Q & A

• What's this "small but big" thing?

Mastodon.nz is small compared to Facebook or Twitter, which is good because friendly humans can manage it. But small doesn't mean limited, thanks to the magic of federation. Mastodon.NZ is just one of hundreds of Mastodon instances around the world, and you can follow (and be followed by) anyone on any of them.

Say you like Wil Wheaten (a Hollywood actor with interesting things to say). He is on the Mastodon.cloud instance, and you can follow him by entering @wilw@mastodon.cloud. His toots (Mastodon posts) will then appear both in your timeline, and the Mastodon.NZ federated timeline for everyone else to see.

• Wait, there is more than one timeline?

There are three, and they're another thing that makes Mastodon special. Your personal timeline only shows toots from people you follow. Then the local timeline shows all toots from the Mastodon.nz instance, so mainly Aotearoa/New Zealand things. And the federated timeline shows toots from other instances that locals have followed - international things kiwis are interested in. Pretty cool, huh?

• Why choose the Mastodon.nz instance?

Because it's local. Toots on the local and federated timeline will be more relevant than an instance based somewhere else, and will make more sense because of our shared culture and values. So people won't think you're agreeing when you say "yeah right".

Being local also means a code of conduct aligned with New Zealand values. We're aiming for a safe and civil environment, and you should never see the toxic behaviour that Facebook and Twitter allow.

• Your content rules are stifling debate!!! Or letting people post filth!!!

We want Mastodon.nz to be fun and friendly for all kiwis, including tangata whenua, immigrants ancient and modern, all ages, all sexes... everyone. Our code of conduct (see below) is there to make sure we all give each other a fair go.

Inevitably there will be people who will find our rules too restrictive or too lax, and they should look for another instance which suits them better.

• Who's paying for all this?

Mastodon.nz is a labour of love, and luckily costs very little. The software is free and open source, administration and moderation duties are shared between volunteers, and the awesome people at Rimu Hosting are heavily subsidising the servers.

Code of Conduct

DON'T BE A DICK.

Putting it more politely, play nice. Robust debate is fine, but if you start mocking the person instead of the idea, you've lost the argument. And if you get your jollies by putting other people down, talk to someone about fixing up your life.

We can't review everything that gets posted, so if you spot any nastiness, please report it. Click the ... menu below the post and select "Report...", and we'll take it from there.

If we see any of the following, we may block the post, silence or suspend you.

• Excessive advertising.
• Untagged* nudity, sexually explicit or violent content.
• Posting other people's personal details (doxing).
• Encouraging violence, self-harm or hatred.
• Anything illegal under New Zealand law.

*Use the CW button to hide sensitive content with a description (also good for joke punchlines).