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🧵 on how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the #GlobalSouth.

I have argued a few times that for all practical purposes, the global south does not exist for Mastodon, and for the rest of the Fediverse. But many people I interact with do not quite understand how this works in practice.

This series of posts is an effort to illustrate that mechanism.

(continues)

Say there is a user X on random server Y. Assume that no user on mastodon.social (for example) follows user X. Assume that users on mastodon.social follow other users on server Y. Assume further that neither server has blocked the other.

User X writes a post containing the term, say, #Namibia. The post receives no reply, no boost, no like.

Later, someone searches for #Namibia on mastodon.social. The search results will NOT include user X’s post containing the term #Namibia.

(continues)

A relay may complicate the above picture slightly. But if server Y in the above example is an isolated #GlobalSouth instance, or if it is running software (such as Hubzilla) not based on #ActivityPub, then the relay will most likely not be pulling posts from there, so the example will still hold.

In this context, remember many instances do not add relays because the additional posts pulled in through the relay increase the storage and processing costs.

(continues)

Generalize mastodon.social in the above example to all mainstream, primarily #GlobalNorth, #Mastodon servers. No user on any of those servers will ever become aware of user X’s post containing #Namibia, even if some of them consciously search for the term.

(continues)

An overwhelming majority of #GlobalNorth users have no interest in #GlobalSouth topics. They neither follow users focussed on global south issues, nor boost or like posts on global south topics.

That’s their prerogative, of course; but that is also the root cause underlying the above dynamic. There is no obvious resolution to it, at least not within the narrow confines of the #Fediverse.

(continues)

So the user X in the above example could be any account focussed on #GlobalSouth topics. Replace #Namibia with any other country or topic concerning the global south.

The dynamic described above will play out in all these cases.

(continues)

That’s it, that’s the mechanism.

Forget #GlobalNorth users, even #GlobalSouth users cannot find fellow users from their regions, or find posts about the global south, even if both exist.

This happens with most global south users, and with an overwhelming majority of the posts on global south topics.

That’s how #Mastodon, and the rest of the #Fediverse, invisiblize the global south.

(continues)

As a direct consequence, the majority of #GlobalSouth users who drift into the #Fediverse get disillusioned, and return/move on to #Facebook or #Twitter or #Threads.

The #GlobalNorth users on the Fediverse never even become aware of this loss; though many of them perceive the monotony of voices/topics, and silently move out; leaving behind a tiny, malnourished social medium.

(continues)

anilmc

@feralthoughts

well outlined. only a workaround, but are there any lists of global south servers from each of which a single follow would enable visibility across my server?

@santiago @feralthoughts @anilmc @augustocc

Two mastodon instances from South Africa: mastodon.africa and mastodon.monoceros.co.za.

mastodon.holeyfox.co is a Nigerian instance.

mastodon.mg from Madagascar.

Sasa.africa is another African one.

Here is a map and list of instances by location:
umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/m

Mastodon hosted on mastodon.holeyfox.coThe Common RoomA Mastodon instance for Nigerians. Everyone is welcome.

@nitrml @feralthoughts @anilmc @augustocc BTW that map misses a lot of Brazilian instances, including large ones. I suppose it takes data from the same sources.

I imagine a lot of European instances are missing too but given the quantities it isn’t as shocking on the map.

@santiago @nitrml @feralthoughts @anilmc

Coincidently I have just updated a list of brazilian microblog instances (Mastodon, Friendica, GoToSocial, snac etc.), as part of the #DiversiVerso project.

There's 86 of them on the updated list: diversiverso.disquete.online/b

diversiverso.disquete.onlineInstâncias BR em Fevereiro de 2025
More from Augusto Campos

@augustocc @santiago @feralthoughts @anilmc I think one can open a github issue or message the creator of the map, @jaz, to include missing ones, if I read that correctly

@augustocc @santiago @nitrml @feralthoughts @anilmc friendica is not a microblog, and is completely different if you compare with mastodon pleroma GTsocial.....

@augustocc @santiago @nitrml @feralthoughts @anilmc
a completely different thing that characterizes the software created by Mike Macgirvin is that for example the comments/replies to a post are sent just to the server/site of the person who wrote the post, and then it is this that takes care of sending and just to his followers. If you think about it this is very different from what happens in the mastoverse (mastodon pleroma mitra GTsocial...), where everything we write, including our replies, is treated as a main post and distributed to our followers and not to the followers of the person who wrote the main post (at the beginning), and also obviously it is not a micro because it has no character limits in the posts, but you can use it as a real blog.
Obviously then if in friendica you also use activitypub in addition to the other protocols, then you try to adapt the thing to the mastoverse, trying to follow the "laws" that regulate this universe.

Please keep in mind that some of these instances are quiet small and mass-sharing them might put them in the spotlight for some not-well-meaning people as well who might send hateful messages their way

@nitrml @santiago @feralthoughts @anilmc @augustocc I'm really just spit balling and haven't thought this through, but I'm curious if maybe a bot would help here? I'm imagining a way to better concentrate boosts of posts from less visible geographic regions so that following the concentrator bot would be a better one-stop shopping point and also make direct federation to those servers happen?

@roadriverrail @nitrml @santiago @anilmc @augustocc

My feeling is that this will not improve the situation.

This isn't just about global south servers being invisible; low visibility users/topics on global north servers also remain invisible, they just don't get likes or boosts. So I suspect the bot will not be able to find them either.

But I could be wrong, I haven't really thought through all the possibilities.

@feralthoughts @roadriverrail @nitrml @anilmc @augustocc The best suggestion I could come up to extend the Fediverse outside the centre is for the “instance full” registration pages to just list friendly neighboring open instances instead of losing people forever via joinmastodon.org

@feralthoughts @nitrml @santiago @anilmc @augustocc I guess I thought that a server like botsin.space was more central. Guess I learned something.

@anilmc @feralthoughts There are, and the dynamic works with everyone everywhere.

ActivityPub's server-centric protocol and lack of hubs prevents easy discovery.