A relay server is a server that collects public content from many Fediverse servers and distributes it to the other servers. tags.pub , the global hashtag server run by the Social Web Foundation, can follow relay servers and boost any tagged content coming from the connected servers. Especially for relay servers that gather together content from lots of small servers, this can help connect people with others who share their interests on the Fediverse.
However, some people have said they were surprised by the boosts, since they hadn’t directly connected their server to tags.pub. To avoid this, tags.pub is now unsubscribed from the open registration relay servers it was previously using. If your content is no longer being boosted, you can still connect your account or your server directly to tags.pub. tags.pub may subscribe to relay servers in the future, but we’ll coordinate with the relay server admins first to make sure there are fewer surprises.
4 Comments
kkarhan@mastodon.social · 0 pts · 53d
@evanprodromou bruh, you really showcase that you are a #TechBro who doesn't understand the concepts of #PowerDynamics and chose to abdicate responsibility.
Really fitting to hang out woth #GNU folks tho…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2SKenHRhMg
frog_reborn@mstdn.social · 0 pts · 53d
@kkarhan @evanprodromou
Seems to me like the criticized behaviour of the bots was corrected?
barbapulpe@gayfr.social · 0 pts · 53d
@evanprodromou
I have been one of the "victims" of the spammy, non-consented boosts from the tags.pub server. It has invaded my server with boosts impacting all my users, with no consent from anyone and no prior information.
I am doubtful about the nature of the scraping, reputedly based on open-registration relays. Because I am not subscribed to any open-registration relay, only two relays which are not open, and to which tags.pub is not listed as participating.
So, how this software is scraping my servers is probably done in another way.
Due to unconsented and uninformed apparent mass-scraping by bots, I have defederated all my Fediverse servers from tags.pub
#tagspub
evanprodromou@socialwebfoundation.org · 1 pts · 51d
@barbapulpe Hi! Thanks for your help with this. I am glad that you reported this, since it helped me find what was going on.
You should check https://relaylist.com/ for your relay; it’s listed as open-registration.
We don’t use relays anymore, so you shouldn’t see any additional interactions. And your domain block should be fine.