.com

(Copy and paste above address into search to find and follow)

Important: Replies on Mastodon to this WordPress post by default include all named accounts. Please edit your reply to remove all addresses you do not intend to send the reply. Thank you.

#accountlist #activitypub #astronomy #Astrophysics #bluesky #Booster #Climate #ClimateScience #Dire #Directory #FediBlog #fediverse #followpack #followpackdirectory #GlobalWarming #guide #Guides #Help #mastodon #mastodonmigration #MastoTips #Media #Miscellany #mmfp #Politics #Random #socialMedia #Space #StarterPack #Threads #twitter #USPol #USPolitics #USPoliticsBoos #USPoliticsMedi #USPoliticsMedia #USPoliticsThreads

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

I want to launch a hashtag where, every Tuesday, I'll post a message and it would be great if it became a habit for many.

In a world full of conflicts, selfishness, and egocentrism, it would be nice to focus on the good that others do, what makes our lives better thanks to the contribution of others.

My first #ThankYouTuesday to the friends of #BSDCafe - both within the community servers and beyond - who have undoubtedly contributed to making my life better, more stimulating, and richer. So, I extend this gratitude to all those who, here in the fediverse or elsewhere, are present and positive, giving me inspiration and motivation.

Truly, thank you!

#ThankYouTuesday #gratitude #positivity #community #fediverse #mastodon

15 million users in the Fediverse, now.

No ad-blocker needed.
Zero ads.
My data stays on my server.
Interactions are genuine, driven by people's desire, not an algorithm pushing for conflict to boost engagement (and ad sales).
Nobody's here just because it's trendy. If you're here, you want to be here.
The best social media experience I've had in years.

Thank you to all of you, among these 15 million accounts, who have helped make this a wonderful place to be.

#Fediverse #Privacy #NoAds #GenuineInteractions #Decentralized #ThankYou #Mastodon