@mcnees 👀 Oh, hello there!

@mcnees The official mastodon servers are running a "nightly build" of the software. I just updated the code again to (hopefully) address this particular quirk

@mcnees I just released another patch that addressed this issue for other folks, and using my test account on mastodon[.]social. Can you please try again, and let me know if the problem persists?

@mcnees It seems to be an issue with the formatting of the account information coming back from the Mastodon server. I'm working on a patch to be make the site compatible with this new formatting, and will release the patch in a few hours. Sorry, again, for the frustrating experience.

@mcnees thank you. I just pushed another fix that *should* fix this particular issue

@mcnees safari is the bane of my existence. Mind trying another browser or desktop safari?

For this #FollowFriday, I added several *very* sought-after features to the the Discover Mastodon portal (https://discover.fedified.com) . To make it even easier to find great content on here:
- anyone with an established Mastodon account can opt-in for a profile
- if you have a profile already, you can directly modify the topic tags on your profile (choose from 70+)
- more accessibility-related improvements *everywhere* (tooltips, aria-labels, and more!)

(1/x)

(2/x) If you don't have a profile already and you have an established* Mastodon account, then you'll see this smiling icon as soon as you log-in. Clicking on it takes you to the topic selection modal- all you do is choose your topics and click Submit.

*Here's what qualifies accounts that are:
- at least 30 days old
- have more than 200 followers
- not a bot or group
- not hosted on an instance listed on Fediblock's top offenders list

(3/x) The basic idea behind the eligibility criteria is to prevent spamming via sockpuppet accounts while making the site as open, accessible, and welcoming to everyone else.

Also: any accounts that are locked, "no index," or disabled the "Make me discoverable" feature will not be able to create a profile. That's because I programmed the site to use those privacy settings as indicators that the profile should be hidden or removed.

(4/x) In terms of privacy and security: we don't hold onto your login information. That stays in your browser's temporary storage/cache. It gets deleted the moment you close the tab/window. If you click the "Log out" button, then we'll actually log you out by revoking the token with your server (which not every 3rd-party app does btw).

So, why even ask people to log in? ...

(5/x) Asking folks to use their Mastodon login:
a) confirms that the account owner (or their authorized representative) are the ones opting-in
b) allows the site to route follow requests through the account-owner's Mastodon instance. This means that blocks, mutes, and other instance- and user-level moderation features continue to work as intended.

The goal is to make it easier to discover great content on Mastodon, while being mindful of individual preference vis à vis privacy and visibility.

(6/x) TL; DR: The easy way to find great content on Mastodon is to visit https://discover.fedified.com. The recommendations are organized by topic and (as of today!) the recommendations change every 4-6 hours (cadence reflects posting activity across the Fediverse).

Also, if you are a content creator that would like to reach a larger audience then consider adding your profile to the mix-- it's private, secure, and takes less than 2 minutes.

If you're an app developer (👀 at you @paul and @mark) or an instance admin (@supernovae, @tchambers) that would like to improve new-user onboarding or to offer existing users a way to fill up their timelines with quality content-- reach out to me for an API key. My only ask is that you attribute the source and provide a link back so that content creators know that they can add their profile to the mix.

@mcnees it will soon be open to any person who wants to opt-in. I needed to get the basic scaffolding up-and-running in a scalable way first. That’s 90% done at this point, and the next major feature will be self sign-ups + self-service profile management.

The biggest challenge was figuring out how to make all of these features happen without needing to store a bunch of personal information- I'm really happy about the way things are working out. I'll share more details early next week

Update #2 (for today): #FediFollows now offers the option to download a CSV with the Mastodon accounts visible on the screen. The list is formatted so that you can upload it to Mastodon, and automatically start following those accounts. Also: there will be more updates very soon that will make it *even easier* to follow from the landing page.

PS- if you don't know how to upload a "Following list" to Mastodon, see the second screenshot (attached)

For this #FediFriday / #FollowFriday I made lots of improvements to the website I built last week:

✅ 1-click following!

✅ downloadable CSVs for selected topics

✅ more topics! dozens of possible options, but only the most active ~20 topic areas are shown on any given day

✅ more listings! each topic offers 6-20 suggestions based on Mastodon posting activity within the last week

👀 soon: add yourself to one or more topics

Check it out, and let me know what you think!
https://fedifollows.fedified.com

For #FediFriday / #FollowFriday I made a simple website that lists 5-8 *active* Mastodon accounts for each of the following categories: Columnists, Journalism, Tech, Media, Politics, Authors, Social Justice, Advocacy, Law/Legal, SciComm

Lots of great follows in there (imho), including many familiar faces and some folks you may not (yet) know about.

Check it out, and let me know what you think!

https://fedifriday.fedified.com

Update: #FediFollow now has 45-50 topics with 5-15 *active* accounts per topic. More updates (including several *big* new features) will be rolling out throughout the day 🥳

Under-the-hood, this simple website has been completely revamped with #accessibility top-of-mind. We'll keep ironing out the wrinkles but the new layout should be *much* friendlier to screen readers + other assistive devices. Also, the color theme now defaults to dark tones for improved visual approachability