If you want to search Mastodon posts you've interacted with, include the phrase in:library along with your keywords. This will just show results for posts you have interacted with.

If you want to search just your own posts, include the phrase from:me in your search.

There are lots more special phrases like these (also known as "operators") listed in the search guide at https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-search-for-stuff-on-mastodon

#FediTips #Mastodon

I've recently migrated to this personal / single-user #Mastodon instance and finally got around to writing about that "journey”, explaining how and why I did it.

https://shellsharks.com/own-my-social

It is but one more way in which I am pushing further into adoption of #indieweb #ownyourweb #ownyourdata #ownyoursocial ideas.

Honestly, the hardest part about the move was emotionally leaving infosec.exchange, I explain why in the post (https://shellsharks.com/own-my-social#thanks-to-infosecexchange). Thanks for everything @jerry 🧡!

@aral @_elena i'm very pessimistic about the future, globally. A small part of me was still putting hope in #Europe . Hoping we would have the chance to do things better, differently.

Adopt more officially #fediverse , #opensource , #ethics solution. It wouldn't have been hard to leverage on the great strength and potential of #mastodon , #matrix and #element , ...

This might seem out of proportion, but all my hope is gone 😞 All of it.

After Bluesky, Threads, and so on, the whole #WSocial thing is another reminder that it was never about the #Fediverse being "too complicated" or "just for nerds".

A bafflingly large amount of people genuinely only act on a gut feeling telling them that only commercial products with fancy marketing owned by a for-profit corporation can be trustworthy, 'official' and 'legal', for the lack of a better word.

If something is a commercial offering by a competent-looking, rich family man in a suit, it's clearly an official, legal, trustworthy product. You can be proud of using such a fancy-looking service.

When they see a community-run open-source project or a grassroots initiative, their first instinct is that it must be shady, illegal, complicated, broken or predatory in some way. It's probably some aftermarket grey area bootleg made by weird tech nerds, political groups with an ulterior motive, conspiracy theorists or some naive teenage hackers. They'd also be embarrassed for using it in front of their peers and neighbours; who uses some free back-alley software, are you poor or something?

The same people are the reason why Google is using the word 'sideloading', why scammers love wearing fancy suits, why people suddenly act childishly helpless in front of LibreOffice, or why DIY HRT is so demonised.

They trust any kind of 'official approval' over their own senses. If someone does something that isn't 'approved', they're a bad person or clearly endangering themselves and others. No idea why exactly, but psh, it must be wrong somehow, or everyone would do it, right?

If people on the Fediverse understood that the whole "it's all so complicated and clunky" thing is just a thinly veiled excuse for a general disdain for non-commercial software, we could finally stop making all our software imitate their corporate equivalents in a futile attempt to appease people who never gave us a chance in the first place.

You'll never convince them to treat it in good faith no matter how much effort or money you put into UX or 'ease of use'. All you're doing is making the software worse, e. g. through things like dot-social, verified accounts or begging brands, corporations and politicians to join and give your product some kind of 'official' validation.

#mastodon #openSource #linux

#Mastodon > #WSocial.

Mastodon: 100% free software. 🎉
W Social. Isn't.👎

Mastodon: Global, as all cool Internet things should be. 🌐
W Social: Eurocentrist. 🤮

Mastodon: Does not want you to hand over your passport.
W Social: Does.😡

Mastodon: No ads for 10 years.
W Social: Already threatened to introduce ads by 2027. 😂

Why should I register on W Social again? What’s the point?

Not sure if this was rolled out on mastodon.social just recently, or a while ago, with all the other UI updates, but only noticing it now, and it is very nice!

#mastodon #accessibility #AltText

Alt...

A screenshot of the profile edit interface on Mastodon, showing a menu with an "Add alt text" option highlighted.

O Mastodon lançou a versão 4.6, trazendo melhorias na organização de conteúdos e na experiência visual dos utilizadores. A atualização inclui coleções e perfis renovados, com aposta na personalização do serviço.

🔗 https://tugatech.com.pt/t85829-mastodon-4-6-ja-esta-disponivel-com-colecoes-e-perfis-renovados

#mastodon 

The concentration of power in Silicon Valley happened partly because we let it. We accepted a few platforms as inevitable. We built our communities there because that’s where everyone was. It wasn’t because their technology is better. It was a choice—made again and again by the people on those platforms, by investors, and by policymakers.

A different choice is possible, but it requires that those of us building alternatives actually believe what we say about cooperation. It means assuming good faith from people building different projects. It means investing in infrastructure that doesn’t benefit us alone.

We, the builders of the open social web, are the only ones who can make that choice.

