[distcs]

> if you try to follow someone who is not on your instance, there is a whole rigamarole you have to go through.

Can you be more specific? What rigmarole did you have to do ?

For me, I just hit the follow button on anyone I like and it just works, even if they are on different instance than mine. Their posts now show up on the page my instance serves me. Same for commenting or boosting posts of other people on other instances. I just hit the boost button and it just works. Commenting also just works. What did you have to do to follow someone on a different instance?

[allenbrunson]

are you using one of the apps? if so, then yes, it's as easy as that. but if you are using a web browser, then that's where all the rigmarole comes from.

[distcs]

No, I am just using the https://mastodon.social/ website on browser.

> but if you are using a web browser, then that's where all the rigmarole comes from.

Requesting again. Can you be more specific? What rigmarole do you have to do? Does hitting the "follow" button of a user on another instance from your instance not work for you? Do you get an error? Some other issue? Details please!

[allenbrunson]

if you look at a user or post who is on your server, i.e., the domain displayed in the url bar is your server, then you're fine. if you're viewing a post or user on their own server, i.e., it is their domain in the url bar, instead of yours, that's where things get ugly.

[distcs]

> the domain displayed in the url bar is your server, then you're fine. if you're viewing a post or user on their own server

Wait! You do know you can see the users and posts of any server (even if it is not the server you are on) on the server you have account with, right?

Like https://mastodon.social/@[e-mail] shows you a fosstodon.org user on your mastodon.social instance and all you need to do is hit the follow button!

Here is the opposite. https://fosstodon.org/@[e-mail] where you see a Mastodon.social user on fosstodon.org instance. Again you need to just hit the follow button to follow that user from fosstodon.org. As simple as that! You don't really need to find a way to log into the other server. You don't have to do any rigmarole or ugly stuff. That's how federation works!

[allenbrunson]

> Wait! You do know you can see the users and posts of any server (even if it is not the server you are on) on the server you have account with, right?

yes. but that is not convenient, and definitely not how i have used a web browser, up to this point.

[allenbrunson]

here's an example from in the wild:

https://mastodon.social/@willoremus/109552745423998782