New people are joining Mastodon. Here is my #mastohelp:
1. Write a meaningful bio text — no one follows the unknown.
2. A profile photo of yourself is helpful — again, no one follows the unknown.
3. Start replying to other people's posts. Eventually you will get noticed.
4. If you get stuck, ask questions — people are really helpful here.
5. Follow at least 200, so you get an interesting feed.
6. Search hashtags of topics you like. If you like politics, try #eupol or #uspol.
Welcome! 🐘
Holy crap! Following 200 would consume my entire time. At 44, I'm thinking about trimming the list.
I started following one person when they moved from the dead bird site. I slowly added others as I stumbled across them.
@randahl
"A profile photo of yourself is helpful"
I still think it's naive and dangerous to share photos of yourself online, nowadays more than ever. Don't do it.
@ki what has it cost me?
@randahl
you seem ignorant towards marginalized groups that are being harassed by neonazis or even their own government
stating that it hasn't hurt _you_ so far is an inappropriate reaction to concern by those who are likely to be attacked in daylight
@ki many people need anonymity online, and I respect that. You mention marginalised groups, which is an important example. I would like to add people in sensitive jobs like teachers, doctors, judges, etc., as well as people who live in oppressive regimes.
But this does not mean that for every person on the planet it is "dangerous to share photos of yourself online".
And the fact that you and I have not discussed every nuance of this complex issue in just two posts, does not make me "ignorant".
@randahl
with crawlers and biometric scans for mass surveillance during the current rise of fascism, everyone can become a victim of oppression and prosecution, which does make it dangerous for everyone. My state with a far-right is currently investing into Palantir, something that was improbable only a year ago. Rather than telling people to use traceable facial images, you should tell them to be careful when posting tips like that. It's not about nuance.
@randahl Thanks, that's helpful -- I'm mostly new to social media!
I would add: you are the one who controls your feed - you will only see who you follow, and who they boost.
The flip-side of that is when you start seeing things you don't like - *you* must take action. Unfollow, or block, or report for particularly egregious posts. When someone picks an argument with you - block. Your superpower on Mastodon is your ability to say "nope" and not need to justify it. Your attention is yours to spend as you see fit.
A well-curated mastodon feed is fantastic. But you need to curate it.
@randahl So the assumed goal here is... to be noticed and followed and to generate lots of interactions? We are not selling ads here, we don't need to follow inflationist dynamics to make a bunch of shareholders happy.
@chemaunch I did not say, anyone was selling ads. But I have seen people quit Mastodon because their feed was boring. That is why I recommend following 200.
@randahl Ok. I get it. I just pointed out that this tendency to turn everything into a frenzy competition to get attention is something that we don't have the obligation to replicate here.
@randahl following 200 seems like a lot. Even a smaller number can be more than I have time for. And I’ve unfollowed/muted people who just post too much.
@randahl Thanks for the tips! Super helpful for anyone just starting out on Mastodon. I’d just add—be patient and have fun exploring. Engaging with others and finding communities you enjoy makes the experience way more rewarding.
@randahl
You don't actually need to follow 200 people. Following hashtags is excellent too!
Good advices overall 👍
@randahl thanks for the tips, I really appreciate them because I did not know how to do it
As an extension to 6, hashtags will only add posts to your feed that already made it to your instance. You can also follow groups found in https://about.fedigroups.social/directory which will boost any post they are tagged in. This especially works well if you're on a smaller server
@randahl And follow the hashtags of your interests
@randahl about 5, it depends: if someone is coming from an algorithmic driven social network and wants lots of things to check, sure.
As for me, I don't want that at all! I only follow people and hashtags I truly want to follow. But I also check my instance's trending tab, if I find someone interesting there I follow them.
BTW the trending tab is heavily instance dependent, so if you are in an instance where people like the same things as you, you will get good things to check, otherwise, mostly if you are in a general popular instance (like mastodon.social) it will be bland and not as interesting. Probably will be mostly US politics.
i take it you're not a big lovecraft fan
@randahl 6. triggers the assumption that it was written by somebody with a Twitter past. That's how all the political infogarbage ended on Mastodon. Other social network, same internet warriors, unfortunately.
