Grow Your Own Services 🌱

In case you missed it, Microsoft just cancelled the email account of the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor because Trump doesn't like them:

➡️ https://floss.social/@danslerush/114516184152670358

It's really risky to depend on centralised tech firms based in countries with authoritarian regimes. I know people wish it wasn't true, but this is the reality we live in.

You can mitigate this risk by running your own online services. You don't need to be rich or techy to do it nowadays:

➡️ https://growyourown.services

Mastodon admins,

If you want to remind your members to add image descriptions, there is a piece of custom CSS code you can use which puts a red border around posts without alt texts. Instructions on how to do this here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-can-mastodon-server-administrators-automatically-remind-their-users-to-add-text-descriptions

#MastoAdmin #FediAdmin #Accessibility

You can make your own private ecosystem of online services very easily, even if you're non-technical, using @nextcloud. It's most famous for file storage, but it also includes lots of add-ons and apps such as collaborative office software, messengers, calendars, contacts etc.

It's well-suited to groups, organisations and anyone who wants to get away from Google. There's a beginner's guide to getting started at:

➡️ https://growyourown.services/beginners-guide-to-nextcloud

You can browse the add-ons at https://apps.nextcloud.com

Mastodon admins, did you know you can very easily customise your server's favicon, app icon and thumbnail artwork?

Go to ⚙️ Preferences > Administration > Server Settings, scroll to the bottom and click "Browse" to upload your icons/artwork.

"Server Thumbnail" = Artwork in link previews and Mastodon server listings

"Favicon" = Icon that appears when people bookmark your server’s website on their web browser

"App Icon" = Icon if people install your server’s website as a web app

#MastoAdmin

If you run a Mastodon server and want to protect your members, you might want to activate Authorized Fetch (also known as Secure Mode). This makes your defederations work properly, blocking communications in both directions.

Activating Authorized Fetch is very easy, it can be done through the web interface. Full instructions and questions answered at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/authorized-fetch

(If you're wondering what it actually does, here's a useful article by @brook - https://hub.sunny.garden/2023/06/28/what-does-authorized_fetch-actually-do)

#MastoAdmin

One of the perks of having your own Fediverse server is your domain name, which gives your account a more personalised feel.

However, bear in mind that most people will only see the first part of your Fediverse address in mentions. For example this address:

@ me @ widgets.example

...would look like this if you're mentioned in discussions:

@ me

Generic and unmemorable first parts of addresses can cause confusion. It's safer to use your identity in both parts:

@ widgets @ widgets.example

@spiezmaestro @TechCrunch

Threads.com definitely belongs to Meta in any case:

https://www.whois.com/whois/threads.com

@spiezmaestro @TechCrunch

Hmm... this is weird, the post is still there but it now links to a 404:

https://mstdn.social/@TechCrunch/114393612744022019

I wonder if this was under an embargo and they published too early?

The story that was there was saying they were moving to threads.com and redirecting threads.net there, plus also saying the web client was being overhauled. So, it sounds like it was part of some kind of relaunch/refresh of the platform?

Hello Fediverse admins, Meta's platform Threads has now switched to a new domain so it's time to add this to your defederation list:

threads.com

Here's how to defederate a server from the Mastodon admin interface: https://fedi.tips/how-to-defederate-fediblock-a-server-on-mastodon

(via @TechCrunch at https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/threads-officially-moves-to-threads-com-and-updates-its-web-app)

#Meta #Threads #FreeFediverse #Zuckerberg #FediPact