#vissocialtips — Public Fediverse posts

Hey vis.social!

Keeping our server running is paid for by members of our little community. If you can chip in a bit, there are options listed on our About page(https://vis.social/about).

If you 'd also like to join my Sticker Club and still support our server expenses, I've set up a tier for that. Scroll until you see the "vis.social server support + StickerClub" tier: https://www.patreon.com/318080/join

#visSocialTips #art #stickers #Mastodon

Hey vis.social!

Keeping our server running is paid for by members of our little community. If you can chip in a bit, there are options listed on our About page(https://vis.social/about).

If you 'd also like to join my Sticker Club and still support our server expenses, I've set up a tier for that. Scroll until you see the "vis.social server support + StickerClub" tier: https://www.patreon.com/318080/join

#visSocialTips #art #stickers #Mastodon

Hey vis.social and beyond!

Thank you for helping all of our moderators and sending in reports!

I would like to request, though, that if you are reporting content that is potentially triggering or explicit? Please write this in the report!

Giving us a warning helps us mentally prepare ourselves, before evaluating and dealing with a report.

If it upsets you, it will upset us! Give us warning!!!!

Thank you!

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social and beyond!

Thank you for helping all of our moderators and sending in reports!

I would like to request, though, that if you are reporting content that is potentially triggering or explicit? Please write this in the report!

Giving us a warning helps us mentally prepare ourselves, before evaluating and dealing with a report.

If it upsets you, it will upset us! Give us warning!!!!

Thank you!

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We're getting hit with waves of applications to join us that are AI-bots and other bots, but mostly AI-bots. We are considering closing down applications all together.

We also have been working on improving our community's security by Freezing or Suspending accounts that have been inactive. Some have been inactive for years.

--vis.social Moderation Team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We're getting hit with waves of applications to join us that are AI-bots and other bots, but mostly AI-bots. We are considering closing down applications all together.

We also have been working on improving our community's security by Freezing or Suspending accounts that have been inactive. Some have been inactive for years.

--vis.social Moderation Team

#visSocialTips

Hey fellow artists! I'm seeing new followers with names like "AI Art Collection", saying they offer AI artworks.

I myself am blocking them. I just reported one, after realizing their server admins should know about it.

Please report these accounts, if they follow you, so that their server knows about it and hopefully does something about it.

#visSocialTips #NoAI

Hey fellow artists! I'm seeing new followers with names like "AI Art Collection", saying they offer AI artworks.

I myself am blocking them. I just reported one, after realizing their server admins should know about it.

Please report these accounts, if they follow you, so that their server knows about it and hopefully does something about it.

#visSocialTips #NoAI

In this new iteration of Mastodon, we now have 'Collections', which are kinda like 'Starter Packs' but with masto-privacy-safety built in.

I'm starting to experiment with them.

First attempt was to build a #SciArt collection. Honestly, it's not easy to build, for many reasons.

* Most of the SciaArt-ists I knew from when twitter was viable? Some of them tried Mastodon, and then most of them gave up.

* Many have their privacy set to not allow being added to Collections here.

#visSocialTips

In this new iteration of Mastodon, we now have 'Collections', which are kinda like 'Starter Packs' but with masto-privacy-safety built in.

I'm starting to experiment with them.

First attempt was to build a #SciArt collection. Honestly, it's not easy to build, for many reasons.

* Most of the SciaArt-ists I knew from when twitter was viable? Some of them tried Mastodon, and then most of them gave up.

* Many have their privacy set to not allow being added to Collections here.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

I've been going through our backlog of inactive accounts, and Freezing or Suspending them. Thousands of them

The heart of vis.social has been active all along. Maybe pausing now and then. But sharing wonderful creative projects!

In the middle of seemingly-unstopable-AI-slop-onslaught?

vis.social is still a place to be a creative human being and share your creativity. Your in-progress explorations. Your brilliantly flawed and wonderful humanity!

#visSocialtips #NoAI

Hey vis.social!

I've been going through our backlog of inactive accounts, and Freezing or Suspending them. Thousands of them

The heart of vis.social has been active all along. Maybe pausing now and then. But sharing wonderful creative projects!

In the middle of seemingly-unstopable-AI-slop-onslaught?

vis.social is still a place to be a creative human being and share your creativity. Your in-progress explorations. Your brilliantly flawed and wonderful humanity!