It starts with deciding that our mission matters more than winning alone.

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/06/why-the-social-web-must-work-together/

#SocialWeb #Fediverse #Mastodon

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Mastodon/116765910384325070

Big news!!

Congratulations to @MastodonEngineering and everyone who has contributed!

#mastodon #fediverse

muddle boosted

Mastodon » 🌐 2026-06-17
@Mastodon@mastodon.social

#Mastodon 4.6 is here! It's been a long time in the works, but it's finally ready. In this release, we're introducing Collections—a way to share curated collections of profiles to help old and new users discover more of the #Fediverse. We're also updating the look of profiles, alongside many quality of life and accessibility improvements. Read more here:

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/06/mastodon-4.6/

RE: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/116770333053823108

W is for Warning.

⚠️

#WWarning #WSocial #fediverse #mastodon #BigTech #surveillance #capitalism #peopleFarming

Blender Dumbass ( J.Y.Amihud ) boosted

Aral Balkan » 🌐 2026-06-18 / 2026-06-18
@aral@mastodon.ar.al

Needless to say, do not sign up for W or give them your ID information no matter how simple they eventually manage to make it.

You simply don’t need to.

You’re already in a far superior – non-corporate, federated – space.

Do not sign up for W. And warn your friends.

The only time you have any power to stop this is now. If they succeed in gaining network effects, you will be as powerless to stop them as you are with X.

And yes, they’re just another venture capital funded surveillance capitalist, people farmer, and burgeoning Nazi Bar. They just happen to be based in the EU. (As Nazi Bars traditionally have been.)

#WSocial #NoWNoX #surveillance #capitalism #BigTech #VC @_elena https://mastodon.social/@_elena/116770291207686239

Alt...

Ursula von der Leyen’z post wishing a “warm welcome to all folllwers on W” and calling it user friendly, open source, privacy preserving and “humans only/no bots”. Oh and “European” (unlike Mastodon, which I guess was made on Mars).

@bocasun

Welcome to the #Fediverse! (That's what we call the larger network that #Mastodon is on, just FYI)

Your bio is a good start, now put out some posts so that the people you follow will know a little more about what you're all about, and will be more likely to follow you back.

Cheers, and have fun! ;)

The European Alternatives To YouTube, WhatsApp & Instagram
https://youtube.com/watch?v=tpx_E6VvfwI&is=C5absLlan3K8Sr_J

What if Europe had its own alternatives to YouTube, WhatsApp, and Instagram?

An interesting video about digital sovereignty, privacy, and technological independence. Definitely worth watching.

#Europe #DigitalSovereignty #Privacy #Technology #OpenSource #EuropeanTech #DigitalIndependence #Innovation #Mastodon #Fediverse

Happy to see my tax money well-spent 😊🥳

Apparently accessibility fixes in Mastodon were largely sponsored by the Dutch government. Public money funding public code benefitting us all, regardless of where you live or your nationality. Awesome!

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/06/mastodon-4.6/

Almost forgot...well done & congrats on release 4.6 @Mastodon people & floss contributors 🎂🫶 🎉

#OpenSource #Mastodon #FLOSS #DigitalAutonomy #Accessibility

Alt...

Screenshot from Mastodon 4.6 release. With a yellow emoji finger pointing at the word Dutch. Apparently accessibility fixes in Mastodon were largely sponsored by the Dutch government. Happy to hear a wee bit of my taxes are actually well spent. Check this link for the full text. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/06/mastodon-4.6/

@EUCommission #Fediverse with #Mastodon is all I need. Can't imagine (now) that I will register to another social media network out of the Fediverse for fun again.

Sorry, I even will not take a look.

#Mastodon 4.6 is here! It's been a long time in the works, but it's finally ready. In this release, we're introducing Collections—a way to share curated collections of profiles to help old and new users discover more of the #Fediverse. We're also updating the look of profiles, alongside many quality of life and accessibility improvements. Read more here:

https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2026/06/mastodon-4.6/

New Mastodon Release

v4.6.0

https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/releases/tag/v4.6.0

#Mastodon #Mastoadmin

Here are some very decent Mastodon instances:

Gamer Plus | Harry Larry is a workhorse!
-- https://gamerplus.org

Vivaldi
-- https://social.vivaldi.net/

InfoSec Exchange
-- https://infosec.exchange/

#Fediverse #Mastodon #Instances #Social

Don't run with bagpipes. You could put an aye out.

Or worse yet, get kilt.

(It's #HootinTootinTuesday again! Post some jokes or funny memes under this hashtag today, and bring lots of smiles to #Mastodon.)

