Name Artist Alley
Languages English (en)
Users 36
Active users (last month) 7
Active users (last six months) 10
Characters per post (max) 500
Known instances 8,000
First sight Dec 27, 2022 UTC
Last successful check Sep 19, 2024 UTC
Noxious No
New No
Software Mastodon 4.2.5
Registrations Open (by admin approval)
Meta’s Threads moderation Threads is neither suspended nor limited, according to this instance’s list of moderated instances.
Short description
ArtistAlley.space is a place for professional and amateur artists and creators to share their work and build an audience on Mastodon and the Fediverse.
Long description
The world is a better place when art and creativity are given a platform, but in modern society someone has to provide that platform. That's what ArtistAlley.space tries to be - a platform for artists and creators to post their work, promote their projects, and hopefully sustain their livelihoods by whatever means works for them.
This instance is meant to be exclusively for creators and not for fans. But don't worry, your fans will still be able to follow you here even if they're on a different server. Our goal is to federate with as many non-hateful servers as possible so you can focus on your art and finding your community.
As a result, this server does not have open registrations. Artists and creators are encouraged to apply and link to their works to get access to the server. For their fans, we suggest going to the Mastodon server directory or instances.social to find a server and make an account, and then you can follow your favorite creators on ArtistAlley.space.
Isn't the Fediverse for people and not for selling things?
Many people on Fediverse platforms who have come from corporate platforms like Twitter and Instagram are wary of brand accounts or people who chase metrics like follow counts and boost numbers. While this is an understandable perspective, there does exist a group of people who do need to pursue growth and self-promotion, and that group (as you may guess) is creators.
Similarly this group has also been abused by the corporate platforms we all came to the Fediverse to avoid. Artists have had their work mis-flagged as explicit or as being unfriendly to branded advertising. Creators of all stripes are inventing language to get around automated demonetization. And everyone has spent the last decade getting gaslit by recommendation algorithms that are constantly changing.
We all know the Fediverse can be the cure for these problems and more, while also filling timelines with beautiful and moving art. But this only works if creators can reach their audiences. If you are an admin considering defederating with this instance for spam/advertising reasons, please contact the admins and talk with us.
How is this run?
This server is funded by me, Steve Streza. I am not an artist but I do have a deep appreciation for creative people and their endeavors, and a strong sympathy and understanding of how hard it is to sustain artistic energy under modern capitalism. I am a software engineer who has been in the industry for over 15 years, including working for nearly 5 years of building tools for creators at Tumblr, and have been using my resources to fund artists and creators for many years through crowdfunding sites like Patreon. Supporting the arts and the people who create them is deeply important to me. My views are also strongly informed by my relationship with my partner Abigail Starling, who I have helped in amateur and professional capacity over the years. I've seen the impacts things like shadowbanning and NFTs have had on artists first hand.
That said, if this instance begins taking off and requires additional resources, I may ask for voluntary donations to support it from the community. However, this will never ever be mandatory, and I would instead aim to close registration to new people.
Will this shut down?
Nothing lasts forever, and this server will shut down one day. It's my goal for this to not happen for a long time. I am planning to run this server for a minimum of 5 years (through 2027), and almost certainly far longer. When this server shuts down, I will provide at least 3 months of notice and will keep all export tools available to help people transition to a new server.
That said, I am human and life happens to everyone. What kind of events might cause these plans to change?
However, I will do my best to ensure that these scenarios only happen as a last resort.
Legal Rights to your Work
By posting your works to this site, you are granting us a limited license to do the things this server needs to do. We may show your work on the website, in apps people use to connect to the website, or to deliver in emails to people (e.g. for notifications). We may make derivative versions of those (e.g. resizing or cropping those images, or re-encoding videos) depending on need.
We do not claim ANY ownership or rights over your work in any capacity EXCEPT for those needed to run the site. We explicitly do NOT claim the right to sell copies of your work in any form, or to give away licenses of your work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will you do if you receive a DMCA takedown notice?
