Question about the Fediverse aspects:
If I want to share my photos and get maximum reach on the Fediverse, is it enough to share them via Write.as, or should I also separately have accounts on the likes of Mastodon and Pixelfed? Or, would that be redundant since they’re all on the Fediverse?
It seems that Write.as distributes to the Fediverse, but can’t browse content on Mastodon or Pixelfed, etc. Is that correct?
People can follow your blog via Mastodon, but if you want to interact there with other peeps you need to create an account (and maybe mention your blog on your profile).
It’s not redundant that way.
So does that mean Write.as posts are being federated, on our behalf, under the WriteFreely account?
NB: I have a custom URL, if you kept the Write URL the account will not be the same.
With federation, the blog becomes part of the network. It’s the exact same as a Mastodon account where people can boost, reply to, and bookmark posts.
Repeating @sfss, I’d recommend creating a separate Mastodon or Pixelfed account so you can have more interaction (ie: reply to people who reply to posts on your Write.as blog account), and boost your own posts.
I note that you used the word, “or.” Are Mastodon and Pixelfed are basically interchangeable and able to perform the same functions within the Fediverse—just their UI is different?
As far as comparisons go, Mastodon is comparable to Twitter for microblogging while Pixelfed is comparable to Instagram for photos. On Mastodon you can boost and reply to the federated Write.as blog posts. This will be implemented sometime in the future for Pixelfed. A Mastodon would be your best bet if you want to have more interaction.
Thanks. I’m starting to get a sense of how things work.
Hypothetical question:
If a content creator’s sole goal is reaching as many people on the Fediverse as possible in the scenario of sharing photos, then does it make sense to be on all three (Write.as, Mastodon, and Pixelfed), or is it enough to be on just one?
I would say at least Mastodon (or similar) plus write.as/snap.as. maybe also pixelfed if you like.
For each platform, I’m guessing that posting on a large instance would give further potential reach than posting on a self-hosted version?
You got it. On any instance, posts will show up on the local timeline so users just seeing what’s happening will see them. The bigger the instance the more eyes before you gain a following.
If my understanding is correct, then, from a branding perspective, Write.as has the best offering because it lets benefit from more exposure (being the largest WriteFreely instance) while also allowing us to use our own custom domain for branding.
Using our own domain is important because, if and when an instance is shut-down, we can still direct our domain elsewhere and people can find us.
If Iwe want to use a custom domain for Mastodon, Pixelfed, etc. we have to set up our own server or pay for managed hosting. So, there is added cost and hassle—combined with significantly limited reach.
Anyway, thank you everybody for bearing with me while I try to figure this stuff out!
