@chris

If you are removing or blocking follows and followers, the other node ought to be acknowledging this whatever software it uses?

@stephaniepixie

That's awful, sorry to hear that! Yeah, there should definitely be some kind of warning as there is if you do this in the timeline.

@bitsnpieces

It's fine to block servers if you want, some servers should be blocked.

I'm just trying to warn people who may not realise they are blocking an entire server, or may not realise the consequences of doing so.

@VeronikaB

You can block an individual account.

Blocking a whole server is just if you want to avoid everyone on that server.

@matthijskooijman

The aim of blocking an entire server is to prevent that entire server from interacting with you. So, part of this involves removing all your follows and followers from that server.

If you don't want to prevent interactions with that server, it's better to avoid a server block.

@XenoLurch

I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing, but as far as I know blocking a server has always removed your followers from that server?

What do you use to access your Mastodon account, is it the website?

@tokyo_0

It depends on how you access your Mastodon account, are you using the website or an app? If it's an app, is it an official one or a third party? Or maybe you're using a third party web interface?

@sasu @driusan

Yeah, unfortunately Mastodon interprets channels a bit differently to PeerTube, so if you're following from Mastodon you have to follow the PeerTube account rather than channel.

I've raised this with the PeerTube developers, but there's not much they can do about this as it's a decision made by Mastodon's developers.

(If you're following from within PeerTube itself, the channels work fine. It's only if you're following from Mastodon that you have to follow PT accounts.)

Mastodon is part of a wider social network called the Fediverse. You can follow and interact with accounts from many different kinds of Fediverse platforms from within Mastodon, and they will appear in your timeline just like Mastodon posts do.

For example @Iancylkowski is a Pixelfed account, @helenmclaughlin is on the video platform PeerTube, @hamishtpb is on the livestreaming platform OwnCast. You can follow them by clicking an account and then "Follow".

More info:
➡️ https://fedi.tips/what-kind-of-accounts-can-i-follow-from-mastodon

@stephaniepixie

Thanks, that's useful feedback, odd that there's no warning at all!

@petergleick @andre

The warning is a bit weird as it does give all the info, but it's a list of things that happen, some of them more easily reversed than others. I could imagine people tuning out thinking it's some kind of boilerplate thing, like a cookie warning.

Maybe it needs a second confirmation with a much simpler warning that just says the most difficult-to-reverse stuff in one sentence ("you will lose X followers if you do this, are you absolutely sure?").

@andre @petergleick

Yup, me too.

The domain block interface perhaps needs to be changed, this has happened to so many people. The interface isn't working the way it should if so many people are losing followers by accident.

@StephanMatthiesen

"Just today I've seen somebody who accidentally removed 3000 followers"

That's exactly why I am posting and trying to gather feedback, this isn't an isolated case, they are just a very high profile example.

You're right, a UX bug is still a bug and needs fixing, would really like to know if people didn't see the warning OR if they didn't take in what the warning was telling them.

Maybe it needs to be a multi-stage confirmation, instead of having all that info on one page?

@hadon

You're not missing a menu 🙂

That's your server trying the experimental branch of Mastodon's software. The developers seem to be trying out renaming "Explore" as "Trending" on the web interface.

@scy

Sorry, I'll try to rephrase it!

No one should be doing this unless they want to block a server.

If you try to do it, the warning appears.

You have to then confirm the warning if you want to make it actually happen.

However, many people have been blocking domains by accident without realising the effects, so I am wondering if the warnings are functioning/designed correctly, and I'm trying to get feedback from people who have had that happen.

Be really, really careful if you're blocking an entire server (also known as "block domain").

If you block an entire server, that will remove all your follows and followers from that server. If you unblock, the follows and followers will not be restored automatically, you have to manually do them again.

If you click to block a server, it will show a warning and require confirmation before it actually happens. If you never saw a warning, it might be a bug. Please reply if this happened to you.

@rubinjoni

What did they struggle with in the onboarding? Did they give you feedback about it?

@rubinjoni

If people can set up and use email, they can set up and use XMPP.

@rubinjoni

Signal just works because it's centralised and gets lots of money from a billionaire.

This is the same path Whatsapp took, with the same guy in charge. The more people use it the closer it gets to that fate.

I get that Signal so much easier than other options, but that ease of use is for all the wrong reasons: centralisation and billionaire cash.

@stonebear2

Enshittification doesn't happen in the growth phase. In the growth phase everything is great and users are treated like royalty.

But when a network becomes so dominant that people feel forced to use it (such as Whatsapp) then the enshittification can start, because people can't escape any more.

The more people that congregate on a centralised service, the closer you are bringing that service to enshittification, and the more people will be trapped on it.