While this update is late, here are some updates for this month.
Fundraising Update
Here is our update on the fundraising goals as of September 12th.
Currently, we are at 44% of the $108 monthly goal ($47 a month from Patreon), from 50%. That goal is our monthly costs. However, our monthly donation limit on Patreon has decreased, which is not a good sign for the future sustainability of our services. As a result, we have to delay the server move (moving the server to one outside the US) until we reach at least 70-80% of the cost.
Over the last two years, I've been able to cover most of the cost; however, given the uncertainty, we need to become more sustainable. We do not run any ads and rely primarily on donations to cover at least part of the costs, so I don't have to take on most of the expenses and being a big burden on me.
I do want to expand services such as having our own version of Bluesky (based on Blacksky) that is more Japanese media and culture focused, so people will have more confidence in using it without worrying about Bluesky making controversial decisions. Loops (a TikTok alternative) is another service I want to set up in the future, but it will require a lot of resources, primarily space, due to its being video-based.
The goal is to make running Sakurajima sustainable (i.e., covering all costs) in the long term. I know the economy is tough, but if you find our services helpful, and if you can, perhaps consider pitching in a few dollars a month to help us keep provide our services for free for years to come.. Remember, most Fediverse instances rely on donations and volunteer work, unlike mainstream social networks that can afford to burn money. Several servers have been shut down this year due to a lack of funds or other issues.
The fundraising total now stands at approximately $602.50 out of $1,284 (46% as of July 27th). If you want, you can support us through the following you can:
Paypal - https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=HREN4ATRLZ54S
Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/sakurajimamastodon
Ko-fi - https://ko-fi.com/V7V8GAJR9
(Note: PayPal now reflects Sakurajima instead of Atelier Shiori, which was used for my previous open source projects)
Anti-SPAM efforts
Recently, there has been an increasing amount of spam. To help manage it, we expect to have the first version of the Anti-SPAM bot up in the near future. It will automatically resolve spam reports after checking if the posts are actually spam through a service called Akismet, which is typically used on WordPress blogs. I find it effective in stopping SPAM.
This, of course, will be an added cost once it's entirely in production, at a minimum $9 a month. The auto-moderator bot is open-source, so it should be helpful for other admins to use when it's fully built out. It will only support Mastodon for the time being. Additionally, the auto-moderator will only deal with SPAM posts that are reported. Any other reports are resolved manually by moderators.
Server Rule Changes
Please note the additional rules to maintain the security of our server over the past month. This includes the following:
Respect other users' boundaries
Since this community comprises people of various age ranges, please be mindful of how you interact to ensure the community remains a safe space. Do not misbehave when interacting with minors. Be respectful and sincerely apologize if someone informs you that a boundary has been crossed.
Give people space if you accidentally push past a boundary. (Example: If a profile says "Minors DNI," and you are under 18, you should respect his/her limits and not interact with them.)
If there are people you'd prefer not to interact with, please use the block and mute functions. If you feel that someone is misbehaving, you can report their post or direct message a moderator for assistance.
Temporary/Temporal Accounts are not allowed
Due to some individuals who repeatedly join, participate for a short period, then leave and return to do the same cycle rapidly, even a short period of time, we had to implement this rule. Note that you don't need to delete your account to take a break or transfer accounts just to see another server's posts. You should only delete your account if you have no intention of using it again. Transfers should only be used if you intend to permanently move to another server, not to hop between servers just to come back and then repeat the same process over again. It's more ideal to stay on one server, and if you feel the need, create separate accounts to maintain distinct identities.
Most related servers can be viewed in the bubble timeline when using the web interface. Third-party clients may have the ability to view local timelines of different servers. This behavior may be seen as suspicious, as it can disassociate any records of possible rule-breaking and, most importantly, it doesn't really foster a sense of community.
If caught, you may be required to obtain account approval from a moderator in the future. If you need help finding more people to follow or discovering new posts, you should look at Feditips for more tips on how to use the Fediverse or ask our staff for your questions. We are happy to help.
Plans for building an independent Anime-Themed Bluesky Service
As it stands, Bluesky remains higly centralized as it's basically the highest percentage of the AT-protocol network, a decentralized protocol that Bluesky uses compared to the competing ActivityPub standard. This is not a good thing as the same thing that happened to the bird site can happen to BlueSky theoretically. While there are alternative services that use AT Protocol like Blacksky exist, Bluesky remains very centralized. We want to fix that.
While building our own infrastructure of a relay, we plan to do it at some point. I held off since no tool would make it easy for users to move accounts. Thankfully, that changed, as there is now a tool to migrate your account. The name of our version of Bluesky has not been decided yet.
While we are still in the planning stages, the idea is to run a version of BlackSky, but with a custom AppView that will display trending Japanese media/culture posts from trusted users, our own relay, and moderated content. The idea is to start small and eventually grow, while reaching out to other users to convince them, perhaps to move off the official Bluesky server to an independent one. Users will still be able to interact with Bluesky users, but don't have to worry if Bluesky makes an unpopular decision.
The goal is to hopefully have the service open by late Winter or early Spring of next year. However, all of this depends on funding. Even with the establishment of a Bluesky-compatible service, we do not plan to abandon ActivityPub and the Fediverse, as we have been involved for a few years now.
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