on a phone

The app is Element X. The one trick is telling it where you're going. (girlcock.net. It's always girlcock.net.)

• Element X
• →
• matrix.org
• →
• girlcock.net
• →
• invite code
• →
• get a room

1. Install Element X.

   App Store Google Play

   On an iPhone it needs iOS 18.5 or later.

2. Open it. Under the two big sign-in buttons, tap the small Create account link at the bottom.

   They made it tiny. Cowards.

3. A box called Account provider already says matrix.org. Delete that, type girlcock.net, and tap Continue.

   Type exactly girlcock.net. Not gocknet: that's the stage name, and it gets “couldn't reach this account provider”.

4. A web page opens: our sign-up page. Its address is matrix.girlcock.net. It asks, in this order:

   • Username: lowercase letters, numbers, - and _ only. It becomes @name:girlcock.net forever. Pick it like a fursona name, not a job application.
   • Password: four or five random words, like a cursed band name. Short ones get bounced.
   • Invite code: paste the code you were sent. If the page calls it Registration token, same thing.

   Rather not make a password? Tap Continue with Google, Continue with Discord or Continue with GitHub on that page instead. It still asks for the invite code. They only vouch that you're you.

   If it says the username is taken, pick another and type the password into both boxes again: the page empties them. On an iPhone, if you land on a sign-in page instead, tap Create account on it.

5. Pick a display name, or skip it. That's the name people see. Change it as often as you want. We all do. Then the app asks Continue to Element X?, then about notifications and analytics. Say yes to notifications if you want it to buzz.

6. Chats starts empty. That's not a vibe check. Tap Spaces, then gocknet, and tap Join on the rooms you want.

we're all in there, being normal :3

on a computer

It runs in your browser. No install needed. (On a phone the browser version is a crime scene. Use the steps above.)

1. Choose a Username (lowercase letters, numbers, - and _) and a long Password, and press Continue.

   Or skip the password: Continue with Google, Continue with Discord or Continue with GitHub. You still need the invite code.

2. When it asks for an Invite code (or a Registration token), paste the code you were sent.

3. Pick a display name, or skip it. You're signed in, in your browser. Open gocknet on the left and join the rooms you want.

4. Want it on your phone too? Sign in there. One account works everywhere.

pin the tab. it gets lonely.

you again :3

Same server on every device. Sign in, don't sign up again.

on a phone

1. In Element X, tap Sign in manually.

2. The box says matrix.org. Replace it with girlcock.net and tap Continue.

3. Sign in with your username and password.

on a computer

DO NOT LOSE THESE

Two things nobody here can get back for you.

this isn't discord

Discord wanted a scan of your face. We have never once wanted your face. (Selfies, yes. Different thing.) A few things work differently, though:

• Notifications. On a phone, use Element X: it buzzes. The browser only notifies while it's open. De-googled Android (no Google services) needs ntfy or another UnifiedPush app, or it can't buzz at all.
• Screen share needs a computer. The phone app can't show off yet. For big video calls, keep it under 15 cameras.
• No custom emoji, stickers or gifs yet. We know. We're grieving too.
• Searching old messages in encrypted rooms needs the Element desktop app.

if it goes wrong

• It says the code is invalid. Codes run out. Ask whoever invited you for a fresh one.
• It says the username is taken. Someone got there first. Rude. Try another, and retype both password boxes.
• It says “Invalid credentials”. The username or the password is wrong, and it won't say which. Very helpful. An admin can reset it.
• You're leaving a shared phone or computer. Leaving yourself signed in on a shared device is how the next girl reads your DMs. Remove the device (Element X: Remove this device; browser: Remove this session), then open Manage account and sign out there too.
• You want out. Manage account, then Delete account. We'll be weird about it for a day.
• You're stuck somewhere else. Take a screenshot and send it to whoever invited you. They've seen worse.

what the server keeps

The short, true version. No ads, no selling.

• Your account. Username, password (scrambled, nobody can read it back), display name, picture, and the devices you're signed in on, with when and from where each last connected.
• Your chats. Messages, files and room history, so they reach your other devices and the people you talk to. Rooms made here are end-to-end encrypted from the start, and Element marks the ones that are: in those the server holds scrambled text it can't read. It still sees who's in which room and when people post.
• Other servers. Talk in a room with people from another Matrix server and their server keeps a copy of that room too, encrypted the same way.
• No email. We never ask for one.
• Signed up with Google, GitHub or Discord? We keep that account's ID and the profile it sends each time you sign in with it: for Google your name and picture, for GitHub your public profile (username, name, and an email only if you made it public there), for Discord your username, display name and avatar. We don't ask any of them for your email or anything else.
• Calls go through the server so they connect, and aren't recorded.
• Backups. A copy of the server, taken every night and kept for two weeks, on one admin's computer.
• This page is served by Cloudflare, which adds its own visit counter.

Leaving: Delete account (under Manage account) closes your account for good. What you already sent stays in the rooms, like any chat, and the backups age out after two weeks.