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sigmoid.social
Languages English (en)
Users 10,952
Active users (last month) 1,076
Active users (last six months) 1,986
Characters per post (max) 500
Known instances 33,740
First sight Nov 10, 2022 UTC
Last successful check Nov 21, 2024 UTC
Noxious No
New No
Software Mastodon 4.3.1
Registrations Open (by admin approval)
Meta’s Threads moderation Unknown (this instance is not listed in the Anti-Meta Fedi Pact list), and its list of moderated instances is not accessible.
Most used hashtags (last week) twitter, cat, retrocomputing, ethics, DataScience, opendata, electronics, author, legal, genomics
Short description
A social space for people researching, working with, or just interested in AI!
Long description
FAQ

What is Sigmoid Social?

Sigmoid Social is a Mastodon instance for people researching, working on, or just interested in AI. We went live on 11/04/2022.

Who should join Sigmoid Social?

You should join Sigmoid Social if you would like to be part of a Mastodon community primarily focused on discussing AI. We do not gatekeep who can join; it does not matter whether you are a researcher, engineer, hacker, student, artist, or just curious.

Who runs Sigmoid Social?

Sigmoid Social is administered and maintained by The Gradient. The Gradient is a non-profit and volunteer-run organization with the mission of facilitating discussion within the AI community. We were founded in 2017 by a group of students and researchers at the Stanford AI Lab. Our current projects include The Gradient Magazine, The Gradient Podcast, The Update newsletter, and Sigmoid Social.

Should I only post about AI?

You can feel free to toot about anything at all, as long as it complies with the Code of Conduct. We may however ask you to migrate to a different instance if your focus is not AI at all.

Should I only post in English?

This server supports translation, so it is ok to post in other languages than English. But, as English as the primary language here, that should ideally be the primary language you use. If you do post in other languages, please tag your posts with the appropriate language label.

Will you ban me for X?

We will take appropriate moderation measures against any violations of the Code of Conduct. We also reserve the right to take actions in the best interest of the community in situations we deem harmful but do not clearly violate the Code of Conduct. We will generally lean towards promoting free expression and issuing warning and restrictions rather than bans, but this is absolutely not a free-speech-above-all platform.

How can I help cover costs?

You can support us on Patreon or Kofi!

How can I share suggestions for Sigmoid Social?

You can message The Gradient via Mastodon, email, Twitter, or pigeon.

Where is my data stored?

Sigmoid Social is hosted by MastHost, a fully managed Mastodon hosting service provided by WAP – Web Access Platforms. WAP is a one-person company 100% owned and administrated by Hugo Gameiro. All data storage and processing is done through MastHost.

What happens if The Gradient can no longer maintain Sigmoid Social?

In the case that our current team can no longer run Sigmoid Social, we will attempt to transfer control of it to another non-profit entity within the AI community. If we are unable to do this, we will announce the closure of Sigmoid Social within at least 30 days to allow users to transfer their accounts to other Mastodon instances.

Can you access my private DMs?

The only way we can access private communications from Sigmoid Social is through exporting the database stored by MastoHost. We will do this periodically for the purpose of storing backups, and in case we have to migrate to another hosting solution. We will not inspect the database for any other reasons. Regardless, we recommend not sharing any private or secure information on this platform.

What is your policy in AI Art and NFTs?

This instance is a great fit for anyone who wants to post AI art - we fully support it. We are also OK with NFT promotion, as long as it relates to AI art and is not spammy.

Why does the banner spell out "Sigmioid"

We generated our banner using MidJourney (a text-to-image AI tool), and intentionally picked out an image that contained a typo as a little in-joke about these tools.

