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Activating Referrers: How server admins can (optionally) help spread the word about MastodonBy default, if someone clicks on a link in a Mastodon post, it does not send any kind of “HTTP Referrer”. This means the sites that are linked to know they got a click, but they have no idea where the click came from. It just shows up as “unknown” on their stats, and they do not know it came from Mastodon.
On servers running Mastodon version 4.4.0 or newer, server admins are given the option to switch on referrers in a very limited way that just shows the server’s domain name (such as example.com). If an admin switches on referrers, it would show sites being clicked on that their clicks came from that server, but would not give any other kind of info.
The option for referrers is off by default, it will only be active if the admin switches it on. Each server admin has to decide for themselves if they activate it.
How can a Mastodon server admin activate referrers?
- Log in with your admin account on your Mastodon server website
- Click ⋯ More (if you’re on the mobile web click ☰ first)
- Click Administration
- Click Server Settings
- Click Discovery tab at the top
- Scroll down to Privacy section and tick the box marked Allow external sites to see your Mastodon server as a traffic source
- Click Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen
What’s the case for switching on referrers?
For good or ill, most websites keep stats on where their clicks come from. However, this only shows data if the source of a click has referrers switched on. Because Mastodon has never had referrers, it has been almost entirely invisible in click stats.
By switching on link referrers, the admin will make all of their server’s clicks show up as coming from their server, and help give Mastodon visibility in click stats that it didn’t have before.
The optional referrer used by Mastodon just says the domain name of the server, it doesn’t give any other information. It does not say who clicked a link, it doesn’t even say whether the person was a member of the server or a non-member who was just randomly browsing the server’s website.
What’s the case against switching on referrers?
If a server is only used by one person and if a clicked link is within a non-public post, then the site being clicked on could deduce that the click must have come from the server owner. If the link is in a public post, the site being clicked on might assume the click is likely (but not certain) to have come from the server owner.
However, even then, all that would be leaked is that the owner of the server possibly clicked on a particular link, and only the linked site would know about it. The linked site wouldn’t know about other clicks on other sites’ links, nor would they have any info about the server owner unless the owner had made such info public themselves.
What information does a referrer send about a click?
In the case of Mastodon, the optional referrer would just send the domain name of the server. It would not send any other information.
At a technical level referrers can be set to send a lot more info, but the developers of Mastodon have deliberately restricted the referrer to only show the server name. They’ve also made the referrer switched off by default so that each server admin decides on whether to activate it.
I thought referrers showed who clicked a link?
Not in the case of Mastodon. If it is activated, the referrer just shows the server the click came from and no other information. People with the appropriate technical knowledge can
verify this in the Mastodon source code ⧉.
Does one server’s decision about referrers affect clicks taking place on other servers?
No. As far as referrers go, federated posts are treated the same way as local posts.
Why are Mastodon’s developers forcing referrers onto us?
They’re not, the referrer is switched off by default. It’s your server admin who decides whether to activate referrers or not.
What about UTM codes in links? Don’t those show referrals from Mastodon? Why not just use those?
UTM codes are optional bits at the end of links that can be used to show where a click came from. However, they are relatively rare for Mastodon as they require the source of the link to include them. Also, quite often people either use another platform’s UTM code when sharing links or strip out all UTM codes completely.
HTTP referrers are more consistent in providing information about the actual source of clicks.
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