christ does anyone remember how you used to be able to get a page of your earliest posts on mastodon? Before this infinite-scroll malarkey?
It had something to do with appending either min_id or max_id to the URL but either it doesn't work these days or I'm doing it wrong lol
Edit: I was right, you just append min_id=0 to your profile - but that doesn't work anymore 'cause Eugen's a big silly sausage
I love that this is now my problem, that's my favourite thing, when people have a problem and they don't want that problem so they decide that it's my problem now.
I'll call this disruptive new innovation "Problem Sharing"
It works everywhere. I had a flight earlier this year that went like this:
"We have a problem guys, we can't afford to run this set of flights anymore."
"Actually, we don't have a problem at all! Remember Jim, PROBLEM SHARING. Our customers SHARE the problem!"
I had a server move for my business that went like this:
"So the problem is that we don't have any servers or any money." "Dave, Dave, Dave, remember, PROBLEM SHARING. It's the hottest new thing." "It's not new, it's just normal old fraud," "But we call it PROBLEM SHARING, anyway Dan won't get a server or his money back because it's not OUR problem, it's *OUR* problem, as in the collective "our," which means it's his problem, we've shared it with him"
Problem Sharing™
"So the problem is, we bought a music website and it's making money, but it's not making MORE money every month than last month, now this here's a big problem."
"Did SOMEONE say PROBLEM?!?!?!!!" "Haha yeah I know what you're gonna say"
"SHARE IT" "Lol yeah, with the staff or with the punters"
"Both"
Anyway I was looking for my oldest posts so that I could re-boost the story of how I lost mutuals and moved servers because of a beef that Stux had with Welshpixie, which Stux decided to Problem Share™ with me and everyone else on his servers, which is why I'm on retro.social these days.
Important note, I don't know who I lost. Like, I don't know how many, I never got told, there was no email or popup or anything, my admin Stux just Pressed His Button and boom, I'm not following artists any more, and there was no way to figure out who I was no longer mutuals with. Oh aye I moved, I moved right quick, but that was only to prevent future schisms, there was no way to undo the damage or even find out how much damage had been done.
Since that happened, I've been 1) taking a copy of my follows CSV at semiregular intervals (I trust the admin here but defederation cuts both ways, it doesn't have to be *my* admin that presses the button) and 2) modifying my responses when folk ask me "Hey Dan, you've been on this Mastodon thing for years, should I give it a go."
Back up that CSV, folks. Option's in your preferences menu, import/export. Do it today, do it NOW, keep it somewhere safe. Don't make the same mistake I did.
If you find yourself in the place I did (which, like, the longer you stay here the higher that probability gets), and you DIDN'T back up that .csv, you're gonna at some point vent about this Situation to an actual real-life friend, in person, using your meat mouth, and they're gonna make this face 
and they'll be RIGHT to do so and you'll know it.
Seriously I see so many "Hey all the newbies, remember to CW eye contact and food and get off .social ASAP," but I don't see "Back your follows the hell up because beefs between admins you don't even know will silently and irrevocably sever your relationships" posted, like, Anywhere. TBH if it were up to me that'd be the first damn thing the website tells you.
Also while I'm PSAing maybe don't make threads that get so long they've gotta span THREE DANG SERVERS but I know you all are too sensible to do that so that's more of a Note To Self thing
(of course if Mastodon DID warn people to regularly back up their follows, then 99% of people who ever signed up would go "What? F
ck off, what kind of clownshoes software is this," and never return)