Recommended Practices & Mastodon tips

Here are some recommended practices for helping make Sigmoid Social a great place for everyone here:

  • Browse the local feed when starting out. Mastodon has three types of feeds: home (people or hashtags you follow), local (all posts from this instance), and federated (all posts from this instance and any users from other instances that are follow by anyone on here). Until you follow some people or hashtags, the local feed is your best bet for discovering content.
  • Use hashtags. Mastodon does not have an algorithmic feed, so hashtags are often used for finding content relevant to your interests. So, using hashtags will make it easier for others to find and follow you, and for you to find others as well. We list a set of recommended hashtags below!
  • Use the unlisted privacy setting in replies and threads. The default post privacy in Mastodon is 'global', which gets posted to the local timeline, whereas 'unlisted' is only shown when browsing the replies to a given post. Using unlisted for most replies and threads makes the timeline less cleaner and nicer to browse.
  • Look into the non-official apps for Mastodon. There are some apps not made by Mastodon that provide an arguably better frontend. Examples include Tusky and Toot!
  • Consider using content warnings/content labels. The CW button when writing posts stands for 'content warning', and then you include one in your post only the text for it is shown unless a user presses a button to see the rest of the post. We recommend using it for sensitive content, but you can also use them like a subject line or TLDR as well!
  • Explore Mastodon notification options. Mastodon allows you to mute various types of notifications, which can make it easier to focus on just replies and ignore favorites or boosts if you prefer to do so.
  • Report any content you think might violate the code of conduct. Moderation on Mastodon primarily relies on the users reporting objectionable content, at which point our mods can take care of it. Reporting bad content will make the experience on Sigmoid Social better for everyone!
  • Aim to be generally civil and friendly :)

Hashtags

As is true for Mastodon in general, we recommend you use hashtags in your posts. The following are just some you may want to use:

  • #introduction - for introducing yourself!
  • #ai - for stuff related to AI!
  • #NewPaper - for sharing new papers!
  • #PaperThread - for threads summarizing your or others' papers!
  • #arxiv- for stuff related to arxiv!
  • #SOTA - for stuff related to state of the art!
  • #NLProc - for stuff related to NLP!
  • #CV - for stuff related to computer vision!
  • #RL - for stuff related to reinforcement learning!
  • #genAI - for stuff related to generative AI!
  • #llm - for stuff related to language models!
  • #reviews - for stuff related reviews!
  • #conference - for stuff related to conferences!
  • #deadline - for stuff related to deadlines!
  • #aiart - for AI art!
  • #academia - for stuff related to academia!
  • #industry - for stuff related to industry!
  • #PetPics - for pet pics!
  • #question - for questions!
  • #discussion - for discussions!
  • #announcement - for announcements!
  • #hiring - if you're hiring!
  • #JobHunt - if you're job hunting!
  • #code - for stuff related to code!
  • #news - for news!
  • #interesting - for interesting stuff!
  • #concerning - for concerning stuff!
  • #cool - for cool stuff!
  • #SuperCool - for super cool stuff!
  • #lame - for lame stuff!
  • #SuperLame - for super lame stuff!
  • #funny - for funny stuff!
  • #SuperFunny - for super funny stuff!
  • #MindBlown - for mind blowing stuff!
  • #ethics - for stuff related to ethics!
  • #fun - for fun stuff!
  • #GoodMorning - for wishing everyone a good morning!
  • #GoodNight - for wishing everyone a good night!
  • #serious - for serious stuff!
  • #random - for random stuff!
  • #TIL - for new stuff you've learned!
  • #scifi - for discussing science fiction!
  • #media - for discussion of movies, books, comics, etc
  • #SigmoidSocial - for stuff related to Sigmoid Social
  • #TOOTTOOT - just to add a little fun flair to your toots :P

Code of Conduct

Sigmoid Social is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone.

We want this community to maintain a fun, pleasant, and harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, or religion. In keeping with these aims, we do not tolerate harassment of participants in any form. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Anyone who violates this code of conduct may be sanctioned or expelled from Sigmoid Social at the discretion of the organizers of the Gradient.

