wandering.shop is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Wandering.Shop aims to have the vibe of a quality coffee shop at a busy SF&F Convention. Think tables of writers, fans and interested passers-by sharing drinks and conversation on a variety of topics.

Server stats:

936
active users

idk about folks using in English, but on my Spanish UI, the word "private" (well, "privado") does NOT show up in the posting setting that is marked by an "@".

It says "only show to mentioned users."

That's because it IS NOT a private messaging system.

Mastodon DOES NOT HAVE a private message system.

Do not expect it to work as one!

It is SOLELY a way to keep your conversation from cluttering unrelated people's feeds.

It is not designed for

maco

(I'm seeing people say "it's so weird that when you @-mention someone in a private message, they can see it," which comes from the fundamental misunderstanding that it's a private message system and not a @'d-people-only setting. Once you've @'d them, they're in!)