The DMCA provides a "safe harbor" provision that protects me, the site owner, if you violate someone's copyright using my server. If I receive a DMCA claim, I am required to process them and take down the content. You will be able to counter claim, and if they don't file a lawsuit within 10-15 business days, your content will be restored.
Please understand that the admins of the site are at personal financial liability if I don't do this. I don't believe the DMCA being used to chase down fan artists or creators is good or virtuous use of the law. But I am also not financially equipped to defend artists in court. Consider talking to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for legal assistance.
To submit a DMCA takedown claim, send email to: dmca AT this domain name.
What should I do if I expect a lot of attention on a project or account?
If possible, please message an admin and let them know when you are expecting to announce your account or launch your project. This will let us keep an eye on things and potentially scale the server up to accommodate the traffic.
If you forget to do this, or if a post blows up, or you get a swarm of followers out of nowhere, it's no problem, you won't be in trouble. But the site may end up running slow.
Why do you leave an exemption for accepting cryptocurrency as payment?
As noted in the server rules below, I do allow creators to accept payment for their work (online shops, commissions, etc) as cryptocurrency. I understand and empathize with the strong aversion many in the creative community have to cryptocurrency. But I took this position because I want members to be able to get paid for their work, and each individual creator can decide for themselves what that means. In some portions of the world, accepting payment via traditional methods may be outlawed or restricted due to geopolitical circumstance (such as countries like Iran and Cuba, or for creators in Russia during Putin's invasion of Ukraine).
By creating this exemption but still blocking pro-cryptocurrency/pro-NFT art, it is my hope that this space will not attract people who will shill cryptocurrencies or NFTs, and their use will be limited. My views on this are not set in stone, so if this is a dealbreaker for you, please let me know.
What servers will be limited vs blocked?
Servers that will get limited (meaning they can still see your posts and vice versa, but they may be slower):
Servers that will get blocked (meaning they cannot see your posts and vice versa):
What will happen if a new rule is added?
A server announcement will be posted in a form that will be seen by everyone using Mastodon's Announcements feature. I will try to add rules in alignment with the desires of the art community.
What if the community disagrees with these rules?
In the event there is pushback to these rules or a desire to change for any reason, I will do my best to be amenable to them. At a minimum, if there is a 2/3 majority of all members of the server to amend or change a rule, I will do so.
The only exception to this is for any rule change which would pose a risk of violating US law or putting the server, admins, myself, or any members in undue risk of financial, physical, mental, or emotional harm.
If I apply as a company's brand account, will it be accepted?
No.
How do I apply?
Read these instructions carefully and follow these steps or we'll have to reject your application!
Click the "Create account" button and fill in your information. In the "tell us about yourself" section, please link places online where we can see your work (portfolio, DeviantArt, Twitter/Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, Linktree, etc). Please also give a 1-2 sentence introduction for what type of art you create.
We also need to verify that you are actually you. The easiest way to do this is by posting something to one of your accounts that says something to the effect of "verifying my identity for the Artist Alley space". If you're worried that a billionaire might ban you for mentioning another website, you can ROT13 encode or Base64 encode that message. Then link that verification post in here.
We will search through your name and identity online just to make sure you are really you, and as long as you're an artist or creator, you'll be approved. We may have a backlog, and getting through them may take time, so please have patience if it takes longer than expected. You'll be informed via email if you are accepted (and please watch your spam folder).
This instance is meant to be exclusively for creators and not for fans. But don't worry, your fans will still be able to follow you here even if they're on a different server. Our goal is to federate with as many non-hateful servers as possible so you can focus on your art and finding your community.
As a result, this server does not have open registrations. Artists and creators are encouraged to apply and link to their works to get access to the server. For their fans, we suggest going to the Mastodon server directory or instances.social to find a server and make an account, and then you can follow your favorite creators on ArtistAlley.space.
Isn't the Fediverse for people and not for selling things?
Many people on Fediverse platforms who have come from corporate platforms like Twitter and Instagram are wary of brand accounts or people who chase metrics like follow counts and boost numbers. While this is an understandable perspective, there does exist a group of people who do need to pursue growth and self-promotion, and that group (as you may guess) is creators.