#visSocialtips #NoAI

Hey vis.social!

We've been getting a lot of spam/AI-agent applications to join vis.social. Some of them are a lot easier to catch than others.

To help keep our community human, we're thinking of requiring a small donation from new applications. It will likely be a $3, so that it's enough to cover fees, and leave a little bit left to help cover our server expenses.

I hate the idea of requirement to pay to play here, but it may be the only way to fend off bots and agents.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We've been getting a lot of spam/AI-agent applications to join vis.social. Some of them are a lot easier to catch than others.

To help keep our community human, we're thinking of requiring a small donation from new applications. It will likely be a $3, so that it's enough to cover fees, and leave a little bit left to help cover our server expenses.

I hate the idea of requirement to pay to play here, but it may be the only way to fend off bots and agents.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

After discussion within our moderation team, We've just now updated our community rule about bots.

It is now "No bots or AI agents."

--vis.social moderation team.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

After discussion within our moderation team, We've just now updated our community rule about bots.

It is now "No bots or AI agents."

--vis.social moderation team.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Our community server, as are all other mastodon servers, are being hit with AI-agent and other bots trying to set up accounts.

Most of these have been easy to dismiss. But we're getting more clearly AI-agent written applications that look legit, but are NOT.

We're considering closing applications for while.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Our community server, as are all other mastodon servers, are being hit with AI-agent and other bots trying to set up accounts.

Most of these have been easy to dismiss. But we're getting more clearly AI-agent written applications that look legit, but are NOT.

We're considering closing applications for while.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Reminding everyone that we welcome posts in many languages. But we do ask that you post a translation in English. If it doesn't fit in your original post, make it a reply.

Thank you!

--visSocialModerators

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Reminding everyone that we welcome posts in many languages. But we do ask that you post a translation in English. If it doesn't fit in your original post, make it a reply.

Thank you!

--visSocialModerators

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Yes! Most of your posts should probably be 'unlisted/quiet public/followers only'.

Even though hashtags in these posts won't show up in searches, they still help folks that are filtering their feed.

For example, I add #cancer to some of my quiet posts so that it's easier for folks to filter out those posts if they want or need to.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Yes! Most of your posts should probably be 'unlisted/quiet public/followers only'.

Even though hashtags in these posts won't show up in searches, they still help folks that are filtering their feed.

For example, I add #cancer to some of my quiet posts so that it's easier for folks to filter out those posts if they want or need to.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

There are some great hashtags to follow. You might already know about #datavis or #RStats and #SciArt.

But there are some lovely ones like #Bloomscrolling, #LichenSubscribe, and the wonderful #TinyBalancingSheep

--#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

There are some great hashtags to follow. You might already know about #datavis or #RStats and #SciArt.

But there are some lovely ones like #Bloomscrolling, #LichenSubscribe, and the wonderful #TinyBalancingSheep

--#visSocialTips

Making a post public, on our server and many others, is much like shouting 'Hey! Everybody look at my post!'

In some ways, it's like giving a talk or poster at a conference, or announcing that you're going to. It's a shout! Usually a joyous one

So, would you really shout about your wordl score? Or something like it?

Public posts don't need to be big and important. They can be lovely photos of birds, art, and so on

If this is confusing, we're happy to open a public discussion

#visSocialTips

Making a post public, on our server and many others, is much like shouting 'Hey! Everybody look at my post!'

In some ways, it's like giving a talk or poster at a conference, or announcing that you're going to. It's a shout! Usually a joyous one

So, would you really shout about your wordl score? Or something like it?

Public posts don't need to be big and important. They can be lovely photos of birds, art, and so on

If this is confusing, we're happy to open a public discussion

#visSocialTips

And yes, this is a topic based community, with a broad range of topics. We do try to keep our Public Local Timeline on topic: Art, Science, DataVisualization, and related subjects. Basically, creative works.

Mastodon is different from most corporate social platforms, in many ways. One way is that we can set the 'volume level' or 'privacy' for any post: public, quiet public (unlisted), and so on.

Most folks on the server have set all posts to "quiet" by default.

#visSocialTips

And yes, this is a topic based community, with a broad range of topics. We do try to keep our Public Local Timeline on topic: Art, Science, DataVisualization, and related subjects. Basically, creative works.

Mastodon is different from most corporate social platforms, in many ways. One way is that we can set the 'volume level' or 'privacy' for any post: public, quiet public (unlisted), and so on.

