Hello everyone.

So I've been working on a project for a while and it's finally getting to the point where I can show it off! We once spoke of creating a Mastodon instance for Kafuka but at the time it never manifested as it wasn't the point to do so. Recently motivated by a certain event to make things right as well as feeling now feels like a better time to give it a try I've created a Matsodon instance.

It's not just for the members of Kafuka however.. it's also for people who like to share art, talk about computers (both new and classic), and emulation. It's also for the friends we have that may not fit in our circles that want to try the Fediverse out.

The Instance is called "Kafuka.ME". I wanted to keep it separate from kafuka.org so I could give it a shorter url, and allow it to have it's own identity.

How does Mastodon/Fediverse work?
Magic? I jest. (I may rewrite this in the future since this is off the cuff.)

Think of it like if twitter and irc had a baby. You have your main Home Timeline that is just like twitter: it shows only the people you follow, their boosts (retweets), and etc.

You have the Local timeline.. which shows all the publicly posting toots (tweets) from everyone on the instance you are on. I feel this is where it would shine for the members here. All toots have a privacy settings ranging from public, to mentioned only. If you set it to be followers only, it will not show in any timelines but anyone who follows you will see it.

Finally we have the Federated Timeline. This will show all the posts the server sees that is public. Primary it's sourced from the accounts followed by the members of the instance. They also can be from relays that connect servers together. Any user that is on another Mastodon, Pleroma, Misskey, etc server that allows federation can be followed just like if they were on the server. This is the cool part. It allows you connect to people that may not be on the instance you are on. Creating a truly global experience.

That may be a lot or confusing So I'll break it down so a tl;dr size:

It's multi-server twitter with 3 additional views:

1. Home - Basically Twitter's timeline. Whomever you follow.
2. Local - All the posts of everyone on the same site as you, minus ones marked 'private'.
3. Federation - Everything your server sees that isn't private. Like Putting all the Locals together from every server you know about.


That's the 20¢ tour. It's really straight forward when you play with it. There are tools that can help you find other people on other instances and as Kafuka.ME grows the more it can see and grow.

So it's not quite ready yet. I am ready for a few more people to going in and help it to grow. I would like members of Kafuka to be the first to have access to it. The invite below is going to have an invite that will allow for 25 accounts to me made and will expire a week from this posting. When the site is in full live state I will have Registration open/review and invites enabled. For now both are disabled. (This paragraph will be removed once it has opened)

Link to the site. You can register on the front page. Just mention you're from the boards!

I've added a field in the extended profiles for Mastodon accounts. If you follow the format in the example it will link back to your profile any Mastodon site. (Not sure about other software).

If you already are on an instance no worries! We can always follow each other! Please feel free to follow me! https://kafuka.me/@emuz.

Other than that I am sure I left out a lot. I put a lot of work, time, and effort into this project. I hope you'll consider giving it a try!

It's actually quite simple. I just explain things over complicatedly.

It's twitter with 2 additional views:

1. Home - Basically Twitter's timeline. Whomever you follow.
2. Local - All the posts of everyone on the same site as you, minus ones marked 'private'.
3. Federation - Everything your server sees that isn't private. Like Putting all the Locals together from every server you are talking to.

I wouldn't get too hung up on it. If you see it, it'll make sense. I am very techinical sometimes with my explanations. lol. I've included a poorly photoshoped screenshot with all three timelines:



I'm also going to link a youtube video with a basic "What is Mastodon" just to help. Though I warn you it's a bit.. ehh.. lol


So yeah. It's not really complicated to use! I'll update my first post with a bit to make it a bit better.

The big difference is in the instance you choose. So far we've curated a really good content stream. I have only one relay and the people are mostly talking about things we talk about here.. cats.. games.. art. There will always be the quick "shitposts". Same could be said for here too. However as it stands.. the biggest shitposter on the feed is an account that shows pictures of big ben going "BONG BONG BONG" which I find hilarious!

For the members of this board. if you like twitter style for things but found it meh.. it's a good solution. The local feed would fit so well with our members. It would just be us.. and anyone else who joins Kafuka.ME. The interface is flexible in that there are many different interfaces you can choose to login with provided you don't like the interface, and it has full mobile app support. (One of those alternate interfaces is a old style html render! I've also been playing with a CLI client too!)

I think as long as you not totally repulsed by social media this is the best service that would be fit for this group. I would hope you'd at least give it a try! The board's not going away.. so there isn't a risk in at least trying it out. If you don't like it you can just delete your account with ease!

I know we're traditionally.. well traditional about or web experiences. It's run by Nicole and myself.. so know we'll be making sure it's a fun experience. We could have the best Local Timeline ever!

Regardless, I made this for myself and anyone that I know who wants an alternative to twitter, wants to try the fediverse with friends, or wants to see what other communities there may be. If that's not something your interested in than that's fine! If you don't feel like trying it out than no worries! I want to make sure the members of Kafuka have the first chance to sign up if they like. It's only fair!

I find it's.. one of those things that very difficult to explain, but if you spend about an hour with it.. it starts to click. If you want I'll be glad to talk with you about it. Nicole is also a good choice as she has been doing this even longer than I! <3

I am bad at explaining things sometimes as I tend to speak over detailed. lol! It's really just a platform in the style of twitter, but more open, and not one company holds all the cards.

The current groups that I've been connected with have been kind so far. One of the reasons I think it could be cool for here lots of LGTBQ+ people use it. Some more art people for me (lol), lots of open source and tech chat, and privacy controls as well. Plus unlike some other Social Media sites I won't pull your account for no gd reason. *pant* *pant*.

If anyone is remotely curious they should give it a try for an hour or so and it'll all make sense. (Plus you'll know if you like it or not as well! [and you won't have to sit through another one of my cruddy explanations!)

Hahah, Well it's a good place for that! You are more the welcome to give it a go!

Trel: I approved your account when you signed up.. I just forgot to say anything about it. I was sick that weekend!