Harassment, including the following activities, will not be tolerated:

  • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, age, race, or religion.
  • Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices, including those related to food, health, parenting, drugs, and employment.
  • Deliberate misgendering or use of ‘dead’ or rejected names.
  • Gratuitous or off-topic sexual images or behaviour in spaces where they’re not appropriate.
  • Physical contact and simulated physical contact (eg, textual descriptions like "hug" or “backrub“) without consent or after a request to stop.
  • Threats of violence.
  • Incitement of violence towards any individual, including encouraging a person to commit suicide or to engage in self-harm.
  • Deliberate intimidation.
  • Stalking or following.
  • Harassing photography or recording, including logging online activity for harassment purposes.
  • Sustained disruption of discussion.
  • Unwelcome sexual attention.
  • Pattern of inappropriate social contact, such as requesting/assuming inappropriate levels of intimacy with others. Sigmoid Social is intended to be a welcoming platform, so while friendships in support of research are encouraged, note that Sigmoid Social is not a dating platform. Flirting or other unprofessional behavior may make someone uncomfortable. If a member requests another member to stop this type of behavior and it continues, it will be considered harassment.
  • Continued one-on-one communication after requests to cease.
  • Deliberate "outing" of any aspect of a person’s identity without their consent except as necessary to protect vulnerable people from intentional abuse.
  • Publication of non-harassing private communication.
  • Impersonation with the intent to deceive users (satire is ok).
  • Explicitly rude or degrading remarks in general.

Reporting

If you are being harassed by a user of Sigmoid Social, notice that someone else is being harassed, believe confidentiality has been violated, or have any other concerns, please report this via the standard Mastodon tools. We will respond as promptly as we can.

organizers reserve the right to exclude people from Sigmoid Social based on their past behavior, including behavior outside Sigmoid Social.

We will respect confidentiality requests for the purpose of protecting victims of abuse. At our discretion, we may publicly name a person about whom we’ve received harassment complaints, or privately warn third parties about them, if we believe that doing so will increase the safety of the members Sigmoid Social or the general public. We will not name harassment victims without their affirmative consent.

Consequences

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, up to and including expulsion from Sigmoid Social and identification of the participant as a harasser to other members of Mastodon.

Credit and License

This policy is licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. It was inspired by and parts were copied from the ML Collective Code of Conduct.

Supporters

We are grateful for the members who already us through Patreon! As a small thank you, here are links to their Sigmoid Social accounts:

Mega Patrons


Platinum Patrons


Gold Patrons


Silver Patrons


Bronze Patrons

Instance rules
  1. No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or discrimination in general
  2. No sexually explicit or violent media
  3. No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users
  4. Do not share intentionally false or misleading information
  5. Follow the Code of Conduct
  6. No spam or using an account solely for advertising
  7. Your account bio or post history should in some way indicate interest in AI
  8. Accounts which primarily produce the content of posts via software must be clearly identified as being bots
  9. No flooding the public timelines (making lots of public posts in quick succession)
Moderated instances [?]
Not available
Instances certainly moderating this instance [?]
  1. blackqueer.life: suspension
  2. bladerunner.social: suspension
  3. boop.juke.fr: suspension
  4. fandom.garden: limitation
  5. freethought.online: limitation
  6. mastodon.art: limitation
  7. mytter.jp: suspension
  8. simcha.lgbt: suspension
  9. solarpunk.moe: limitation
  10. spanner.works: suspension
  11. toot.foundation: suspension
Date of creation Oct 31, 2022 UTC
Display name The Gradient
Bio
The Gradient is an organization with the missions of making it easier for anyone to learn about AI and of facilitating discu. We were founded in 2017 by a group of students and researchers at the Stanford AI Lab. Our current projects include The Gradient Magazine, The Gradient Podcast, The Update newsletter, and Sigmoid Social. We are a non-profit and volunteer-run effort run by researchers and engineers in the AI community.
Statistics
Last 12 weeks activity (totals: 12660 statuses, 6532 logins, 77 registrations)
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Last checks (green: OK; red: KO)
11/14/24, 3:52:55 AM UTC11/15/24, 3:01:34 AM UTC11/16/24, 2:16:01 AM UTC11/17/24, 3:43:08 AM UTC11/18/24, 2:55:16 AM UTC11/19/24, 4:15:53 AM UTC11/20/24, 3:46:46 AM UTC11/21/24, 2:15:53 AM UTC
Succesful checks: 675/675 (100%)