Talk:Mastodon (social network)

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Tooter was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 1 January 2021 with a consensus to merge. Its contents were merged into Mastodon (social network). The original page is now a redirect to this page. For the contribution history and old versions of the redirected article, please see its history; for its talk page, see here.

The page is gaining pageviews after a redirect at Mastodon (band)

See the chart: https://pageviews.toolforge.org/?project=en.wikipedia.org&platform=all-access&agent=user&redirects=0&start=2019-08&end=2021-10&pages=Mastodon_Township,_Michigan%7CMastodon%7CMastodon_(band)%7CMastodon_discography%7CMastodon_(software) Greatder (talk) 03:41, 2 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Are you sure the recent jump is due to "a redirect at Mastodon (band)"?

In reviewing the history there, it seems edits of Mastodon (band) included multiple references to "disambiguation" between 2020-11-21 and 2021-08-09. I went back to 2021-05-30 without finding when someone added "{{about|the heavy metal band|other uses|Mastodon (disambiguation)}}".

I added a similar "{{about|...|other uses|Mastodon (disambiguation)}}" to this article, but that doesn't seem to be the driver behind the recent jump.

Still, I think your plots and observation is interesting and instructive. Thanks for this. DavidMCEddy (talk) 07:53, 2 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Move suggestion to "Mastodon (social media software)"

Mastodon (social media software) will help with finding and be more accurate. Greatder (talk) 12:28, 2 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

unnecessary- I don't know of other software using its name. riffic (talk) 15:46, 3 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I think this is partly correct, because most of people see Mastodon as a decentralized network and not merely a software used to run it. This is also true for their self-categorisation as "open source social network". --Märt Põder (talk) 15:54, 20 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

That's not what it is, though. Mastodon is a piece of server software used to access the Fediverse social media network. Rochko's talk about a "Mastodon network" is simply… tooting their own horn. ■ ∃ Madeline ⇔ ∃ Part of me ; 16:05, 20 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Would you also say Wikipedia is software? Most of Mastodon's users do not install it as a software, but use it as a web page, application or service to register as a user and access Mastodon's specific set of Fediverse's social media services (and maybe you can rightfully call this part of Fediverse "Mastodon's network"). I think using software as a disambiguation category here is not very explanatory for most of the readers as it wouldn't be for Wikipedia (although technically it might be true). --Märt Põder (talk) 13:42, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

No, Wikipedia is a website which runs on the MediaWiki software. You do not call the World Wide Web the Apache or Nginx network either, even though those are very common pieces of server software. ■ ∃ Madeline ⇔ ∃ Part of me ; 14:38, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. You're right. I would not call Wikipedia software.

Mastodon, MediaWiki, Apache and Nginx are software, Wikipedia is a website, the World Wide Web and the Fediverse are networks. WPEditor42 (talk • contribs) 14:53, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

People see mastodon as a alternative social media though Greatder (talk) 14:43, 22 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

WP:NCDAB suggests that parenthetical disambiguators (the terms like "(software)" added to distinguish this topic from other topics with the same name) should be concise, but generally speaking similar topics should use similar disambiguators. Other applications of this sort commonly use "social network" as a disambiguator, for example Gab (social network), Hello (social network), Minds (social network), Path (social network), and Diaspora (social network). There are a few that use "app" or "website" but I don't think either one of those fits Mastodon, and I've only seen one other that uses "software", Vive (software). Ivanvector (^Talk/_Edits) 15:29, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Social network is acceptable. Please move to "Mastodon (social network) Greatder (talk) 16:28, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

'alt-tech'

Somebody has just edited the mastodon page to suggest that it is used for running 'at-tech' - 'social media platforms popular with the alt right or far right'. This is simply not true.

Suggest a revert. 171.192.6.36 (talk) 12:54, 7 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

A number of "alt tech" far right sites use Mastodon software (or forks of it) for their infrastructure. But because the article covers both the software and the federated network of sites that run it — which are not federated with the mainstream of sites running Mastodon software — they're not a part of Mastodon the federated social network.

— Steve98052 (talk) 08:17, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

History

I read the page on the mastodon ceo and it contains some interesting history of mastodon that is missing here imho, eg on queer people. 2A02:A03F:663C:EA00:1023:CB4F:E710:4FC8 (talk) 16:50, 13 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 28 November 2022

The request to rename this article to Mastodon (social network) has been carried out.

If the page title has consensus, be sure to close this discussion using {{subst:RM top|'''page moved'''.}} and {{subst:RM bottom}} and remove the {{Requested move/dated|…}} tag, or replace it with the {{subst:Requested move/end|…}} tag.

Mastodon (software) → Mastodon (social network) – Most people see Mastodon as a social network. Also, articles on other self-hosted social networks, such as Gab and Diaspora, use "(social network)" rather than "(software)" in their title. The article title "Mastodon (social network)" is more recognizable, natural, precise, consistent and in line with Wikipedia's article naming conventions and the guideline on disambiguating topics. There is a discussion on what the article's title should be. I have tried to move the article to this title, but the move has been reverted. The user who reverted my move told me in the edit summary to open a requested move. WPEditor42 (talk • contribs) 18:28, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Support. Rreagan007 (talk) 22:08, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Support per naming conventions for similar articles, mentioned above. Patient Zero^talk 22:11, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose. Mastodon being a social network is simply not the case. Other examples by nominator are not applicable: Gab is not federated, and Diaspora is arguably a much more homogenous network. It's also a WP:OSE-style argument. ■ ∃ Madeline ⇔ ∃ Part of me ; 22:18, 28 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Support. I picked four of the article's secondary sources at random. All four referred to Mastodon primarily as a social network, not software. It is the more accurate disambiguator for our general readership. czar 02:18, 29 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]