(Reminder: if you have shared the original version in a public post with an old version up, replacing it with this one might be more helpful.)
I want to preface, if you see a mistake in the image or have something helpful to add, go right ahead! I still have the layered files for this, so edits can be made very quickly. I chose to handwrite the text to avoid font copyright infringement.
Feel free to share this poster as you wish, especially on Reddit. All I ask is that you respect the license and don’t remove my socials at the bottom. If anyone’s addition is included, I’ll credit them, and if this gets added onto (or translated) by someone else later, they can add their info as well.
I hope someone can find it useful with the subreddit blackouts right around the corner.
I want to thank the Beehaw admins so much for their amazing work!
(Poster edited; I spotted a duplicated word, mrmanager@lemmy.today noted the lack of whitespace; current version is slightly larger and has been spaced out. You can still request the 800x2000 size, but know it is a little squished.)
(Edit 2: Removed defederation part as it’s not really required. The email analogy blackcoffee@beehaw.org suggested has been added, thanks!)
(Edit 3: Here’s another version making the interconnectivity a bit clearer and mentioning some cool-looking reader apps that have been suggested! Also made the image slightly longer for ease of viewing. I might do some small cosmetic changes tomorrow)
(Edit 4 is here with the date updated towards the bottom. This version contains a reminder to verify your email, lets people know why mlem isn’t showing up on App Store searches, and added fedia.io to Kbin instances. Some colors have been changed slightly to be more mobile friendly, as this is written and edited from a phone tablet. If you have a hard time reading this because of the changes, please let me know. Thank you all for the help and tips!)
Related question for all you experts: if I have an account on both (for example) lemmy.ml and lemmy.world, what is effectively the difference between them if I can view content from any federated instance?
The difference is just that you log on using two different sites. They can access the same federated content. Just read the rules of both instances and see if you prefer one or the other.
So, as someone trying desperately to figure this 'decentralized' thing out, what is to stop someone from creating their own 'instance' that simply has 0 moderation or administration, allowing torrents/drug deals/piracy/child pornography. It sounds like there's no overall control over that from Lemmy or anyone, so how would that be policed in any way? It doesn't sound like there's any over-seeing body who could either be held accountable or actually force the removal of that content, correct?
Any member of the Fediverse can be banned by specific community. That can be a specific account or an entire instance of Lemmy, Mostodon, kbin, etc. I guess it's like one instance shadow banning another.
For example if behaw goes rouge, Lemmy.world can decide to ban all content and all users from showing up on Lemmy.world. The proper authorities must be notified immediately so Lemmy.world doesn't look complacent in those crimes.
AFAIK, the difference is mostly in the performance, moderation, and peering of each instance.
I see, so...
I'm new to this as well, so this is all AFAIK, don't take it as gospel, please correct me readers, etc.
Correct. Your account is tied to your local instance. Unlike mastodon there is currently no way to transfer accounts between instances.
Moderators of communities can delete your posts or ban you from their community. I'm not sure if remote admins can easily ban you from their entire instance.
Remote admins can definitely decide to de-federate your local instance if you and a bunch of peers are being bad trolly spambots.
Yes. Click "instances" at the bottom of this page to see which instances beehaw federates with. You'll note there are a couple banned instances due to issues with their content or moderation.
Good stuff! Thank you for clarifying. This all makes a lot more sense now.
np. also wow! a lot more than a couple banned instances now!
that page has changed dramatically in the past couple days
this is because we started using a heavily curated blocklist for the worst mastodon instances (they can interoperate with us). we didn't expect any trouble from any of them, but any instance in the new batch of banned instances can be safely assumed to be quite bad and it's better to be proactive than not.
@WindInTrees@beehaw.org @1993_toyota_camry@beehaw.org
as someone running a fediverse instance: not really... I can "ban" you from my instance, so that people from my instance can't see your post/follow you/interact with you, or delete specific posts from you, so that they don't show up on my instance. but i can't completely remove your account: anyone from any other instance can still see your account and follow you.
if i believe you did something really wrong and should be banned, i'd contact your instance's admin to take actions against you. if they don't comply and i believe it's causing too much issue, i can mute or "defederate" your instance. muting means posts from your instance won't be visible to people on my instance unless they specifically look up your account by name, and defederation makes it so that my instance pretends yours doesn't exist, and will refuse to lookup anyone from your instance, or let anyone from your instance follow some of my instance's people and so on!
hope this helps :3
They can stop you from accessing their instance, afaik.
Okay good. Not that I plan to be an issue. 😆