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Leah (Cloudstylistin)

The above is a good and safe default, so I repeat, don't do it! At least, unless you have a good reason and know what you're doing. I'm serious, and in most cases you really don't know what you're doing.

I'm currently rescuing an instance that is a mess, because I couldn't say no. And I'm sure there a many more instances like this out there. Instances that have grown too fast and are maintained by a single person. THIS could break the fediverse.

7 comments
Leah (Cloudstylistin)

So, here are my tips:

+ Don't run an instance for people or a community you don't know.

+ Don't run an instance if you don't have admin experience yourself and don't have a motivated and experienced friend who wants to run the instance together with you.

+ Don't run multiple instances.

+ Don't run an instance for more than 100 people if you are a single admin without admin experience. (If you still think it is a good idea. And a single user instance can be a good idea, for example.)

Leah (Cloudstylistin)

+ Don't run an instance for more than 1000 people if you are a single admin with admin experience.

+ Don't run an instance for more than 10.000 people. Just don't. You can't handle it if you are not planning to employ people full time.

If you want to run an instance for a community with more than 100 people, pick a good and motivate friend to help you. Find someone you trust to help. Someone you trust in helping you do the ugly decisions that will come.

Leah (Cloudstylistin)

And because you are still reading and maybe plan to run your own instance. It's not “just” the tech or not “just” the social part. It's difficult and time-consuming work that isn't easily scalable. I know it’s a great feeling if people like what you build, but it wouldn’t help anyone if you burn out or your instance is going to be a hell because you have not the resources to moderate and administrate it properly.

Leah (Cloudstylistin)

If you still think “an own instance sounds like a great idea!”. Do it! But scale organic. Try to limit the registrations. Work with invites. I would recommend a closed registration and everyone with an account can invite more people. This worked great for a long time on my instance, and it prevents most of the problems above.

Leah (Cloudstylistin)

If it's too late, close the registrations. Encourage the people on your instance to move to other instances. And maybe if it's still too much, shutdown the instance gracefully. Inform your people, give them time to move on. Do it early, this is much less draining and frustrating than trying to run something that isn't working anymore. 🧵 🔚

Gelt-Seeking Gastropod 🐚

@leah

Gawd yes, please! I'm tired of bad or non-existent moderation separating me from large groups of good and interesting people because five or six determined a-holes just run wild with no consequences. :(

Robert Sander

@leah I run an instance with closed registration for four years now. Works great. 😀

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