Similarly this group has also been abused by the corporate platforms we all came to the Fediverse to avoid. Artists have had their work mis-flagged as explicit or as being unfriendly to branded advertising. Creators of all stripes are inventing language to get around automated demonetization. And everyone has spent the last decade getting gaslit by recommendation algorithms that are constantly changing.
We all know the Fediverse can be the cure for these problems and more, while also filling timelines with beautiful and moving art. But this only works if creators can reach their audiences. If you are an admin considering defederating with this instance for spam/advertising reasons, please contact the admins and talk with us.
How is this run?
This server is funded by me, Steve Streza. I am not an artist but I do have a deep appreciation for creative people and their endeavors, and a strong sympathy and understanding of how hard it is to sustain artistic energy under modern capitalism. I am a software engineer who has been in the industry for over 15 years, including working for nearly 5 years of building tools for creators at Tumblr, and have been using my resources to fund artists and creators for many years through crowdfunding sites like Patreon. Supporting the arts and the people who create them is deeply important to me. My views are also strongly informed by my relationship with my partner Abigail Starling, who I have helped in amateur and professional capacity over the years. I've seen the impacts things like shadowbanning and NFTs have had on artists first hand.
That said, if this instance begins taking off and requires additional resources, I may ask for voluntary donations to support it from the community. However, this will never ever be mandatory, and I would instead aim to close registration to new people.
Will this shut down?
Nothing lasts forever, and this server will shut down one day. It's my goal for this to not happen for a long time. I am planning to run this server for a minimum of 5 years (through 2027), and almost certainly far longer. When this server shuts down, I will provide at least 3 months of notice and will keep all export tools available to help people transition to a new server.
That said, I am human and life happens to everyone. What kind of events might cause these plans to change?
- If I become physically disabled (or obviously if I die) and am unable to physically use a computer
- If I am hit by sudden and extreme personal financial hardship
- If the server becomes overrun with bots, spam, abusive content, harassment, etc
- If the server becomes extensively disconnected from the rest of the network
- If the server becomes too expensive to run
- If the server usage drops to near zero
However, I will do my best to ensure that these scenarios only happen as a last resort.
Legal Rights to your Work
By posting your works to this site, you are granting us a limited license to do the things this server needs to do. We may show your work on the website, in apps people use to connect to the website, or to deliver in emails to people (e.g. for notifications). We may make derivative versions of those (e.g. resizing or cropping those images, or re-encoding videos) depending on need.
We do not claim ANY ownership or rights over your work in any capacity EXCEPT for those needed to run the site. We explicitly do NOT claim the right to sell copies of your work in any form, or to give away licenses of your work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What will you do if you receive a DMCA takedown notice?
The DMCA provides a "safe harbor" provision that protects me, the site owner, if you violate someone's copyright using my server. If I receive a DMCA claim, I am required to process them and take down the content. You will be able to counter claim, and if they don't file a lawsuit within 10-15 business days, your content will be restored.
Please understand that the admins of the site are at personal financial liability if I don't do this. I don't believe the DMCA being used to chase down fan artists or creators is good or virtuous use of the law. But I am also not financially equipped to defend artists in court. Consider talking to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for legal assistance.
To submit a DMCA takedown claim, send email to: dmca AT this domain name.
What should I do if I expect a lot of attention on a project or account?
If possible, please message an admin and let them know when you are expecting to announce your account or launch your project. This will let us keep an eye on things and potentially scale the server up to accommodate the traffic.
If you forget to do this, or if a post blows up, or you get a swarm of followers out of nowhere, it's no problem, you won't be in trouble. But the site may end up running slow.
Why do you leave an exemption for accepting cryptocurrency as payment?
As noted in the server rules below, I do allow creators to accept payment for their work (online shops, commissions, etc) as cryptocurrency. I understand and empathize with the strong aversion many in the creative community have to cryptocurrency. But I took this position because I want members to be able to get paid for their work, and each individual creator can decide for themselves what that means. In some portions of the world, accepting payment via traditional methods may be outlawed or restricted due to geopolitical circumstance (such as countries like Iran and Cuba, or for creators in Russia during Putin's invasion of Ukraine).
