You don’t have to do that when you sign up for mstdn.social, and it’s also not a requirement for mastodon.social And there are more instances where you don’t have to apply like that.

Yes, and we need much more like that if we want this platform to be sucessful as a whole. Normies want to join social medias, not clubs.

But when it’s asked that you apply to the server, it’s usually to ease the load of moderation, to see if you would fit the vibe of that instance. And/or to protect the more vulnerable people on that particular instance.

We all know or should know that running a platform like a club where people need to apply and have their worth manually determined is a toxic and unwelcoming environment that does not promote any kind of growth, and the fact that it is common and encouraged is not helpful to the fediverse long term. It just pushes normies away. Because a social media doesn't ask people to apply, a club does. Most people don't want to join small exclusive clubs.

[–] naught101@lemmy.world 1 points 36 minutes ago

The vast majority of users are on general instances without demands like that. If you don't want to join an exclusive club, just pick a sever that is not intended to be an exclusive club (I.e. nearly any of the big ones).

[–] madjo@feddit.nl 1 points 54 minutes ago* (last edited 52 minutes ago)

Yes, and we need much more like that if we want this platform to be sucessful as a whole. Normies want to join social medias, not clubs.

Why? There's plenty of general servers aimed at normies that don't require you to write an essay about yourself.

Let those specialty servers be specialty servers. Some only want artists, some only want neurodivergent people, some only want trans people on their platform. That's their right! They get to decide who comes on their platform and who doesn't. It's not up to you to decide that for them. You need to understand that the people hosting these servers are not gazillionaires that do this out of the kindness of their hearts, they want to foster a certain atmosphere and a certain community on their server, and they do their best to keep disruptive people out. And one way of doing that is by limiting who gets on.

So instead of desperately trying to join blahaj_artists.social, why not join normies.social like mastodon.social or mstdn.social, or mastodon.coffee or any of the other 'normie' mastodon servers.

Go here, select "Sign up process: instant" and choose any of the servers on that page, and you'll get in, without having to write an essay about yourself.