@randahl As they say around here, don't put too much personal information online. There are some crazy people out there. I mean, really crazy people. They can cause you a lot of trouble (I know from experience). Otherwise, good.
@randahl
7. Always include meaningful #altText when posting images or videos. Media without it will not get boosted or liked.
8. If you enjoy a post very much, boost it. Then people who follow you will see it. They will not see your likes. Mastodon does not have an algorithm to show you posts you might enjoy. You only see everything or what they people you follow post or boost.
9. When you post, be sure to mark it with the language it's written in.
@randahl are they joining though? Monthly Active Users number is currently at 722k. Was around like 1M a few months back
@randahl Nothing works, I tried.
@lucianmarin you just posted that post. That worked.
@randahl except no one has helped me understand why I can no longer translate toots in other languages 🙁☹️
@randahl
For me personally it is precisely the fact that there's no pressure to reveal your true identity why I like it here in the fediverse. As opposed to, for example FB, which I never signed up to precisely because I don't fancy putting my face out there for all the world to see.
Also, I don't follow people because I like their faces. I follow people because I like their ideas, because I'm interested in hearing what they have to say. I could not care the slightest what they look like.
@shadowdancer your profile photo works really well. It is very easy to distinguish from other accounts.
The problem is, some people run with the default photo, which means we get a feed full of grey elephants.
@randahl
I simply don't reply to them nor do I boost or like their stuff.
I think it's the least effort to choose any profile picture and find a few words to say about yourself.
@randahl
Agreed. The default elephant indeed gives throwaway account vibes. For which there shouldn't even be much need since it's completely ok to go anonymous anyway.
@randahl pfffff.... Fuckthat!
@randahl also some people are not here for the followers, just for conversations and stupid comments (as I do)
Hmmm. I would edit some tips.
2. Just a custom profile pic is good, not necessarily a selfie.
5. Start following hashtags before following people, it should fill your timeline faster and show you interesting people for you to follow.
@randahl
😜 Addendums to Rule 5:
¹) Try to follow people from a wide variety of timezones, to alleviate "everyone's at work", "everyone's asleep", etc lulls in activity. Even off planet!
🌍🌎🌏 🛰️ 🌕
²) One can follow hashtags, too.
³) It's not a tattoo. One can always unfollow (whatever) if (whatever) is not to one's liking.
I don't care for number 2. It's not a safe time to put your face on the internet if you don't have access to a lawyer.
@randahl also you can follow hashtags.
@randahl the peeps I have known and followed on Twitter and LinkedIn know my profile pic. Serving easy identity theft to scammers serves no one
@fletch it served me.
@xChaos in my feed, about half the posts are from people with real faces on their profiles.
Of course, I curated the feed, so that is not a general statistic, but I just want to say that many people use their face in their profile photo.
And I really love that — it feels like we are having a real conversation among real people.
I can certainly understand why some people are not able to share their face. If you hold a position like a school teacher, you likely need anonymity.
@randahl I understand the need to talk to real people... but genAI can of course generate as many "real faces" as needed. So this is just that it makes you feel good... but it is no real proof.
I forgot to mention, that I know lot of users with abstract avatars personally... some from my Mastodon instance and even more from forums outside Mastodon.
@xChaos I agree, we should all be aware of AI. But I think I can still tell, when a profile is real. For instance, som people who share their faces also share situational photos of themselves with the same face and being next to other real people in real environments.
The consistency across their posts and photos is also a good indicator. Some AI profiles flunk because of inconsistencies.
Theoretically an elaborate profile could be faked too, but I do not think that is common.
@randahl well, I definitely don't want to discourage anyone from using their actual face as avatar.
But using real names was norm on Facebook and it was one of the reasons I left. I am on Internet much longer, than Facebook, and the pseudonymity was one of the things, which was amazing about these early online communities.
On the other hand, in the #Fidonet, using real names was compulsory and Mastodon, with it decentralisation, local rules, moderation policy and unencrypted netmail resembles #Fidonet, in a way.
So if #Fidonet had avatars, I can imagine using photos of real faces would be compulsory there.
@randahl 7. use alt text, if you want boosts and not only likes.
@randulo indeed. That is a good tip.