By creating this exemption but still blocking pro-cryptocurrency/pro-NFT art, it is my hope that this space will not attract people who will shill cryptocurrencies or NFTs, and their use will be limited. My views on this are not set in stone, so if this is a dealbreaker for you, please let me know.
What servers will be limited vs blocked?
Servers that will get limited (meaning they can still see your posts and vice versa, but they may be slower):
- Servers that are under-moderated
- Servers that show art content we don't allow
- Servers that bridge to other social networks like Twitter
- Servers that are heavily automated/bot accounts, if still useful ones (e.g. weather bots, stock bots, or news bots)
Servers that will get blocked (meaning they cannot see your posts and vice versa):
- Servers that allow hate speech, including racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia
- Servers that are exclusively pornographic
- Servers that take the work of creators for use in training machine learning/AI models
- Servers that allow illegal content like child abuse
- Servers for organizing harassment campaigns
- Servers that are full of spammy bots
- Servers that are disruptive (e.g. abusing technical tools)
What will happen if a new rule is added?
A server announcement will be posted in a form that will be seen by everyone using Mastodon's Announcements feature. I will try to add rules in alignment with the desires of the art community.
What if the community disagrees with these rules?
In the event there is pushback to these rules or a desire to change for any reason, I will do my best to be amenable to them. At a minimum, if there is a 2/3 majority of all members of the server to amend or change a rule, I will do so.
The only exception to this is for any rule change which would pose a risk of violating US law or putting the server, admins, myself, or any members in undue risk of financial, physical, mental, or emotional harm.
If I apply as a company's brand account, will it be accepted?
No.
How do I apply?
Read these instructions carefully and follow these steps or we'll have to reject your application!
Click the "Create account" button and fill in your information. In the "tell us about yourself" section, please link places online where we can see your work (portfolio, DeviantArt, Twitter/Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, Tumblr, Linktree, etc). Please also give a 1-2 sentence introduction for what type of art you create.
We also need to verify that you are actually you. The easiest way to do this is by posting something to one of your accounts that says something to the effect of "verifying my identity for the Artist Alley space". If you're worried that a billionaire might ban you for mentioning another website, you can ROT13 encode or Base64 encode that message. Then link that verification post in here.
We will search through your name and identity online just to make sure you are really you, and as long as you're an artist or creator, you'll be approved. We may have a backlog, and getting through them may take time, so please have patience if it takes longer than expected. You'll be informed via email if you are accepted (and please watch your spam folder).
Instance rules
- Content that is illegal in the United States is prohibited in all cases, including any exclusions in the rules below.
- Sexually explicit/gory content is prohibited. This includes avatars, headers, and posts. Artistic nudity and lightly lewd works are allowed, if marked sensitive and tagged with a content warning, even if posted off site.
- Sexual/nude/sadistic content of children is forbidden, including loli/shota/guro works. We won't hunt down character ages in your works, but if it's obviously underage, don't post it. Admins may use subjective judgement. (Yes, this includes tropes like the thousand year old god in a child body.)
- Harassment, abuse, bullying, doxxing, incitement of dogpiling, incitement of violence/self-harm, etc. are prohibited. If you must call attention to bad behavior, it is allowed as a last resort and when accompanied with evidence, but should not be a regular occurrence.
- Hate speech, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and xenophobia is prohibited. Nazi speech and anti-LGBTQ+ speech is expressly forbidden. If these are your views, you are not welcome here.
- Posting intentionally false or misleading content such as fake news or passing off others' works as your own is prohibited.
- Algorithm-synthesized works (or "AI art") or projects related to cryptocurrencies or NFTs are prohibited, except for use as social commentary on these technologies, or unless you are accepting a cryptocurrency as payment.
- Creations must be your own work, or they must be adequately sourced to the original artist/creator. Links to image sites like Imgur or Danbooru are not adequate as a source. Links to a creator's website or social media is acceptable.