Most folks on the server have set all posts to "quiet" by default.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

There are real people moderating and running this server. We are all volunteers, and work together as a team to keep this community server up and running as smoothly as possible.

We assume that you are aware of our community rules, but sometimes need reminding.

Making a mistake is expected. Being a jerk about it, is not.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

There are real people moderating and running this server. We are all volunteers, and work together as a team to keep this community server up and running as smoothly as possible.

We assume that you are aware of our community rules, but sometimes need reminding.

Making a mistake is expected. Being a jerk about it, is not.

#visSocialTips

A few days ago, I had the delightful experience of sharing a meal with vis.social moderator @wcbdata and datavis.social admin @janeadams.

At one point, while we were talking about how mastodon and the greater fediverse is different. I mentioned how I think of the "Local Public Timeline" as giving a talk or poster at a research conference. Or announcing the talk.

Posting 'quiet public' or 'unlisted' is the conversations in the halls and the dinners and all the informal chats.

#visSocialTips

A few days ago, I had the delightful experience of sharing a meal with vis.social moderator @wcbdata and datavis.social admin @janeadams.

At one point, while we were talking about how mastodon and the greater fediverse is different. I mentioned how I think of the "Local Public Timeline" as giving a talk or poster at a research conference. Or announcing the talk.

Posting 'quiet public' or 'unlisted' is the conversations in the halls and the dinners and all the informal chats.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Our server expenses go up. Contributions go down, I'm growing concerned about finances.

I'm going to look into more ways to reduce our server expenses. My medical bills are eating up more of my funds, so I really do need to make sure I'm not paying as much of our server expenses as I have been

One option might be to turn inactive accounts into "memorial" accounts. I'm not sure if this will help. Maybe?

Info on how you can help support: https://vis.social/about

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Our server expenses go up. Contributions go down, I'm growing concerned about finances.

I'm going to look into more ways to reduce our server expenses. My medical bills are eating up more of my funds, so I really do need to make sure I'm not paying as much of our server expenses as I have been

One option might be to turn inactive accounts into "memorial" accounts. I'm not sure if this will help. Maybe?

Info on how you can help support: https://vis.social/about

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Please remember to CW any AI topics on our public community timeline.

And yes, 'vibe coding' is AI. And so it must have a CW marking it as such.

--vis.social moderation team.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Please remember to CW any AI topics on our public community timeline.

And yes, 'vibe coding' is AI. And so it must have a CW marking it as such.

--vis.social moderation team.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

To help mitigate the current and ongoing wave of spam, we have put mastodon.social on a temporary Limit.

You'll still be able to interact with accounts that you already follow, but you may need to click through to see some posts.

--vis.social Moderation team.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

To help mitigate the current and ongoing wave of spam, we have put mastodon.social on a temporary Limit.

You'll still be able to interact with accounts that you already follow, but you may need to click through to see some posts.

--vis.social Moderation team.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We've had a lot of new applications to join our little community. Most of them look fantastic!

But I need to send them instructions on how to make a successful application to join us, which included reading all of our community Rules, carefully.

So, if a friend of yours has applied recently, please advise them to read ALL of our community Rules, carefully.

#vissocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We've had a lot of new applications to join our little community. Most of them look fantastic!

But I need to send them instructions on how to make a successful application to join us, which included reading all of our community Rules, carefully.

So, if a friend of yours has applied recently, please advise them to read ALL of our community Rules, carefully.

#vissocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Please remember to add English translations to all Public posts on our Local Community Timeline

We love seeing posts in multiple languages, but please add a translation so that more of us can understand your posts

Many folks around the world are fluent in several European languages, but maybe not the one you are posting in

So please post a translation in English.

It can be in a comment, if it doesn't fit in your post

Thank you

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Please remember to add English translations to all Public posts on our Local Community Timeline

We love seeing posts in multiple languages, but please add a translation so that more of us can understand your posts

Many folks around the world are fluent in several European languages, but maybe not the one you are posting in

So please post a translation in English.

It can be in a comment, if it doesn't fit in your post

Thank you

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

You may have wondered if we were thinking bout defederating/blocking bluesky from our server here.

No need to. We blocked ages ago. Didn't really need all that strain on our server, is the official reason. Plus the uncertainty when they started bridging.

#visSocialTips

--vis.social moderation team

Hey vis.social!

