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Oh by the way, if you find an instance that seems pretty toxic (my troll was from a "libertarian" instance) there is a way to block the entire instance, even if your own doesn't block it. Go to a user of that instance's profile and in the three-dot menu, there's the option to block the domain.
Thanks David - very helpful - as is most things on here!
@Chrissiebailey You're very welcome.
@davidbilla I was like "hey, that doesn't work" until I realised we are on the same instance :) Not that I wanted to block you, you were just the test case!
@davidbilla I've been seeing the same argument over and over. Blocking takes it off your timeline, it doesn't take it off the platform. A system needs to be in place which moderates extreme radical instances be it left or right - and then based on unanimous decision block the entire instance from the platform.
@battejinn It's not an argument, it's a useful functionality that I just found out about. It's not about doing one or the other, but both. Yes, moderation must be done at the instance level, but Mastodon (and each instance) not being a big company also means that moderation can't be very quick in most cases. If an instance is managed by just one person, they can't spend their days doing moderation, they physically can't. (1/2)
@battejinn Meanwhile, what if someone gets harassed by a group of people who gang up on them (and come from the same instance, because that's what they do). Should that person patiently wait a few days that the moderator on their instance finds the time to look into the problem and maybe make a decision that is not the right one? Just an example among many as to why instance-level moderation only can't work on Mastodon (it doesn't even work on big sites)
@davidbilla @battejinn Blocking the instance is a great idea because when entire instances are blocked they will soon find themselves unable to behave the way they wish, and they will either stop trolling and be toxic among themselves (which is their prerogative), or they WILL leave. (Or they'll create another instance that people can block all over again.) But the point is that you CAN moderate this stuff yourself, not rely on an overlord to do or not do it for you. And it's wonderful.
@davidbilla @battejinn Now, that said, the admins here are ALSO completely wonderful, and my understanding is that they are incredibly responsive to moderation issues when such things are brought to their attention, far more so than any other social media platform. So do not be afraid to bring issues to their attention even as you're taking care of matters for yourself individually because if someone is being toxic or a troll, that goes against Mastodon culture and they will likely take action.
@battejinn @davidbilla it's not a platform like Facebook and Twitter are platforms; it's more of a protocol like email. Anyone can set up an email server for whatever purposes they wish, and there's no real way to take a spammers email server "Off the platform." You are witnessing the evolution of the Fediverse as it's going through growing pains. Eventually we should expect to see a comprehensive and robust whitelist emerge out of this.
@battejinn @davidbilla but Mastodon (and fediverse) isn’t a platform, is it?
@davidbilla
Is there a way to block an instance without having to go to a specific user? I saw a list of suggested instances to block a while back, and it seemed like it was a good suggestion, but I didn't know how I could do it without having a specific person's handle.
@SarahAnneDipity The admin's handle is always available on the front page of the instance. But blocking many instances preemptively seems like a lot of work.
@davidbilla
Thanks!
I think for the large part you're right, it would be a lotta legwork and it's probably unnecessary to do that as my guess would be my instance has already defederated the *worst* offenders, so probably fine to just block others as problems pop up.
@davidbilla That's helpful. Mostly I am interested in just avoiding racists, bigots, and people who like to pick stupid fights and encourage real-world violence. (fascists, primarily). Short of that, im good. Gore, porn, whatever, im fine and have probably seen worse.
@davidbilla Thanks for that tip. Is there a way to 'see' servers that are normally unavailable to the one I'm currently on?
@alazarinmobius Some instances list the blocked servers on their about page, some don't.
Yours does: https://mastodon.online/about
@davidbilla Ah, ok. Thank you. I'll look it up. Got it... I noticed that some people that I follow on @tenforward.social don't show up on my home page. It's a Star Trekkie server and doesn't seem to be on the moderated list. Could they have restricted access for people on this @mastodon.online server?
@davidbilla Thank you!
@davidbilla ugh a libertarian instance sounds like pure hell.
@jbonewald @davidbilla One person's paradise is another person's hell. Both sides seem preoccupied with remaking the whole world as their paradise. The trick is getting both sides to knock it off at the same time.
@davidbilla I've done this to four instances in the last week myself. I don't like the idea of doing it, as I believe openness & interoperability are fundamental to good communities, but I'm glad Mastodon/Fediverse allows me to do that.
@davidbilla thank you! Good to know!
@davidbilla Why block instead of mute? Other than habit from other platforms.
@sparr Why mute instead of block?
I want to block, not mute, because I don't want these people anywhere near me, I don't want them to read what I post, I don't want them to know anything about me, I don't want them in my life, even the little bit of it I share here.
I use mute for people I may find annoying, but not that bad (or topics I have no interest in and that may be recurrent in my timeline)
@davidbilla I don't think "I want to show this content to the entire world, except for these specific people" is a viable concept, and letting people think it is will prove harmful in the long run.
@sparr Well, I will politely but strongly disagree with this.
@davidbilla You know those people can still see your toots, right?
@sparr No I didn't. It doesn't matter. Blocking them is telling them that they're not welcome near me.
@davidbilla… what is an instance in this context (first day here).
@Libertine Your server. In our case "mastodon.world"
@davidbilla, so if someone made a “groyper” server I could just block… all of them? All from one spot?
@Libertine I'm not sure what a groyper is, but yes, you could.
@davidbilla Good tip! It’s unfortunate that “libertarian” and “free speech” instances have become code words for “abusive” and “hateful” in practice.
Also good to report these to your own admin/mod so they can consider blocking the instance more broadly so others don’t have to experience this toxicity as well. (But people should be careful reporting to the toxic site’s mod bc it’s been known to attract hate, sadly.)
@krisnelson Yes, I wasn't sure if I should report to the instance's mod. I did, but that's also what motivated me to block the entire instance afterward.
(as a European, I've always seen people who scream "free speech" at every corner as sketchy people)
@davidbilla is that only available from a web browser? In the official app (what I’m using) I can only block you the user and not your domain (took a screenshot to show but for some reason I can’t post photos today!)
@laurenandcats I think it's only on the web. I don't use social media much on my phone.
@davidbilla excellent option
@davidbilla Thanks for this. Good to know. Will try it. Ran into a nest of fascists that just won't stfu.
@shelenn Of course.