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So, with Twitter deciding to kick into high gear its downfall, a lot of people have looked to Mastodon as a replacement.
So I decided, for myself when inevitably over the holidays it get's brought up, to put together a little F.A.Q to help myself coherently explain, dispel, and advocate the platform. And I figured, if I'm going to have a little note in my notepad, might as well share it with everyone in case it's useful :)
Basically, an open version of Twitter.
No, fediverse is a dorky way of saying "use the same communication method" (ActivityPub)
Probably not, but you should stop using Twitter. Seriously though, unless you're apart of a community that is leveraging Mastodon already (or did Twitter), or if your business needs a Twitter-like engangement platform, I'd say don't join yet. Let things settle, and see if microblogging (tweeting, called "tooting on mastodon!") social media is something you want to do. This can be an opportunity to take a break.
Basically go to https://joinmastodon.org and create an account on a server that fits your interests.
So unlike Twitter, Mastodon runs by operating on separate, but "federated", servers. These servers are their own mini communities but are a part of the larger "fediverse" (it's dorky, I know). Think of it like email: You use gmail, I use protonmail, we can still email eachother.
But the only thing a server really matters for "which" server is:
What content does it promote
What content does it block
Is it active/moderated
And to a lesser extent, it's location
Basically, since each server is like it's own little mini community (and part of your handle!) they encourage or discourage(or block) specific content. For example, a server may block ALL NSFW content. Others may just require anything NSFW must be: Your own, and behind a content warning.
These are easily found on the join page of the servers, and can make your experience more enjoyable.
I know this can be complicated, especially up front. But think of it like this - for me, I am a queer software engineer - there are servers for free software devs, servers for queer folk, and servers for queer tech folk. So if I joined any of those, I would more easily find content from people similarly. Where are your friends? Just join the one they're on!
Location doesn't REALLY matter, but the server page seems to factor it in. But don't be afraid to join whatever suits you. My server is german hosted, but since I mostly engage with other server's accounts, I have plenty of content during all hours of the day!
Just move. You can transfer your account across servers and the only thing you lose some post history (depending*)
Find one for them! But also remember, not every one needs to be on Mastodon. So only if they're being stubborn :P
There is no algorithms, no central brain serving content. You have to drive your content. Start following people, hashtags, or look in your local server's timeline!
And start tootin (and use hashtags!)! People will start to engage with you and then follow them!
Severs are hosted by your admins. There is no billion dollar company paying for severs, so it can get slow when traffic increases. Be patient as the twitter migration continues :) It gets better, it's only really videos that slow down loading during peak.
Baked into the site, you can flag any toot with a content warning. These are important for folk who many not wish to see things like eye contact, violence, transphobia, etc.
They're like a named spoiler tag from forums.
You can describe images! It's really useful for accessibility, but also as a way for users to know what something is before clicking it.
It is SO dorky, and can feel cheap - like you're self promoting yourself. But its how the system works. They're just tags. A lot of people opt for adding them to the bottom of their toot rather than inline. But do whatever optimizes your max characters/readability
If you like something someone tooted, or you liked someones toot - just follow them! Especially early on. This can really build a timeline for yourself, and increase engagement of your own toots bringing more people you may want to follow to your timeline!
This is the one I personally struggle with. Favoriting is like the "I'm too nervous to boost this" button. But just boost. If you actively enjoyed what someone said, or agree with it, or anything. Just boost it! You're not going to get yelled at. It's much nicer here.
Can you STOP with the Elon talk? Just setup a filter. If you're sick of AI, filter it. If you think like "well its only SOME" you can have it flag it for you without filtering the post outright.
I don't know...
Tusky is pretty great:
I might have gotten hooked on Mastodon. Ultimately, like I said in my previous post about community: I really like having queer friends, even if they're just on a website :) But maybe you can find your niche group to follow and that'll be fun.
I don't see my self evangelizing the site. I don't foresee myself even talking about. But I KNOW I ramble and can get TOO in the weeds when I try to be succinct. So this post was really just a way for me to organize my thoughts so I can reference it if I need to.
I still really think if you're a serious Twitter user. Take a month off. Social media, even one generally as positive as Mastodon has been for me, has negative effects. So time off is always good!
And if you have any clearer, simpler way of explaining any of these sections or feel I missed anything that could be useful I'd appreciate if you let me know. I'll be stuck up at my parents soon, and if it comes up I'd like to prepare :P
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