- While you are encouraged to use this as a social network first and foremost, self-promotion is expressly allowed, as is monetizing your work. In exchange, you agree that the admins are not liable for any lost income if the server is down or if your works are inaccessible.
- This server doesn't have unlimited disk space or bandwidth, and abusing those resources (e.g. bypassing CDNs or direct linking to files) is not allowed. This doesn't apply to normal site functions, like posts or accounts getting a lot of attention.
- Don't police other people's work. If you see someone breaking the rules, report them to the admins and don't engage with it publicly. Over-reporting someone can constitute harassment. We'll do our best to judge things fairly.
Moderated instances [?]
- 0xspace.social: suspended
- activity-pub.cf: suspended
- aethy.com: limited
- bae.st: suspended
- baraag.net: limited
- beefyboys.win: suspended
- berserker.town: suspended
- beta.mstdn.cf: limited
- birdsite.thorlaksson.com: limited
- bitcoinhackers.org: suspended
- botsin.space: limited
- chudbuds.lol: suspended
- clubcyberia.co: suspended
- cryptodon.lol: suspended
- d-fens.systems: suspended
- detroitriotcity.com: suspended
- disqordia.space: suspended
- duckdns.org: suspended
- fed.celp.de: limited
- freeatlantis.com: suspended
- freespeechextremist.com: suspended
- genderheretics.xyz: suspended
- girlcock.club: limited
- gleasonator.com: suspended
- hen***.**by: suspended
- iddqd.social: suspended
- ignorelist.com: suspended
- kolektiva.social: limited
- kurosawa.moe: suspended
- lolison.network: suspended
- mastodon.cloud: limited
- misskey-forkbomb.cf: suspended
- neenster.org: suspended
- nicecrew.digital: suspended
- noagendasocial.com: suspended
- pawoo.net: limited
- pleroma.kitsunemimi.club: suspended
- pleroma.nobodyhasthe.biz: suspended
- poa.st: suspended
- poster.place: suspended
- qoto.org: limited
- raspberrypi.social: limited
- rdrama.cc: suspended
- repl.co: suspended
- rojogato.com: suspended
- ryona.agency: suspended
- seal.cafe: suspended
- shitposter.club: suspended
- shortstackran.ch: suspended
- social.wideboys.org: suspended
- solagg.com: suspended
- spank.ws: limited
- spin****.xyz: suspended
- strelizia.net: suspended
- twtr.plus: limited
- twtr.vrij.social: limited
- ursal.zone: suspended
- witches.live: limited
- wolfgirl.bar: suspended
- yggdrasil.social: suspended
Instances certainly moderating this instance [?]
- nothing.tacowolf.net: suspension
Admin account stevestreza@artistalley.space
Date of creation Dec 17, 2022 UTC
Display name Steve [AA.space Admin]
Bio
I make things that help millions of people find their communities and follow their passions. Like this Mastodon instance! This account is for posting updates and news about ArtistAlley.space.
Statistics
Last 12 weeks activity (totals: 44 statuses, 37 logins, 0 registrations)
| S: 2 L: 3 R: 0 | S: 4 L: 3 R: 0 | S: 6 L: 3 R: 0 | S: 4 L: 5 R: 0 | S: 5 L: 2 R: 0 | S: 5 L: 3 R: 0 | S: 1 L: 2 R: 0 | S: 3 L: 4 R: 0 | S: 4 L: 3 R: 0 | S: 5 L: 5 R: 0 | S: 5 L: 4 R: 0 | S: 0 L: 0 R: 0 |
Last checks (green: OK; red: KO)
| 9/12/24, 3:22:54 AM UTC | 9/13/24, 1:59:15 AM UTC | 9/14/24, 1:42:46 AM UTC | 9/15/24, 2:49:01 AM UTC | 9/16/24, 3:15:49 AM UTC | 9/17/24, 3:02:07 AM UTC | 9/18/24, 3:13:57 AM UTC | 9/19/24, 1:39:34 AM UTC |
Succesful checks: 567/567 (100%)