I am not convinced thematic instances are a good thing. That means people interested in that topic lose all their communities if that instance goes away.
Absolutely. We’ve already set outselves up for eventual failure.
I was speaking to a friend registered with the tech.lgbt mastodon instance, and all I could think was “that sure makes that population vulnerable”. There’s so many instances that were paid as a one year server subscription by a hobbiest who might lose interest, and poof - those instances will be gone without warning.
Search will get better across instances over time. Instead of thematic instances, I’d really like to see focus on instance governance:
Which are run by corporations, non-profits, academic institutions, or cooperatives who have an accountable board incentivized to maintain their instance?
What are their sunsetting plans? Do they have policies in place to warn users if they become unsustainable?
What are their funding models, and how well equipped are their technical staff?
I am not convinced thematic instances are a good thing. That means people interested in that topic lose all their communities if that instance goes away.
Absolutely. We’ve already set outselves up for eventual failure.
I was speaking to a friend registered with the tech.lgbt mastodon instance, and all I could think was “that sure makes that population vulnerable”. There’s so many instances that were paid as a one year server subscription by a hobbiest who might lose interest, and poof - those instances will be gone without warning.
Search will get better across instances over time. Instead of thematic instances, I’d really like to see focus on instance governance:
Which are run by corporations, non-profits, academic institutions, or cooperatives who have an accountable board incentivized to maintain their instance?
What are their sunsetting plans? Do they have policies in place to warn users if they become unsustainable?
What are their funding models, and how well equipped are their technical staff?