So, let's talk instance size vs instance culture!
If you're not on one of the >50k instances: How do you deal with new users?
If you're on an instance with one or two major topics: how do you deal with new users who chose your instance randomly and aren't all that much into your topics?
Mastodon doesn't really have a way to introduce new users to the instance, and to help them integrate with their new instance's culture, rules, and maybe topics (if applicable). A welcome message could help β¦
@distelfliege Not sure if I'm just grumpy these days, but the local timeline feels a bit general/random and not like a community. We're about to hit 2k users, and I'm starting to think about the best ways to continue. Making the instance invite-only would be a last resort, but maybe a long explanatory welcome toot from our admin account could already help.
@rixx is it partly because of WT users looking for a new place?
@distelfliege I don't think so, or not primarily, it's just Mastodon growing. The wt migration was two distinct bumps the evening of the announcement and the morning after. ;)
@rixx ah! then I guess a welcome message would be good!
when I joined Todon.nl, I automatically followed the admin account, and this account keeps tooting info for newbies. so my timeline was filled with welcome toots and how to find everything on Todon. I thought it was very nice!
do you do that on chaos?
@rixx of course I have the admin's welcome toots in my TL there from time to time, but as I follow more accounts they get blended in with other stuff very well.
@distelfliege I meant a personalzed welcome message from our @ ordnung account per user. Like a "hi, you're new here, let's tell us some stuff about this instance".
@distelfliege Just need the time to script it :D
@rixx @distelfliege Now I'm wondering if I have chosen the right instance... I chose Chaos.social because of the Admins and the invitation and because I followed some nice ppl from here, but this account is not tech heavy... And now I feel like I might "pollute" the local TL if I occasionally post something on it. Hmm.
@TQ @distelfliege Argh, that's β¦ that's not what I intended. Sorry. It's not about tech stuff for me, it's about the (wider) chaos community. I'm really happy to see you here!
@rixx @distelfliege guess it's all down to what you define as wider chaos community then. And what kind of community you want to build.
But then again info should ideally be given before registration. In the code of conduct, perhaps?
@TQ @distelfliege The CoC/rules section mentions the standard things (no harrassment etc), and in the end, the wider Chaos family is everybody who sees themself in it. Idk what's right here, but I'd hate to see the local timeline become just as unconnected as the global timeline.
@rixx @TQ
can you describe what connected it before? what were the main topics people talked about? I actually never used the local timeline on any of my instances, but now that I'm on 4 instances, I can say I get a community feel from wandering.shop.
on WT there was definitely a local feel to but if you didn't speak french you were kind of lost 
@distelfliege @rixx @TQ
It's hard to describe. There was a lot of greetings (Guten Morgen, Gute Nacht), many trivial updates and some techy stuff. The trivial stuff and the tech was also often connected.
In the last days it has felt like scrolling through tons of different GitHub profiles, spiced with a lot of bots. Or perhaps like hanging out at c-base. I guess it doesn't feel as...human any more.
@lilletale @rixx @TQ it's interesting, because this sounds like it became... *more* techy? and less personal? (without really knowing what c-base is)
@distelfliege @lilletale @TQ There are two kinds of people joining up who make the instance less fun: Those who joined just due to random chance, and the tech bros joining 'cause TECH. CCC/Chaos includes tech, but also other stuff and a mindset, to me. Some non-chaos people are totally fine, but once they make up a large part of the local timeline, it just doesn't feel like home anymore?
@rixx @lilletale @TQ
I'm an anarchist and I know what anarchy is, can name some anarchist theories and names, and I know a little bit about CCC but I couldn't say what the "chaos" mindset even is. Is it the techy version of hakim bey's temporary autonomous zone?
I guess you're either in that community yourself or you're reading it and you're like π€
@rixx @lilletale @TQ this totally inspired me to get to know my local timelines more.
actually I was very inclined to join chaos.social when WT announced it's end, but in my #witchy instance-determination-ritual the oracle clearly decided against it 
I was a bit disappointed but maybe it was for the better?
anyway, thanks for the insight and I hope you're successful in making your instance home to chaos again!
@distelfliege Just a general note β it's super nice to see the things you post and the way you interact with folks. Interacting with you is always a positive thing! (Except that I get reminded a lot that I can't cycle to work 'cause I'm lazy and 20km is far and boooooh!! π )
@rixx aaaaw thanks! where is the blushing emoji?? π
@distelfliege @rixx @lilletale @TQ
TBH had I not settled at tchncs.de I would have joined chaos.social, I've been interested in CCC since the era of the original Datenklo π΄π½
Athough wasn't sure if the instance was more for people regularly able to attend CCC events (not so easy for me, my work responsibilities do not currently give me time to spend 2 or more weeks the other side of the North Sea! - but I'm impressed with the way things are run and the consensus decisions about policies
@distelfliege @rixx @TQ For me it is less about specific topics and more about "human", original, own content, even if it's trivial.
As a specific counter-example memeposting (often from twitter and other sources) just adds a lot of noise. Not that I don't like memes, but I have a different platform for that, and I think most of those posts are down to not knowing that everyone contributes to a local timeline and that you can post different things on different platforms.
