Piero Bosio Social Web Site Personale

YouTube is now using AI to alter people's videos without permission. (There are threads about this at https://mastodon.content.town/@operationpuppet/115640694705318541 & https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/115598837629003478 etc)

This is really disturbing and dangerous. It's more insidious than censorship because viewers cannot tell a video has been altered.

If you post to YouTube, I'd strongly recommend you start ALSO posting to PeerTube, either on your own server or a public server. There's a complete guide here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-publish-videos-and-audio-on-peertube

#PeerTube #YouTube

BookWyrm is a Fediverse alternative to Amazon's Goodreads. It lets people keep track of their books, publish reviews and discover new titles. Find out more about BookWyrm at:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/bookwyrm-a-social-network-for-people-who-enjoy-reading

There's a list of servers you can sign up on at:

➡️ https://joinbookwyrm.com/instances

(The flagship is overcrowded, you might want to use a different server.)

You can import your data from Goodreads, LibraryThing, StoryGraph, OpenLibrary or Calibre:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/importing-your-data-into-bookwyrm-from-goodreads-librarything-storygraph-openlibrary-or-calibre

#FediTips #Books #Reading

p.s. This seems like a good moment to thank @Gargron

Obviously I disagreed with his recent stance on server onboarding, but that isn't an attack on his overall achievements.

For me Eugen's best moment was in 2022 when he was asked to sell out by multiple VC companies but he said no:

"Rochko told the Financial Times he had received offers from more than five US-based investors (which he turned down)"

https://www.ft.com/content/de808736-2e05-4c3b-a53c-55b170ae9efd

He passed the test that others (including Bluesky) have failed.

Mastodon gGmbH has just issued a new blogpost:

➡️ https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/11/the-future-is-ours-to-build-together

Some highlights:

- Eugen has stepped down as head, his replacement is @mellifluousbox (Eugen will continue as an advisor)

- Mastodon gGmbH and its US-based 501(c)(3) intend to transition to a Belgian non-profit and transfer their assets there

- Eugen has sold his Mastodon-related assets (including the trademark) to the 501(c)(3) for €1 million, these will eventually be transferred to the Belgian non-profit

#Mastodon

Everything in your main "Home" timeline on Mastodon is there for one of these reasons:

-An account you follow posted it
-An account you follow boosted it
-The post contains a hashtag you follow
-An account you follow replied to an account you also follow
-An account you follow replied to itself

Nothing else gets in your main feed, it's just these things.

If hashtags are at the end of a post they are displayed in a smaller font below the post, which some people miss.

#FediTips #Mastodon

p.s. After you follow a PeerTube account or channel, its latest videos will start showing up as posts in your Mastodon etc timeline just like any other post.

You can comment on a video by just replying to the post it showed up in. The replies in Mastodon automatically turn into comments below the video in PeerTube.

You can like a video by just ⭐ favouriting the post it showed up in. The favourites in Mastodon automatically turn into thumbs up on the video in PeerTube.

It's very easy to discover and follow PeerTube accounts & channels from Mastodon:

1. Go to a PeerTube site (e.g. https://fedi.video )
2. On the account or channel you want to follow, click ⧉. This copies its Fediverse address.
3. Paste the Fediverse address into the search box in Mastodon etc. This makes the profile appear within Mastodon and you can just click "Follow".

To easily and safely discover high quality PeerTube stuff, have a look at https://fedi.video

#FediTips #PeerTube

p.s. If you're wondering why you don't hear more about web apps, it's because Apple and Google hate them. Web apps totally bypass Apple and Google app stores.

Apple and Google enjoy controlling and taxing apps, but they have no control over web apps and don't get any money from them.

Apple even tried to stop web apps completely, luckily they had to back off: https://open-web-advocacy.org/blog/apple-backs-off-killing-web-apps

Web apps are a way of getting apps directly from the people who make them, without big tech getting in the way.

Did you know you can install Fediverse servers' websites as apps on your phone? These "web apps" let you have the most fully-featured versions of Mastodon, PeerTube, Pixelfed etc as apps on your home screen, including notifications, full screen interfaces etc.

It's very easy to install web apps on Android and iPhone/iPad, full instructions in this guide:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-install-web-apps-for-mastodon-and-the-fediverse

Most web apps have more features than app store apps, due to restrictions in app store rules.

