I get asked this every now and then, so here's a quick explanation for anyone on a smaller Mastodon server (like mementomori.social):
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I get asked this every now and then, so here's a quick explanation for anyone on a smaller Mastodon server (like mementomori.social):
If you open someone's profile and it looks empty or only shows a few old posts, it's not broken. It's just how Mastodon works.
A server only receives posts that have been sent to it. Big servers like mastodon.social have already "met" most accounts because lots of people there follow them. A smaller server might simply never have received a particular person's posts, so their profile looks empty even if they're active. This is by design, to help save resources.
The fix is simple: Follow them.
From that point on, all their new posts will appear normally. Want to see an older post too? Paste that specific post's link into search and it'll load, or open the original URL of the profile.
This works for accounts anywhere in the fediverse, including Threads. (However, please note: Threads only shares posts from people who've turned on fediverse sharing, and it's not always real time, so don't worry if things don't show up right away)
So, an empty profile doesn't mean the person isn't active. Just search, follow, and you're set.
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I get asked this every now and then, so here's a quick explanation for anyone on a smaller Mastodon server (like mementomori.social):
If you open someone's profile and it looks empty or only shows a few old posts, it's not broken. It's just how Mastodon works.
A server only receives posts that have been sent to it. Big servers like mastodon.social have already "met" most accounts because lots of people there follow them. A smaller server might simply never have received a particular person's posts, so their profile looks empty even if they're active. This is by design, to help save resources.
The fix is simple: Follow them.
From that point on, all their new posts will appear normally. Want to see an older post too? Paste that specific post's link into search and it'll load, or open the original URL of the profile.
This works for accounts anywhere in the fediverse, including Threads. (However, please note: Threads only shares posts from people who've turned on fediverse sharing, and it's not always real time, so don't worry if things don't show up right away)
So, an empty profile doesn't mean the person isn't active. Just search, follow, and you're set.
@rolle what I fail to understand about this is that it doesn't have to be this way. If you opened up the profile on the remote server everything loads normally. Why couldn't your server run a synchronous request for that profile at run time?
I know this isn't necessarily the platform to voice this. I'm just venting about this yet unsolved problem.
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@rolle what I fail to understand about this is that it doesn't have to be this way. If you opened up the profile on the remote server everything loads normally. Why couldn't your server run a synchronous request for that profile at run time?
I know this isn't necessarily the platform to voice this. I'm just venting about this yet unsolved problem.
@jeromechoo Yeah, it's technically possible to fix, and there's already a pull request waiting for review. Can be handled just like how they recently added backfill for replies.
I'm sure it'll come at some point when people have time to test and confirm it.
Some of the "restrictions" were intentionally left as they are for historical reasons and to ensure Raspberry Pis and similar devices can host, but it doesn't have to stay that way forever, and I don't see why this particular thing couldn't become an option.
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/34 -
I get asked this every now and then, so here's a quick explanation for anyone on a smaller Mastodon server (like mementomori.social):
If you open someone's profile and it looks empty or only shows a few old posts, it's not broken. It's just how Mastodon works.
A server only receives posts that have been sent to it. Big servers like mastodon.social have already "met" most accounts because lots of people there follow them. A smaller server might simply never have received a particular person's posts, so their profile looks empty even if they're active. This is by design, to help save resources.
The fix is simple: Follow them.
From that point on, all their new posts will appear normally. Want to see an older post too? Paste that specific post's link into search and it'll load, or open the original URL of the profile.
This works for accounts anywhere in the fediverse, including Threads. (However, please note: Threads only shares posts from people who've turned on fediverse sharing, and it's not always real time, so don't worry if things don't show up right away)
So, an empty profile doesn't mean the person isn't active. Just search, follow, and you're set.
@rolle The empty profile might also be a sign that the person has blocked you.
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R relay@relay.mycrowd.ca shared this topic
