Mastodon is testing easier ways to get you started in the fediverse

Link: https://www.theverge.com/tech/881352/mastodon-default-server-recommendations-experiment
https://lemmy.world/c/fediverse https://www.w3.org/ns/activitystreams#Public #fediverse
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https://sopuli.xyz/u/supersquirrel posted on Feb 20, 2026 00:53
https://sopuli.xyz/post/41438625
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https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/u/neon_nova posted on Feb 20, 2026 01:30
In reply to: https://sopuli.xyz/post/41438625

I used to visit the verge all the time, but their paywalls have gotten so aggressive, I just wrote them off.

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/24521059
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https://lemmy.zip/u/MoogleMaestro posted on Feb 20, 2026 01:36
In reply to: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/24521059

I get it, but also the internet sucks these days and it’s hard to make money on advertising alone. I can’t blame a reputable journal for asking for money to see the articles they publish, and since I tolerate all sorts of patreon business models, I have to be realistic in thinking that this is going to be the only path forward for real journalism. It’s a shame, but it just seems to have worked out this way.

https://lemmy.zip/comment/24760339
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https://lemmy.zip/u/U7826391786239 posted on Feb 20, 2026 02:06
In reply to: https://lemmy.zip/comment/24760339

I can’t blame a reputable journal for asking for money to see the articles they publish

lol is the verge a “journal”? GTFO bro

propublica is about as “real journalism” as it gets, and i’ve never been blocked by a paywall with them

staying in business is the business’s problem, not the consumer’s problem

paywall = close tab

period

https://lemmy.zip/comment/24760767
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https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/u/birdwing posted on Feb 20, 2026 02:35
In reply to: https://lemmy.zip/comment/24760767

how about the jacobin?

https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/comment/19278447
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https://lemmy.ca/u/breakfastmtn posted on Feb 20, 2026 02:48
In reply to: https://sopuli.xyz/post/41438625

https://archive.is/fELBv

https://lemmy.ca/comment/21799202
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https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/u/ubergeek77 posted on Feb 20, 2026 04:25
In reply to: https://lemmy.ca/comment/21799202

Please stop using archive . today and its other domains.

In the past, they prevented Cloudflare DNS users from resolving the site, because Cloudflare didn’t forward EDNS data that would allow Archive.today to dox users.

And recently, they embedded malicious DDOS code into their captcha that would cause visitors to unknowingly DDOS someone.

They are extremely shady and no one should be using them.

https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6997336
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https://hilariouschaos.com/u/muntedcrocodile posted on Feb 20, 2026 04:34
In reply to: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/24521059

https://archive.md/ bypasses almost all pay walls and things

https://hilariouschaos.com/comment/4950773
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https://feddit.org/u/running_system posted on Feb 20, 2026 06:27
In reply to: https://sopuli.xyz/post/41438625

“Now when new users join Mastodon from the mobile app, they may see a button to “join” a recommended server rather than the default “join mastodon.social” button that’s currently displayed.” Wow. Didn’t know that mentioning a server adds complexity. The bar is very low nowadays with all things digital.

https://feddit.org/comment/11623566
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https://lemmy.ca/u/breakfastmtn posted on Feb 20, 2026 06:34
In reply to: https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6997336

I’d take an alternative if you’ve got one. Otherwise, unless there’s a serious change for the worse, I’m probably going to keep posting them. Sorry!

https://lemmy.ca/comment/21801520
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https://piefed.social/u/Dequei posted on Feb 20, 2026 08:00
In reply to: https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6997336

Hmmm, thats why mullvad is blocking them?

https://piefed.social/comment/10214968
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https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/u/ubergeek77 posted on Feb 20, 2026 08:26
In reply to: https://lemmy.ca/comment/21801520

Here’s your alternative:

https://web.archive.org/web/20260219185525/https://www.theverge.com/tech/881352/mastodon-default-server-recommendations-experiment

https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998292
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https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/u/ubergeek77 posted on Feb 20, 2026 08:28
In reply to: https://piefed.social/comment/10214968

I don’t think Mullvad is blocking anyone. I’m not sure if Archive . Today is still doing what they did in 2023, but if they are, it would be more correct to say Archive . Today is blocking you for using Mullvad’s DNS servers.

https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998312
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https://lemmy.ca/u/breakfastmtn posted on Feb 20, 2026 08:32
In reply to: https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998292

You know that’s not a real alternative. I wish it was – it’d make all of this a hell of a lot easier to navigate. But it just isn’t.

https://lemmy.ca/comment/21802721
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https://piefed.social/u/Dequei posted on Feb 20, 2026 08:40
In reply to: https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998312

I can’t access to archive websites with mullvad vpn activated, with the dns blocking everything.

https://piefed.social/comment/10215309
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https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/u/ubergeek77 posted on Feb 20, 2026 08:48
In reply to: https://lemmy.ca/comment/21802721

I really, genuinely, no sarcasm, do not understand why it’s not a real alternative.

https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998403
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https://lemmy.world/u/slampisko posted on Feb 20, 2026 09:03
In reply to: https://feddit.org/comment/11623566

I wonder why people see selecting a server as a hurdle when that’s exactly what they’re asked to do when making an email address

https://lemmy.world/comment/22245681
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https://feddit.it/u/Scrollone posted on Feb 20, 2026 09:05
In reply to: https://lemmy.world/comment/22245681

Problem is, younger people don’t even do that when they make an email address.

They just “create a Gmail”.

