The Nexus of Privacy (@thenexusofprivacy@infosec.exchange)
infosec.exchange
Are followers-only posts public? A poll Followers-only posts are only visible to your followers -- and to admins of any instances your followers on. But if you haven't turned on "approve followes", anybody who's logged in to an instance you haven't blocked can folloow you and get access to your followers-only posts. In your view, are followers-only posts public? [ ] Yes, followers-only posts are public [ ] No, followers-only posts are not public [ ] It depends if I've turned on "approve followers" [ ] Not sure

On Mastodon, Followers-only posts are only visible to your followers – and to admins of any instances your followers on. But if you haven’t turned on “approve followes”, anybody who’s logged in to an instance you haven’t blocked can follow you and get access to your followers-only posts.

In your view, are followers-only posts public?

The linked post is a Mastodon poll, and I’ll also put in replies here so that you can just upvote the ones you agree with!

  • modulus
    5·
    1 year ago

    On my instance, the following control measures apply:

    • Only public posts are visible through the web interface.
    • Only public posts appear on RSS.
    • Following requires approval.
    • Authorised fetch is required.

    So I think I have reason to feel fairly strongly that follower only posts are not public, and even unlisted posts are reasonably restricted.