This stuff is user hostile. Please don't make follow-bots: https://octodon.social/media/glzbv4TCUaSwD61nxug
@odinsdream I disagree. I like followbots. They make the network more cohesive. They are needed, at least while the instances can't discover other instances themselves in background. #botmeharder
@drequivalent I honestly do not understand? Please explain if you feel up for it. Why is it useful for a bot to auto-follow someone?
@odinsdream It gets one instance acquainted with another.
Fediverse, as the name suggests, is the federated network. Instanes send each other messages to form one large entity. To send a message, one instance must know the other. That's what populates your Federated Timeline and delivers mentions.
On idle, an instance makes no attempt to know other instances in the network. The instance finds out about another instance only if the user from that instance subscribes to the user of another one.
@odinsdream Exactly.
I don't know where it is discussed, it's just the logic of the network. Followbots are just here to automate the process, nothing more.