[HN Gopher] Browser extension that let's you follow accounts on ...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Browser extension that let's you follow accounts on foreign
       Mastodon instances
        
       Author : shafyy
       Score  : 40 points
       Date   : 2022-12-18 20:19 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (github.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
        
       | bananafly wrote:
       | Feels like this should be native to Mastodon. Is there anything
       | preventing this from being implemented?
        
         | cesarb wrote:
         | > Is there anything preventing this from being implemented?
         | 
         | Yes, normal browser security restrictions mean one site doesn't
         | have the necessary access to another site. A browser extension
         | can bypass these security restrictions (which also means you
         | have to trust the extension's developer, since the extension
         | has unrestricted access to all sites you open in your browser).
        
           | witheld wrote:
           | There used to be an oauth flow for interacting with your home
           | instance. I dont know when they got rid of it, maybe 4.0?
        
       | rektide wrote:
       | Alas there's been ongoing press-back against doing the thing the
       | web does, which would be to have a way to registerProtocolHandler
       | with your fedi instance (& be able to quickly flip sites into web
       | protocol mode).
       | 
       | One of the more recent WontFixes, citing previous issuee,
       | https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/14187
        
       | syx wrote:
       | I wouldn't install a browser extension just for this. I think you
       | can use a simple Twitter query[1] that will show you if your
       | users mentioned mastodon links in their profile. Personally, the
       | accounts I'm following are slowly moving out, so keeping track of
       | the links is quite easy.
       | 
       | [1]
       | https://twitter.com/search?q=filter%3Afollows%20mastodon%20-...
        
         | shafyy wrote:
         | I think you misunderstood what this does. Because Mastodon is
         | federated, when you visit a the profile of a user that's not on
         | your instance, you cannot follow them with the click of a
         | button. Rather, you need to log in to your instance and then
         | search for their username. This exension makes it so that you
         | can follow anybody with the click of a button.
        
           | syx wrote:
           | I totally misunderstood the purpose of this extension. Now
           | that you've pointed it out, it's clear that it's quite
           | useful. I was previously manually entering all the users into
           | the search box, which was a pain. I'm glad this extension
           | exists to automate the process. It would be even better if
           | Mastodon integrated something like this natively.
        
       | suramya_tomar wrote:
       | Not sure if I am missing something, but this is something I can
       | do without any extra extensions installed? Out of the 27 accounts
       | I am currently following, 20 are accounts from other Mastodon
       | instances...
       | 
       | I do have to search for the account on my local instance to start
       | following them instead of being able to click follow right there,
       | but that is a minor annoyance
        
         | TobTobXX wrote:
         | It is solving exactly that minor annoyance you mentioned.
        
         | maxerickson wrote:
         | Right, it appears this extension is aimed at the minor
         | annoyance.
        
       | smrtinsert wrote:
       | I thought following Mastodon was against free speech, why else
       | would Elon ban it
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-12-18 23:01 UTC)