Quick question for you. I signed up to Mastadon a while back, have been endeavouring to use it more regularly, and have been trying to sign on to as many local or often-subscribed orgs (on other media platforms). What I’m finding is that remarkably few of them are on Mastadon, and often those that are have been using them as a kind of alt-Twitter content splash with little engagement.
Are the actual active profiles/communities sort of walling themselves off from bots and bad actors in the way that you’re describing? Invite-only groups whose activity isn’t seen by non-members, or even accessible when searching for related tags/topics? Have I been casting about looking for content like someone looking for people in a neighbourhood where everyone is inside with the curtains drawn, or is there actually low engagement on Mastadon overall?
The Mastadon link is a revelation, I haven’t seen any duplication of content, but TBH I haven’t invested a fraction of the time there as here. The Federation is a great idea, although it’s going to take a little while for me to wrap my head around all of the ins and outs of the patchwork framing.