@distelfliege @rixx @TQ There also seems to be a "McMemeBot" which you can mention and you get a reply with a meme, and some people do that publicly. I am not attributing that to malice, but to missing information. Greeting new people with a nice message seems like a good way to inform people about this "group" that you are automatically in if you join a topic-oriented instance, in contrast to just being a tiny blip on a commercial platform.
@rixx To be honest I also noticed that the local timeline seemed a bit "off" (without any negative connotation). Then I wondered if even I, like @TQ, was doing my part to it. But then I am probably misreading the timeline and myself.
But I totally get you, @rixx. Unfortunately I have no clue to take new users by the hand and give them a warm start and Welcome to the chaos.social community.
Thanks again for all your work and thoughts you put into this making this instance just wonderful.
@luricaun @rixx @TQ I think it's very understandable but misleading to think the chaos ist only related to tech. There are a lot more topics like politics, art, LGBTQ+ stuff and a lot more. But at the moment I feel a drift in the public timeline from a feeling of a nice community towards a very random twitter like experience. Thats ok for a very general instance like mastodon.social but in the end we are not that general. But that different feeling is very difficult to put into words.
@leah @rixx @TQ And I know exactly what you mean. 100%. Although I think it is unbelievably difficult to balance this. Especially in an open environment like we have here. And I think this is a good thing. But then again I couldn't tell how to cautiously steer it back to the way it was without damaging it's core.
@luricaun @TQ well for the moment we disabled our listing on sites that help new people to find a instance like joinmastodon.org, just to give us more time and less growth for the moment. And as @rixx mentioned we plan to welcome every new user with a more detailed explanation and help about the instance and our rules.
@leah
@TQ @rixx
I can't stress this enough. Thanks again for all your consideration, your steady effort to this place something I never forna second regret to choose to join.
A "Thank you" just isn't enough to all of you who put so much thoughts and work into this instance.
I really have to make a liberapay account soon to give a little something back when else I have not much to offer.
@rixx it sounds to me sort of like how I heard Usenet worked before Eternal September. Waves of users arrive, and by the time the next wave hits they've been immersed in the culture, or left. I mean how do you describe a culture? There's an entire genre of Canadian literary Works dedicated to figure out what it means to be Canadian and what Canadian culture is. It's something that you can only really even attempt to describe by comparison.
@rixx The mandatory-follow-at-first feature could help?
@eleanor Not really, or not on its own. I want to keep the follow-at-first account for relevant announcements, so it won't just blast welcomes all the time. I'm in the process of writing a script that makes that bot say hello to new followers though.
@rixx A welcome message would have to be phrased *very* carefully (for instance, not assuming I was a total newbie to social networks or free software) in order not to chase me away immediately.
@irina Well, our problem with the recent influx shows that we may to want that effect. This is not a generalist instance, so it's ok if people decide to leave it once we tell them who and what it's for.
@rixx "this" = "chaos.social", I presume? (Where I am not, because I probably wouldn't feel at home. I sort of stumbled on wandering.shop because one of the choose-your-instance site said that fantasy writers hang out there, and I'm a fantasy writer so I thought why not, and I feel very comfortable there)
@irina Yeah, I'm talking exclusively about chaos.social β I think this is a thing that very instance needs to figure out (repeatedly) on its own due to differences in target groups, culture, etc.
@rixx We have a very basic screening application for #socialcoop, and admit virtually everyone who makes it through the questions (95% that don't seem like obvious spammers), which seems to have allowed us to keep the core focus/community vibe as we approach 1k members.
We also have a separate online #loomio group for governance and a reading group, so a core interacts in multiple spaces.
@mattcropp That's really cool! We have gotten way faster from 1k to 2k than from 0 to 1k, so organic growth seems to play into it. Having reading groups/topics sounds good too! social.coop sounds like a great place.
@mattcropp Hahaha, granted, coops of all kinds take lots of patience with stuff like that (don't get me started on my hackerspace β¦).
@rixx It doesn't seem to matter much, because you can follow ppl on other instances and vice-versa. I follow mostly other geeks and h/w people with a few artists for balance and they are on instances all over the world. Some ppl I follow simply because they post in spanish, french or german and I like to try to read those, but usually they are the same type of ppl I follow in english.
@gemlog So you don't use the local timeline?
@rixx I did at first when I first began using masto (that instance died anyhow). I also watched the federated feed go by, but after a while I had "collected" enough people who interested me that I simply didn't have time. I like to read everything written by the ppl I follow and this takes time.
Of course, the ppl I follow often boost new (to me) ppl, but I always think long and hard (and read their history) before I add someone new to follow.
@rixx It's interesting for me too... I saw you tooting about chaos.social having a large influx yesterday.
I chose my instances very carefully, but I'm also on one that was originally about topics that I don't relate to. I was assured I was still welcome to join, which was great..
from my perspective: your instance was in my top ten too, even though I'm totally not into tech. because I think you're great admins.
how's it going at chaos social?