#Humor #Humour #FunnyMeme #Jokes #Scotland #Scottish #Scotsman #Scots #Scotsmen #Scotland #TheTartanArmy #WorldCup #FIFAWorldCup #Kilts #Kilt #Kilted #Signage #Sign

Alt...

Sign showing a pictograph of a person inside of a red "warning" triangle. The person's arms are up in the air and the face is surprised. Their kilt is upside-down and revealing everything. Under the triangle, some box text reads, "Underwear must be worn with kilts when wind speeds exceed 25mph."

🛠️I spent 10 hours last week mapping out a RAG pipeline. Three things became clear:

Week 1 of building this from scratch was intense but rewarding. I wanted to understand how the pieces fit together before jumping into implementation. That investment paid off.

The pipeline itself brings together three main components: a knowledge base search index, a prompt that includes user input plus retrieved context, and the LLM model itself. Pretty neat stuff once you see how they connect.

What stood out most was the value of modular design. You can swap models, clients, or data indexes down the road without rewriting everything; huge win for long-term flexibility. I especially like this approach because it keeps things adaptable as needs change.

As an extra challenge, I’m experimenting with Local AI instead of cloud APIs. The appeal is privacy, which has always mattered to me. So far it’s as simple as switching the API response call. No major overhaul needed; just a tweak in where responses come from.

💡 Insights from Week 1:

- RAG might be older technology, but it remains popular because it grounds responses in context and reduces hallucinations
- Worth understanding the trade-offs between in-memory vs. persistent databases before choosing an architecture
- Modular design makes future swaps easier when you need them; less technical debt over time
- Some models require different API calls (chat completions vs. standard responses), so compatibility matters
- Clean structured data is key; it’s often the most time-consuming part of building a RAG app

It’s a lot to unpack, but also pretty exciting. If you're navigating something interesting in your learning or work right now, I'd love to hear about it.

Build is a working progress, feel free to review my Github repo here: https://github.com/ammartin8/llm_zoomcamp_portfolio

#ai #localai #DataEngineering #mastodon #fediverse #generativeAI #linux #buildinpublic #github

Alt...

A whiteboard-style diagram on a black background titled "Basic Overview of How Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) Works." It illustrates a six-step RAG pipeline flow with handwritten text and arrows connecting four main components: User, AI Application, Database, LLM, and Build Prompt. Step 1 shows the user submitting a question to the AI Application; step 2 queries the database; step 3 sends retrieved document data back to the application; step 4 sends the question plus context to the Build Prompt component; step 5 constructs a prompt for the LLM; and step 6 delivers the final answer back to the user.

It's really annoying to see channels you deleted (on the respective site) and then find them cloned on other sites... This is a huge privacy issue that's completely missing in Open Source systems (or social networks)... Those listed below were only some of the channels I created and then (illusorily) deleted...

https://mastodon.social/@Veiled_Sense@pixelfed.social

https://mastodon.social/@Erotic_Veils@pixelfed.social

https://mastodon.social/@Pixel.Up@pixelfed.social

#Clone_Channel - #Bad_Social - #Privacy - #Problem_Open_Source_Social - #Pixelfed - #Mastodon

If I'm following a person, their post will show up for sure, but sometimes not the post it's replying to. In this case I can still follow a link back to the original instance. (Which is a way of "getting around" in and of itself.)

I think part of this might be because snac is conservative in terms of caching, whereas Mastodon is apparently very aggressive about it. So while snac is very lightweight (which is its main point) on Mastodon it would feel less insular. Hashtags on a semi-large Mastodon instance can be used to see a lot of posts from people you don't follow, but on this snac instance it's almost pointless to filter by hashtag.
Conversely, I have no idea who might be able to see this post here, just because they follow the Fediverse hashtag or so...?

I assume one way to get more input might be to follow more people. But then the feed would be way too busy. So perhaps an alternative would be to create a separate account on the same instance that follows a ton of people, which would cause the snac server to retrieve their posts (or know about the server?), and then I guess that should improve things somewhat even on this account, making hashtags more usable and seeing more replies or reply parent-posts.

As I said, I'd love if anyone with more knowledge about the Fediverse or Activity Pub etc. could enlighten me a bit.

#fedi #snac #activitypub #mastodon

On #Mastodon there are now
420 verified accounts from #news organizations in
21 languages and on
121 instances.

244 were active today.

Some accounts, that were active today are
@ElSaltoDiario (SPA)
@ComputerBase (GER)
@mondiaalnieuws (NLD)
@FTM_nl@social.ftm.nl (NLD)
@lucire (ENG)

Find the whole list on:
➡️ https://fingolas.eu/fediverse/overview.html

Built by @mho

#MastodonMigration #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Media #Press #Newspaper #TwitterMigration #Newstodon

#mastodon #trick

Is there a trick to go to the bookmarks but from a specific date?

