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The official Mastodon app is doing something new which is potentially very dangerous to the existence of Mastodon and the Fediverse.

The official Mastodon app now prompts users to join mastodon.social by default, when previously it prompted them to pick a server. If you're new this may sound harmless, but let me explain.

The entire point of this place is to be a social network spread out on as many servers as possible (the reasons are here: https://fedi.tips/why-is-the-fediverse-on-so-many-separate-servers/).

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Screenshot of the official Mastodon app's splash screen which is shown when new users first install it. The current version now has a main button that prompts them to "join mastodon.social", with a more difficult to see button below it saying "pick my own server".

Why is the Fediverse on so many separate servers? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
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There is technically still an option on the official app to "pick my own server", but it's much harder to read or notice, and new users will probably click the mastodon.social button without even understanding the other button.

Mastodon.social just passed 1 million registered users about a week ago, out of a total network of approx 7 to 11 million users (dependiing on how you count them).

Most of these users probably signed up via the official app.

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For the first time ever, the most common way to sign up on the Fediverse is now directing people to sign up on one specific server, rather than making them choose.

This will make mastodon.social grow even more quickly than it has before, and future waves of new Mastodon users may end up mostly there. It's very plausible this one server could become the majority of the Fediverse in the near future.

If that happens, the Fediverse would no longer be protected from buyouts by nasty people.

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Yes, signing up on one server is much easier for people who are used to centralised services like Twitter, Facebook etc.

But as we have seen from Twitter, such a setup leaves you at the mercy of Musk-type takeovers. For-profit social networks do not like federation, they hate it as they see it as competition. It is very likely that a commercial takeover of a majority server would defederate it, to prevent people leaving and simplify its maintenance.

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This is not an attack on Eugen, I don't do those. Most of what @Gargron does is amazing, the Fedi owes him a great deal, and the fact he turned down large sums of VC money recently shows great integrity.

But eventually most people in that position will crack. Ever larger sums of money can make even the nicest people sell out.

If most of the Fediverse is on mastodon.social, it WILL receive more takeover bids. If it grows even further, these bids will become even higher.

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@Eugen Rochko

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So, what can be done?

1. Tell new people to use third party apps, they are better anyway and have more features. More info at https://fedi.tips/which-apps-can-i-use-should-i-use-the-official-app-or-a-third-party-app/

2. Tell people to sign up on the website. Mastodon's official site at https://joinmastodon.org is still asking people to choose a server, and is very professionally laid out. (I've also got my own amateurish effort at https://fedi.garden.)

3. If you're comfortable using github, give a thumbs up at https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon-ios/issues/1023

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Which Mastodon apps can I use? Should I use the official app or a third party app? | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
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Tio
I would add: tell people that Mastodon is one of the so many networks on the fediverse. Join Friendica, Pleroma, Pixelfed, Peertube, and so forth. The fact that the Fediverse is associated with Mastodon is already bad.
Hughster
Hmm. I don't know. I agree with everything you say here about the need to avoid one server becoming too big, but at the same time the "pick a server, any server" stage at onboarding has proved to be too much of a hurdle for far too many non-techie users. Perhaps this really is the least worst workaround for that—make one server a "welcome" server and then let people move once they've got in and had a chance to get used to it?
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