Recent searches
Search options
Administered by:
Hey, welcome new people! 
Are you wanting to convince others to try Mastodon too?
Show them this video to explain what it actually is: https://tilvids.com/w/wx2iLhD3pTipbKFJKLyx5t
Tell them they can find servers to sign up on at https://joinmastodon.org/servers or https://fedi.garden and all these servers have promised to uphold certain standards (https://joinmastodon.org/covenant).
If they have any questions about using Mastodon or the Fediverse, they should take a look at https://fedi.tips or ask me directly.
@feditips It's great but leaves out one point that I think is SUPER important: Don't worry too much about which server you choose because you can change servers and bring your followers along with you! Maybe Mastodon's most important feature?
@peepstein @timbray @feditips care to elaborate on that?
@stella
Not on my top 20 list of things to worry about. ActivityPub messages don't contain executable content, right?
@timbray except, it seems, if the admin goes awol https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/mastodon.html Trust but verify, and check that you can actually recover from a backup, are still useful guidance. There are a till some rough edges to the fediverse it seems
@jwd630 @timbray We're making the initial server choice too consequential. In reality, it is only minimally important after the first week or so, and easy to change after the fact.
The Mastodon Server Covenant is to mitigate against admin AWOL. The referenced URL user seems to have had a very low bar (<= 1 day) for panic.
@feditips it seems like I can see posts from all servers (the fediverse), not just the one I'm on. Is there any benefit to being on more than one server?
@feditips This is great! Thank you for sharing
@feditips are there new people on the fediverse? 
that's pretty exciting. Welcome to everyone
@feditips I just copied this info on a friend's post on FB. He is signing up now.
I have a question. Ok, more than one. Do certain types of people prefer certain types of servers or instances or whatever they're called ? Can you switch once you've joined or are you "stuck" wherever you start? And if you can switch, how would you explore what's available? How do you find new people who share your interests? Please explain this like you would explain it to your grandma. Thanks.
Mastodon does make it easier to move. For example, the list of friends (followers and people you follow) are transferred over, and Mastodon does tell people that you moved. But otherwise, the process is similar to changing your phone number.
It's just like if you walked into a social club or bar or party or church or volunteer organization and didn't know most of the people yet. You just start talking to people, and if you are nice with people, you wind up getting introduced to other people.
You can speed up the process by finding websites and social media channels that recommend people to follow. This is similar to how some professional associations have lists of members, except less formal and it includes individuals and professionals.
The only real difference is that you are interacting with a community online, instead of in person.
@scott thanks. This is the hard part for me and what I'm struggling with. I don't always think like other people and never know what to expect when I interact with people. Often get blindsided by reactions so I'm hesitant to make comments. I will make more of an effort to interact.
But in my experience, if you are authentic and not fake, the right people will be attracted to you, and the wrong people will be repelled by you. And that is a good thing. It might take awhile to find your tribe, but they are out there.
@Artemis13Athena 1. There are some servers targeted at specific groups, journalists for instance. But, it doesn't seem to matter. That's the beauty of the Fediverse. 2. Yes, you can switch but I don't think you will need to. 3. Finding people to follow is quite easy. My advice: Search with hashtags. You will be served a wide ranging list from which you can add people to follow. 4. USE LISTS - great tool for grouping your follows and creating personal feeds. Cheers, Grandpa #Mastodon #Fediverse
Great advice.
A pity that you can't group hashtags into LISTS. That would be really cool.
@Jon6705 @Artemis13Athena Thanks. Yes, that would be so labour saving. It's such a nuisance to keep repeatedly entering hashtags. I am no geek, but here's an extension/ app/ what-have-you waiting for someone to develop.
I'm sure it's something others have mentioned, so may be they are already working on it for future releases.
@arjun hashtags! I'm having a lightbulb moment! Lol, what a brilliant idea and I wish I'd thought of that. My goodness, now I feel like an idiot. Don't worry though, it won't last long. Now I'm torn between trying out the new toy and reading the rest of the comments. Dilemma...
@jeralgrin @GrizzleNizzle415 here some decent resources
Thanks for the tip! However, a warning to others, check out your new server as a user before you move over. The server I moved to (mastodon.cloud) is missing the "Explore" option which was probably the most valuable option for me so that I could find other accounts I'm interested in.
Hey thank you for this. I feel like such a newborn elephant! I mean Mastedon. Mastidon. Mas… mastodon.
@feditips "we use ... peertube ..., which is sort of like the Mastodon of youtube" -- Oops: more sort of like the youtube of Mastodon.