You may have wondered if we were thinking bout defederating/blocking bluesky from our server here.

No need to. We blocked ages ago. Didn't really need all that strain on our server, is the official reason. Plus the uncertainty when they started bridging.

#visSocialTips

--vis.social moderation team

Hey vis.social!

Right now, this instance depends on me to keep it running.

While I am still completely devoted to taking care of our little corner of the fediverse, part of that devotion is knowing that I need to work on making myself less essential. To make this community more self-sustainable.

Two things come to my mind to start this process:

1. More community members taking turns with moderation duties.

2. More financial support from the community. I cover too much now.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Right now, this instance depends on me to keep it running.

While I am still completely devoted to taking care of our little corner of the fediverse, part of that devotion is knowing that I need to work on making myself less essential. To make this community more self-sustainable.

Two things come to my mind to start this process:

1. More community members taking turns with moderation duties.

2. More financial support from the community. I cover too much now.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

I'm focusing on family and friends in the next few days-weeks

Please, please, please don't make me deal with anything while I'm spending time with my kids over the holidays

If you are going to post anything about AI, remember to use a CW. Is it super interesting, please post but use a CW

Is it AI Hype? Just don't. Nobody wants to see that. Let alone on our Community Local Timeline! Or the greater Fediverse

The world is scary right now. Be a good neighbor.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

I'm focusing on family and friends in the next few days-weeks

Please, please, please don't make me deal with anything while I'm spending time with my kids over the holidays

If you are going to post anything about AI, remember to use a CW. Is it super interesting, please post but use a CW

Is it AI Hype? Just don't. Nobody wants to see that. Let alone on our Community Local Timeline! Or the greater Fediverse

The world is scary right now. Be a good neighbor.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

If you get comments that disturb you, please report them. Include a description of what is weird about it...like does the account have zero followers/following? Does it seem like phishing? Something difficult to pin down?

Our moderation team will do our best to process all reports.

If you're not sure if it's 'report worthy', mention that in your report. :)

--vis.social Moderation Team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

If you get comments that disturb you, please report them. Include a description of what is weird about it...like does the account have zero followers/following? Does it seem like phishing? Something difficult to pin down?

Our moderation team will do our best to process all reports.

If you're not sure if it's 'report worthy', mention that in your report. :)

--vis.social Moderation Team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We now have "Quote Boosts". Please use them responsibly.

The are available in the web client.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We now have "Quote Boosts". Please use them responsibly.

The are available in the web client.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Did you accidentally make a post "Public", but you meant to make it "Quiet Public"?

Edit options won't let you change the privacy settings. However, if you click "Delete & redraft", you can then change to "Quiet Public" with out having to re-write your post.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Did you accidentally make a post "Public", but you meant to make it "Quiet Public"?

Edit options won't let you change the privacy settings. However, if you click "Delete & redraft", you can then change to "Quiet Public" with out having to re-write your post.

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We've started an incremental decrease in the length of time we save external data on our servers. Tonight, we decreased from 1095 days to 1000 days.

It'll take a while to see how this might reduce our database load and hopefully reduce our server expenses...which are currently about $400/month.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

We've started an incremental decrease in the length of time we save external data on our servers. Tonight, we decreased from 1095 days to 1000 days.

It'll take a while to see how this might reduce our database load and hopefully reduce our server expenses...which are currently about $400/month.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

In the coming weeks, we plan to reduce the length of time our server maintains external data from 3 years to 2. This is in an effort to reduce our server expenses, which are currently around $400 per month.

We're still looking into less brute-force ways to reduce our database usage and expenses.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

In the coming weeks, we plan to reduce the length of time our server maintains external data from 3 years to 2. This is in an effort to reduce our server expenses, which are currently around $400 per month.

We're still looking into less brute-force ways to reduce our database usage and expenses.

--vis.social moderation team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Please remember to add CWs to any posts, on our Public Local Timeline, about AI topics.

Our community Rules can be found on our About page. Scroll down and click on "Server Rules" button to see the full list: https://vis.social/about

--vis.social Moderation Team

#visSocialTips

Hey vis.social!

Please remember to add CWs to any posts, on our Public Local Timeline, about AI topics.

Our community Rules can be found on our About page. Scroll down and click on "Server Rules" button to see the full list: https://vis.social/about

--vis.social Moderation Team

#visSocialTips