The internet has become such a sad place.

https://feddit.it/comment/18414210
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https://lemmy.ca/u/breakfastmtn posted on Feb 20, 2026 09:36
In reply to: https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998403

Scroll down. Archive.today can archive things other services can’t. That’s why Wikipedia was in a panic about the verifiability crisis removing their 700 000 links would cause. Most can’t be replaced.

Okay, I’m just gonna explain where I’m at with this right now and why.

This isn’t a huge issue for this community but for our hard news discussion communities, abandoning archive.today would instantly make a large amount of news inaccessible (probably 13 or more, but that’s just a guess) to the vast majority. It could limit being fully informed to those with means. That would suck. It’s a real harm.

We’re in agreement that archive.today is problematic. We really need a working alternative. The ddos attack is shitty and immature. It’s a betrayal of trust. However, the victim stated in the Ars article you linked to that this hasn’t really had any discernible impact on them. So for now it’s a theoretical harm (and an abhorrent practice) vs a real harm.

For me, as it stands now, I’ll use alternatives where I can and use archive.today where I can’t because I care a lot about that harm. I’ll be ecstatic when a real alternative emerges. Like Wikipedia fell into different camps, we’re probably similar. I respect that you come down on this differently, but that’s where I’m at with this.

https://lemmy.ca/comment/21803356
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https://lemmy.world/u/kutt posted on Feb 20, 2026 09:46
In reply to: https://lemmy.world/comment/22245681

Well I was used to MMOs with different servers and I thought I’d have to create an account for each if I wanted to be with my friends. I didn’t know Mastodon was NOT a mere Twitter alternative, and I wasn’t familiar with the concept of the fediverse.

https://lemmy.world/comment/22246104
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https://lemmy.world/u/JubilantJaguar posted on Feb 20, 2026 10:29
In reply to: https://lemmy.zip/comment/24760767

With this attitude you’ll get the journalism you deserve, alas.

https://lemmy.world/comment/22246534
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https://lemmy.world/u/fierysparrow89 posted on Feb 20, 2026 11:14
In reply to: https://lemmy.world/comment/22245681

It is simple: nowadays security awareness is drilled in for most of the online population. If presented by a choice people can’t oversee, the default safest option is not to chose. I mean, how many new Mastodon users know any of these servers?

So, as couter-intuitive or even ironic it may seem, the “problem” is choice. People need to learn that social media is no longer a single entity, but more like email or choosing a bank.

https://lemmy.world/comment/22246971
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https://feddit.org/u/running_system posted on Feb 20, 2026 12:42
In reply to: https://feddit.it/comment/18414210

A huge success for Google, I guess?

https://feddit.org/comment/11627318
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https://aussie.zone/u/Eyekaytee posted on Feb 20, 2026 13:31
In reply to: https://lemmy.ubergeek77.chat/comment/6998403

This is what I see?

https://files.ikt.id.au/chomn4.png

https://aussie.zone/comment/21527006
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https://lemmus.org/u/Artafernes posted on Feb 20, 2026 14:04
In reply to: https://sopuli.xyz/post/41438625

Its already easy l think but okay nice.

https://lemmus.org/comment/16549920
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https://lemmy.world/u/TORFdot0 posted on Feb 20, 2026 14:19
In reply to: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/comment/24521059

I get it, but reader-funded journalism is always better than advertiser-funded. But if the reporting isn’t worth paying for to you, I don’t blame you for skipping them. I feel the same way some times. One article might be worth paying for but I’m not so interested in what they report to justify a full subscription.

https://lemmy.world/comment/22249510
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https://sh.itjust.works/u/captain_aggravated posted on Feb 20, 2026 15:19
In reply to: https://lemmy.world/comment/22245681

Boy I don’t need the childrape administration to declassify extraterrestrial UFO documents when I can talk to space aliens right here on Lemmy. That’s not how email works and if you were a placental mammal you’d know that.

You don’t go to email.org, click Join and arrive on a page that says “Thank you for your interest in Email: the open, federated, ethical, cage-free non-instant text messaging standard of the web! To continue, select one of these 44 providers based on a badly rendered logo and three almost identical bullet points. Don’t worry, the decision doesn’t matter…well it kinda does, for reasons that aren’t going to be explained to you up front, so pick one at random, get the lay of the land, then come back and join for real.”

No, the majority of people ended up with an email account while signing up for another service, such as gmail accounts for Android users or icloud accounts for iPhone users. You probably have an outlook account if you use Windows (or if you’re a certain age, a hotmail account). If you’re a dad, you have an email account from your ISP, or you got one from work or school. If you sought out something beyond that, like Protonmail or hosting on your own domain, you started looking for a provider with some shopping criteria in mind.

https://sh.itjust.works/comment/23881642
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https://programming.dev/u/ICastFist posted on Feb 20, 2026 15:31
In reply to: https://lemmy.world/comment/22245681

People don’t know what choosing a server entails, because it does matter and a lot of people aren’t exactly helpful when they say “just pick any” or “it’s like email”

Server choice matters because:

  1. Server might federate with a limited number of other servers;
  2. Server might be blacklisted by some servers which you might want to interact with;
  3. Servers can be running different versions of software, so people might think about security;
  4. Servers can go offline
  5. Server choice can significantly impact how people perceive you. “Oh look, another tankie from ml”

So, server choice matters and people coming in from corporate shit don’t know how much they need to know to make an informed decision, thus giving up.

https://programming.dev/comment/22298146
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https://lemmy.world/u/desmosthenes posted on Feb 20, 2026 16:01
In reply to: https://sopuli.xyz/post/41438625

any improvements are always welcome; average users have become accustomed to seamless onboarding - primarily on mobile

https://lemmy.world/comment/22251509