new from me: on recent discourse and drama on Mastodon. the software gives people the tools to create community via instances, with a wide plurality of cultures and communities. But what people want is a singular culture/community on the federation layer

connectedplaces.online/reports/fr158-what-is-mastodon-for/

April 09, 2026 - 14:24 UTC

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> Neither prescription reaches the actual problem, because Mastodon’s governance tools sit at the instance level and the community’s experience happens at the federation level.

Feels like an oversimplification-- there is a level possible between instance tools and "federation level": curation.
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unlike Bsky where the entire contents of the protocol are firehosed every few seconds (and all actors are enumerable to each other), Masto users only see what their instance shows you, without filtering or recommendation engine/algoing. Nothing in the protocol prevents filtered or weighted relays.
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These episodes show marks of viral, self-excited mob behavior. Not obvious this is different in nature from other online platforms, central or decentral. It could be that studying closely why and how they explode can preempt some soul searching.

But self-study not a fediverse strong point either 🤣
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But it has always been that way since 2008. Federation-level vs instance-level. When Mastodon® came into the picture—and EEE'd the Fediverse—they only solidified the situation.

Meanwhile, I'm seeing the ATmosphere slowly heading in that direction.
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Also, what's the difference between "social media" and "social network"? Here in Pacific-Asia (CJKM + ASEAN), those terms are one and the same. Sotial media is the Western terminology while social network or SNS is Eastern. So, I'm confused on that part of the article. 😅😅
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“AI is a neoliberal and right pursuit, period.”

they say it like it's a bad thing,
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🙈
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That was a good read
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Well some people want that. Some people in every community want something that's bad for their community.
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This made me think about the fediverse in a new way. Do you think the ATmosphere will be similar or do you see the architecture leading in a different direction?
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"The furious response was largely justified"?
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I have definitely idly thought about trying to replicate the Bluesky community on a Mastodon instance. When the migration from Twitter to bluesky began, what I wanted was one place to post with as many of my mutuals, followers, and followed as possible. That turned out to be bluesky
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My friction with the fediverse when I was dipping my toe in was a common one - not enough commenters and engagement, and lots of 'use alt text' nagging which discouraged me from ever posting any photos
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Personally I lean towards the "toolkit" over "culture". Instead of harassing someone's comment about AI, individual instance users should clarify their per instance policies
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It seems like Mastodon can't decide if it wants to be Twitter or if it wants to be Discord.
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The hard part of social media is moderation. Particularly the edge cases. Everything else is just an implementation detail
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I feel like the problem you’re describing is cultural and the answer is cultural. Users already have the tools they need to curate their Home feed: mutes, blocks, disabling boosts on a per-user basis, etc. (depending on their client). The problem is that the first tool they reach for is reply.
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It’s a pragmatic way to operate online but if “place-making” is your jam then I see why it would be undesirable - like sweeping things under the rug. I suspect it can’t be solved in a public federation.
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On Bluesky the culture is: don’t engage, block first. If Mastodon users could develop a culture of muting AI posters, disabling boosts from those who push AI creations into their feeds, and blocking those they really can’t stand – using the tools instead of dogpiling – they’d be happier.
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Intuitively, I want to say that I agree, but I think this is worth exploring how aware people are of these tools.
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Great piece, as always. That said, I do not envy your inbox for the next few days, friend.
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FYI there's a duplication of the sponsor declaration on the mobile display of this
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new test to see if I can get double money this way
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In practice there's no federation layer that matters. Mastodon is mastodon.social. It's so big that it inevitably sets the tone.
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A long way from that neat "What is Mastodon?" video
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Looks like ActivityPub/Mastodon is this generation's anarchistic FidoNet -> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet
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FidoNet was fun and important when there was no alternative.

But the second I got my hands on Usenet (~ firehose in atproto) with real internet access, the FidoNet system based on BBS (~ instances in AcivityPub) seemed archaic.

-> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet
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