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Last active January 26, 2026 20:54
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fediverse-decision-time.md

Fediverse decision time

I needed a second home. The winner:

Runner-up:

The background included examples of what wanted to boost at the time.

beige.party

A home to friendly weirdos. The Grey Gardens of the Fediverse (but beige). Occasionally graphically cacographic. Definitely probably not a cult (though you'll never be 100% sure). Beige-bless 🙏

This instance was the first that came to mind.

I don't have the stats to prove it, but I do feel that much of what I have liked, recently, in BSD Cafe, is from beige.party.

Not suitable at this time

These places intrigue me, however I can't imagine making myself at home there for my current passions.

aus.social

Welcome to thundertoot! A Mastodon Instance for the People.

Probably more for Australians than for me.

camp.smolnet.org

for the smol internet of friends

… part of the smol internet. The smol internet is an initiative from a group of friends who share a certain weariness of huge internet services that exploit their users, and a love for openness, the internet, and pangolins. We hope you enjoy it. We are based in Sweden and so are most of our current users.

The server is run on a voluntary basis by a small group of friends. Please be patient in case of downtime and while waiting for responses from us.

A nice mix.

Maybe a third home for me, but not a second.

convo.casa

general-purpose, for everyone

I spent a few minutes with the local live feed. I like much of what's there.

I didn't sense the potential for engagement.

cyberplace.social

Cybersecurity, fandom, video games, technology, dog photos and most importantly, you.

Today's photograph of a bull is lovely.

Dogs are nice, but I'm much more a cat person.

defcon.social

The intersection of technology and society, a community for artists, hackers, policy, academics, researchers, infosec, activists & cyberpunks

I spent a couple of minutes with the local feed.

I liked the look of an old black-and-white photograph that turned out to be an animated GIF: https://defcon.social/@varx/115940333477918273

fosstodon.org

open to those who are interested in technology; particularly free & open source software. If you wish to join, contact us for an invite.

Some technologies interest me.

For open source software, I use BSD Cafe.

hachyderm.io

Hachyderm is a safe space, LGBTQIA+ and BLM, primarily comprised of tech industry professionals world wide. Note that many non-user account types have restrictions - please see our About page.

A highlight, after maybe five minutes with the local feed: https://mastodon.social/@gutenberg_org/115955904357339133, boosted by Gentleman Programmer https://hachyderm.io/@sjjh.

It's a busy place. https://hachyderm.io/@astronomerritt/115955872230617178 is thought-provoking.

hostux.social

European mastodon instance hosted in TH2LF (FR). Also beer, privacy and free software lovers. Join us! This service is managed by alarig and valere. …

I thoroughly enjoyed slowly browsing the local live feed. International, comfortable.

One more person like me would not improve the place.

kolektiva.social

an anti-colonial anarchist collective that offers federated social media to anarchist collectives and individuals in the fediverse. For the social movements and liberation!

Around three minutes with the local live feed. I bookmarked two items, including the boost of https://todon.eu/@PrPl/115955900744439433 by https://kolektiva.social/@DoomsdaysCW. I like the idea of building my own mud house on a sunny island and then retiring there, however I'm too lazy to actually watch the video. I'm anti-YouTube.

I'm anti-this and anti-that, however there's probably too much anti in this instance for me at the moment.

mas.to

fast, up-to-date and fun

For an instance with so many users, its local live feed is surprisingly non-shouty.

masto.ai

general, for all languages

Two or three minutes with the local live feed. Nothing much sparked my interest. https://masto.ai/@accentedcinema/115956079677746083 adjacent to https://masto.ai/@joshparker/115956083920211261 was an eye-catching juxtaposition.

I'm too lazy to check whether my use of the word juxtaposition is appropriate.

mastodon.green

Plant trees while you use Mastodon. A server originally for people in the EU, but now open for anyone in the world

  • Plant trees while you use Mastodon
  • Mastodon.green is a worldwide general-purpose server
  • It's hosted in the EU and running on renewable energy
  • If you want to stay longer than a month you need to get a membership

Nice. Bookmarks included https://mastodon.green/@CiaraNi/115849572879475257 and https://mastodon.green/@akshatrathi/115955764415148924.

I can't commit to future membership at this time.

mastodon.ie

Irish Mastodon - run from Ireland, we welcome all who respect the community rules and members.

A nice mix.

Adding myself will not improve the mix.

mastodon.me.uk

Open, user-supported, corporation-free social networking for the UK.

Two or three minutes with the local live feed. First impression: ordinarily English. Second impression: https://mastodon.me.uk/@james_keogh/115951949749833605 pussy cat, aww, I vaguely recognise the name James Keogh, he's probably somewhere in my BSD Cafe library.

Ordinarily English is not what I need today.

mastodon.online

a newer server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit

The local live feed can't be viewed:

422This method requires an authenticated user

mastodon.sdf.org

"I appreciate SDF but it's a general-purpose server and the name doesn't make it obvious that it's about art." - Eugen Rochko

A few minutes with the local live feed. Bookmarked https://mastodon.sdf.org/@jeffpatterson11/115956524222534818, https://mastodon.sdf.org/@davebonta/115956231075587667.

The hamburger menu icons for 'More' are greyed out.

mastodon.social

the original server operated by the Mastodon gGmbH non-profit

The local live feed was too fast for me, at a glance. No surprise, with so many active users.

