Notices by Eugen 💀 (gargron@mastodon.social)

With the latest update to #Mastodon's web app, we show you a little reminder when you're about to post a picture without adding alt text. Alt text is crucial for accessibility, but has other perks too, such as making it much easier to search for your post—or filter it. Of course, the reminder can be simply toggled off in preferences.

We may not be the biggest by numbers yet, but Mastodon (and the fediverse) has proven itself to be an effective and reliable communications platform over the course of the last 8 years, and does not depend on venture capital to survive. The #fediverse is the future.

I spent 25% of my life working on Mastodon. It's kind of wild when you think about it. When I started, Google+ was still around. We're doing what one of the most resourceful companies in the world couldn't do. It's not easy. It's always easier to just build A Website, then slap some ads on it. But the fediverse is the long game.

Mastodon is benefitting from the #X exodus (eXodus?) too: The official app downloads are up 47% on iOS and 17% on Android. Sign-ups are up approx. 27% compared to previous month with about 90K new accounts, while the MAU has jumped to 894K (across all Mastodon servers).

Mastodon is financed by crowdfunding instead of venture capital not because we don't know that venture capital exists, not because we don't have bills to pay, and not because venture capital isn't willing to give money to new social media platforms. VCs don't want a sustainable business, they want a big exit. Every VC-backed business is on a timer to deliver or die.

Found this playlist from @paulomalley with short tutorials on how to use various Mastodon features. I know some of these aren't as widely known as they should be! (via @elan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQA0o_qntQk&list=PLzSa4MqrsYv6nhktXbYsz7Lb231U8XySy&index=6

One of my favourite shots.

📷 Pentax KX
🎞️ Fuji Superia X-tra 400
🔭 Pentax M 50mm/1.7
⚗️ Come Through Lab

#BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography #AnalogPhotography #35mm #TheLakes #LakeDistrict #Cumbria

He’s all-terrain.

#Merchtodon #Plushtodon

Mastodon powers over 9,000 different fediverse servers and is used by around a million people every month, but did you know the core engineering team is just two people? Well, I'm delighted to announce that now it's three people! Welcome to the team, @dave!

From last evening at @mike’s lovely home.

#Plushtodon #Merchtodon

Happy to report that @verge is now officially on Mastodon (and verified) ☺️

The blogging platform #Ghost is working on adding #ActivityPub integration. That means, among other things, being able to follow Ghost-powered blogs and comment on articles right from your Mastodon account. The website they made to explain their plans is really nice! This is what momentum looks like.

https://activitypub.ghost.org/

First scans are back. Not the strongest photo, but it's a start. Central Park, NYC.

📷 Canon AE-1 Program
🎞️ Kodak Vision3 250D
🔭 Canon FD 50mm/1.8

#BelieveInFilm #FilmPhotography #AnalogPhotography #35mm #Silbersalz35 #NYC

The fact that you can follow the president of the United States (@potus) from your Mastodon account instead of being forced to have an X or Threads account for it is a huge W in my book. Of course our team is fully available to help if they'd want to set up Mastodon on whitehouse.gov. I believe governments should not rely on 3rd party platforms to connect with their constituents.

Here’s a silly goblin creature for #WhiskersWednesday. #CatsOfMastodon

I'm 31 years old now :catjam:

Goodbye, 2023! Happy new year, Mastodon! 🥳

Speaking of mastodon.online, there’s been another visual update on the web app, so let me know how you like it. Yes, it will come to mastodon.social soon enough too.

My wife is looking forward to deleting her Instagram account once she can connect with the same folks from her Mastodon account. Being able to remain in touch with over 100M people who still use Meta products out of the comfort of an ad-free, privacy-friendly platform like Mastodon is a game changer.

If for whatever reason you never wish to interact with #Threads, you can personally block it for your account. This hides all posts and profiles from Threads, prevents anyone from Threads from following you, and stops your posts from being delivered to or fetched by Threads. Simply click the "Block domain threads.net" option on any Threads profile or post you see in Mastodon.