Expand the character limit for posts (toots) in our mastodon instance

I agree with you

I would like to learn more about the pros/cons of the idea so I can develop an informed opinion.

Thanks Caitlin. :)

We should reach out to our Mastodon admin/s for that.

I only know that longer posts, as cons...

• may take more space in the database and storage, that I assume it shouldn't be an issue today.

• may take more time if a dispute appears, as it could have a potential impact in moderation.

As for pros, a higher char limit:

• allows richer and deeper conversations.

• allows for better information sharing (think about sharing a book synthesis).

• with a bit of markup, make the posts almost like a brief article and this adds value to our instance as a -potential- source of references, more of a publishing platform that only brief talk or link sharing.

What other dimensions do other sees that could be impacted?

Thanks a lot for your thoughts... :)

I wouldn't worry about the database storage, text takes up MINISCULE amount of space (compared to pictures, etc...).

Can you link to some instances that have a 5000 char post limit? I'm curious how the various user interfaces deal with super long posts, given they've been designed around microblogging use cases.

I also wonder if it has an impact on how the community is, personally I don't really feel I want to read essays on mastodon, the short format encourages concise posts.

As an aside, I wonder if your poll maybe didn't get much interaction because:

• the CW doesn't describe what is is just: "For Social.Coop members"

• the voting options don't look super clear

• your account doesn't have a mega following

I think someone could re-do the poll on an "official" account and get a lot more responses, seems a nice idea to poll the community....

One of the instances that uses a 5000 limit is Infosec.Exchange.

https://infosec.exchange

As they're an IT-security-focused conversation space, they would have a lot to share about the practical details, as well as the Pro's and Con's. :D

> I wouldn't worry about the database storage, text takes up MINISCULE amount of space (compared to pictures, etc...).

Great.

> Can you link to some instances that have a 5000 char post limit? I'm curious how the various user interfaces deal with super long posts, given they've been designed around microblogging use cases.

AFAIK, the writing space in mastodon doesn't change. I believe mastodon.la has it (although I left it some time ago) and surely playground.bonfire.cafe has it. In Bonfire, the editor space can be maximized to full screen.

> I also wonder if it has an impact on how the community is, personally I don't really feel I want to read essays on mastodon, the short format encourages concise posts.

Some people tend to write short and some other longer posts. I don't remember seeing any change related to that specific characteristic, but I may have too short an experience to note it... ;)

> As an aside, I wonder if your poll maybe didn't get much interaction [...] I think someone could re-do the poll on an "official" account and get a lot more responses, seems a nice idea to poll the community....

That's a great idea! :)

Instead of asking if post length limit is an issue, we can directly ask if they'd like to increase it.

WDYT?

I have access to https://social.coop/@admin account...

... but I think it would better coming from https://social.coop/@SocialCoop though, maybe @Matt Noyes or someone else from community team would be up to post it?

alternatively, could just do a poll on here, and decide it and be done with it! ... seems fairly low risk to me...

I’m broadly with this. except, I do also appreciate the discipline of the small word limit, for most toots i make. it’s not often i find myself resorting to “Toot #5 of 3” ;-)
is there a way we might get the instance to encourage brevity while allowing more expansive toots?

If others are excited about this, I will support them, but this is not something I'm eager for. I generally appreciate the length limit as an important part of the medium. Also, the clients for Mastodon tend to assume short posts, so I think the UX of reading and participating in extended discussions could get challenging.

Even though I understand how expanding character limitation might satisfy a need of flexibility and freedom for many, I have to say I feel strongly against that proposition.

Indeed Mastodon is designed and advertised as micro blogging. I enjoy being able to read thoughtfully crafted short messages, without being cluttered by long stories. Having longer posts in the local timeline would alter this experience.

It seems to me that using other fediverse app like writefreely (and linking to a Mastodon post) for that use case would be a better idea than using Mastodon for every situation.