I might use my account there, one day, for something important, like announcing my new second home.

mastodon.world

generic, for anyone

Past bookmarks included https://mastodon.world/@verdantsquare/115850215346725087. After maybe five minutes on the local live feed today, I bookmarked two posts from one user: https://mastodon.world/@bobthetraveler/115956130819597157 and https://mastodon.world/@bobthetraveler/115956150477531052.

For me, today: too much fluff, not enough substance.

mstdn.social

general-purpose, all languages

A few minutes with the local live feed. Bookmarked: https://mstdn.social/@OregonLive/115956145172830854 and https://mstdn.social/@keepers/115956129136323894, because the black-and-white photograph caught my eye; and because I remember Gare du Nord still being rather lovely when I roamed Paris during a French Exchange with an affluent suburb in the late 1970s. Also bookmarked: a couple of things that I'll not mention here.

Today, I need something more than memorabilia.

sauropods.win

for sauropod appreciators everywhere

An interesting mix. The trends are OK.

Posts are not pubilcly indexed. https://sauropods.win/@john/114969271545223473 mentions Exeter, https://sauropods.win/search?q=Exeter&type=statuses finds nothing.

social.coop

for people interested in cooperative and collective projects. If you are interested in joining our community, please apply at https://wiki.social.coop/wiki/Registration_form

I like what I see.

I don't want to overcommit.

tech.lgbt

We welcome all marginalized identities. This Mastodon instance is generally for folks who are LGBTQIA+ and Allies with an interest in tech work, academics, or technology in general.

I probably do follow at least one member.

I can't sense what it's like to be there; https://tech.lgbt/public/local is empty.

tldr.nettime.org

an instance for artists, researchers, and activists interested in exploring the intersections of technology, culture, and politics

Interesting.

I don't imagine my second home at or around these intersections.

timeloop.cafe

life raft, detached from the queer anarchist communist cyber pirate ship

I do like the banner, https://assets.timeloop.cafe/timeloop.cafe/site_uploads/files/000/000/001/@1x/01535d723e73b597.png.

I don't agree that "all cops are bastards", and I don't know the meaning of "terve".

universeodon.com

…

a space for all humans who have a little curiosity. The kind of person who enjoys edutainment, reads books, watches science shows and loves to connect with people who view the universe through wonder. There are no forced topics here, but I hope you will find scientists, engineers, philosophers, physicists, and connect with people who share similar interests & passions.

We currently allow a character limit of 2000 to facilitate those slightly longer posts you might be thinking up.

From exploring the universe, to exploring the world we all share - everyone is welcome here.

Whether you love music, movies, TV, sports, books or knitting or anything in between - We all live in this wonderful universe, and I hope to see you exploring your hobbies, passions, and interests with amazing people across the #FEDIVERSE - The Universe ;)

Nice. https://universeodon.com/@KrajciTom/115956180766849294, https://universeodon.com/@china/115955970185499892.

I don't imagine me making it nicer.

zirk.us

Literature, philosophy, film, music, culture, politics, history, architecture: join the circus of the arts and humanities! For readers, writers, academics or anyone wanting to follow the conversation.

https://zirk.us/@SmithsonianRoulette/115955926755909421 is charming.

I'm a follower of the conversation, but not a member of the circus of the arts and humanities.

Background

I have, or had, five or more Mastodon accounts:

Now:

  • live feeds might help to decide
  • I want a reasonable character limit – I don't recall hitting the 5000 maximum in BSD Cafe
  • maybe 500 will be enough, I can't recall exactly why I didn't get into my mastodon.social account
  • I want indexing.

It took a while for me to realise that trending news pages, where they exist, vary only slightly from instance to instance.

As far as I can tell, https://mastodon.help/instances/en does not work.

Examples of what I'd like to boost today (Sunday 25th January 2026)

https://social.coop/@rgulick/115955558122984959

Solid, fact-based analysis of the Alex Pretti shooting

https://mastodon.green/@akshatrathi/115955764415148924

M. Gessen on ICE raids is worth your time. "It’s only natural that our brains struggle to find logic in what we are seeing. There is a logic, and this logic has a name. It’s called state terror."

Retrospective

https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@grahamperrin/112418356624544555 (2024-05-10):

I need to find a Fediverse space parallel to BSD Cafe, where I can be more engaged with the non-BSD content that I'm passionate about.

I'm greedy. I want all the qualities of BSD Cafe.

Any suggestions?

I do already have a handful of other accounts, including one at <https:// hear-me.social/about> (161 active users) – I confess to not using this account as much as I intended.

Thanks

https://mastodon.bsd.cafe/@grahamperrin/112418631611818128 was more descriptive:

… I also choose the Cafe for boosts of space and astronomical stuff …

… although my boost of <https:// mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/112412755270980994> from @sundogplanets here in the Cafe might have been better suited to an instance elsewhere.

I guess, more than anything, re: <https:// mastodon.bsd.cafe/@stefano/112064883879772907> I'd like to not bring, to the Cafe, content that's unacceptably political. People are (rightly) more interested in such things elsewhere.

I can't juggle umpteen instances, my ideal will be the Cafe plus just one other instance that's broad-ranging but not too extreme, and not too noisy.

Re: <https:// mastodon.bsd.cafe/@grahamperrin/112418512296367109>, earthstream.social is a candidate, I'm open to other suggestions.

Thanks

The 2024 search did not reach a conclusion.

earthstream.social was appealing, I asked about indexing, I didn't get an answer, I joined (mainly to get an answer), apparently it was not indexed, the instance suddenly disappeared:

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