#FediTips

Can I ask a favour?

If you see someone who is asking for help using this place, and if no one else is helping them, could you tag me into the conversation and/or link to my website https://fedi.tips?

I'm trying to provide unofficial tech support for people using Mastodon and the wider Fediverse. I'm especially keen to help new people who want easy-to-understand advice, but they won't see me and I won't see them unless someone tags me.

Thanks 🙏

#FediTips #Fediverse #Mastodon

p.p.s. The server mastodon.social is NOT a good place to sign up, for many different reasons (more info here: https://fedi.tips/its-a-really-bad-idea-to-join-a-big-server).

If you just want one alternative, https://mas.to is a much better option. It's reliable and has been online since 2019, and doesn't suffer from the problems of mastodon.social.

If you want to choose from a wide selection of servers, there are human curated lists of well-run reliable servers at https://fedi.garden and https://joinmastodon.org/servers

p.s. I know Mastodon and the wider Fediverse can be a bit trickier to use, but it does get easier once you've spent time here. There are many really good reasons why this place is structured the way it is: https://fedi.tips/why-is-the-fediverse-on-so-many-separate-servers

Servers on here are fully independent in every sense, usually owned by ordinary grassroots people like you and me. There is no central authority or corporation controlling things, it's up to each server to decide on how it's run and what it allows.

Welcome new people!

If you want help using this place feel free to ask, I'm trying to provide some unofficial tech support on here (and yes I am a human being). Ask in the replies or mentions or DMs or whatever🙂

You can also find lots of help for new people at https://fedi.tips, especially in the section marked "Quick Start" at the top of the page.

How to discover people to follow:
https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-find-accounts-to-follow-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-how-do-i-find-my-friends

How to make your own account more discoverable:
https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-get-more-followers-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse

@yeoldepunk

There are a LOT of weird people on here, a lot of music people too 🙂

I've done a guide here about how to discover people on here: https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-find-accounts-to-follow-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-how-do-i-find-my-friends

...and another guide about how to make your own account more discoverable (if you want to): https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-get-more-followers-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse

If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

@verrence

Welcome Verrence 👋

Feel free to ask if you want help using this place 🙂

Also there's lots of help for new people on the website at https://fedi.tips (especially the section at the top marked "Quick Start").

@AlsoPaisleyCat @maxleibman

If anyone wants help with using this place, feel free to ask directly! I'm trying to offer tech support especially for new people 🙂

There is also lots of help for new people on the website at https://fedi.tips (especially "Quick Start" at the top of the page).

⚠️ Apparently there's a scammer sending out messages "offering a partnership" if people "verify" their account at a special link. They may use a profile icon that looks like the Mastodon logo with a headset.

The account is fake, the link is a scam, do not click on it. There is no "partnership" scheme on here, you cannot earn money for posting.

If you get one of these messages, click the ... icon on the scam post and then click "report".

(via https://timeloop.cafe/@Taweret/115312839779385334)

#FediTips

If you're helping people sign up on here, that's great! 👏

However, I'd strongly suggest not signing up on the mastodon.social server. It's way way too large and that's dangerous (here's why https://fedi.tips/its-a-really-bad-idea-to-join-a-big-server).

I know some find choice overwhelming, so if you just want one general long-established very busy server https://mas.to is a better option for example.

There are also lots of other good servers listed at https://fedi.garden and https://joinmastodon.org/servers

Thousands of sites using the popular #Ghost platform are now Fediverse compatible, so you can follow them from Mastodon etc 🥳

Here's how to discover and follow them:

1. Go to https://explore.ghost.org
2. Click category tab you want (swipe categories right to see more)
3. Click on a site to preview, then box-arrow icon to go to it
4. Copy-paste site's domain name
5. Paste @ index @ (domain name) into the search box in Mastodon etc without spaces
6. Click the profile and then "Follow"

#FediTips

Almost all the servers on Mastodon and the wider Fediverse are run by unpaid grassroots volunteers that pay their server's bills out of their own pockets.

They don't sell your data or carry advertising, and they don't get any share of the donations given to the Mastodon etc software developers.

Please consider donating to your server admin, they usually have donation links on your server website's "About" page. You can also ask your admin directly about how to donate.

#FediTips