#mastonauts #help

#Vim carnival this month: "The motion that changed everything".

Write about it on your #blog, and send me a link that I will add to this post

#editor #neovim #terminal #shell #opensource #linux #BSD #mastodon #fediverse
https://lazybea.rs/vim-carnival-202606

So far for June's carnival, I got only ... @rl_dane 😔

Any #vim #neovim user that would like to write about it?

#opensource #linux #CLI #Shell #editors #mastodon #fediverse #bsd #programming #terminal

@nathanu

> P.S. Lord does it suck to share links on #Mastodon. Markdown syntax support when?

On vanilla Mastodon, probably never. But there are plenty of other great options that support longer toots and full Markdown:

• Gitch Social (Mastodon fork)
• GoToSocial (somewhat minimalist #fedi server, which the instance I'm on is running)
• snac (very minimalist fedi server, see https://snac.bsd.cafe)

I don't have any Glitch instance recommendations offhand, unfortunately. I can dig through my files for one if you'd like, or you can try looking online.

10 years of #mastodon

Although this account is only eight and a bit years old...

Alt...

Photo of me wearing a black t-shirt, bearing the text "10 years of Mastodon", and an image of John Mastodon sailing a ship through a storm, with a large whale behind it.

Periodic reminder to boost the posts you like to keep the Fediverse alive.

WE are the algorithm here

#Mastodon

@Tutanota Have started self-hosting a while ago! Both laptop and raspberry pi are Linux ( #fedora and #dietpi ) My main social media are #mastodon and #lemmy . Main search engine is a self-hosted #searxng . And most importantly, just paid for a 1 year Revolutionary membership for #TutaMail ;)

On #Mastodon there are now
420 verified accounts from #news organizations in
21 languages and on
121 instances.

184 were active today.

Some accounts, that were active today are
@28kanala (BAQ)
@arrasategoiena (BAQ)
@appgefahren (GER)
@kuketzblog (GER)
@WinFuture (GER)

Find the whole list on:
➡️ https://fingolas.eu/fediverse/overview.html

Built by @mho

#MastodonMigration #SocialMedia #Fediverse #Media #Press #Newspaper #TwitterMigration #Newstodon

#Mastodon tip: There is a way to use only part of a word as a hashtag!

For example, you might want to say the word “toots”, but use the hashtag “toot”.

To do this, place a U+2060 WORD JOINER before the “s” in “toots”. Example: #toot⁠s.

If you're using #X11 or #Wayland (i.e. #Linux or #BSD desktop), you can add the following line to ~/.XCompose to give yourself a keyboard shortcut:

<Multi_key> <w> <j> : "⁠" U2060 # WORD JOINER

Then just type Compose, then W, then J.

Reasons why I love Mastodon:

1. I can ask help for stuff I know nothing about and some expert somewhere will be like "I know I know!!!" And I get good information.
2. People also have useful links I can't find myself.
3. People will literally GO TAKE A PHOTO FOR YOU for reference if you ask, and are so damb nice about it that my heart grows three sizes. <3
4. So much lovely HUMAN MADE art. :D
5. Blocking seems to work really well.
Etc.

#fedi #mastodon

To reassure followers, let me state clearly:

there will be no posts about the FIFA World Cup here (other than this one, obviously)...

I will leave aside the price gouging of dynamic pricing, the denial of entry to footballers & officials to the USA and the general political character of the event (and the role of ICE in its 'policing').

This is a football-free Mastodon account; you can follow/read posts in safety (if you are a footie-phobe)

#Mastodon

This week in #FDroid (TWIF) is live:

* 2.0 is as ready as possible, test now!
* #Google spreading FUD about #Android #FLOSS apps
* #Fedilab #Mastodon 'Collections'
* more #ReFra gallery goodies
* more categories
+ 34 new apps
& 293 updates

Grab all your devices from the drawers: https://f-droid.org/2026/06/12/twif.html

#KeepAndroidOpen

⚠️ Word is from Admins and Mods, Russian bot farm accounts are becoming a real problem so the advice I'm hearing is, carefully vet new accounts following you and any you might want to follow.

#Fediverse #Mastodon

edit # 2
Thanks to
@crapaud for providing this resource specific to the aforementioned Russian bot farm

https://about.iftas.org/2025/10/05/coordinated-pro-russian-propaganda-network-targeting-activitypub-and-atproto-services/

edit: Look below this post--I will add a couple articles about how to spot a bot account