The social network that is getting the most attention is Mastodon, because of the torrent of former tweeters streaming toward it. Between October and November, the number of users on this open-sourced network of independent server jumped to 2.5 million.
There has been a bit of confusion among the new members of the Masto-set as to how it resembles and differs from the popular social networking site. There are a lot of different ways to use Mastodon and it would take more than one article to go through all of them. Since the beginning of any social network is finding other accounts to follow and hoping they want to follow you back, I am going to explain how to manage your own follows.
Here are a few of the things that I have discovered while playing Mastodon. I hope they can help people figure out how to deal with this new type of communication.
It doesn't matter which instance you joined. Some of the instances are aimed at specific groups of people, while others are more generalized. If you use this tool, you can find some places to start on Mastodon's "join" site, or you can do a search for one that follows a particular interest.
Don't fret about which instance you join first. It is possible to operate fairly freely among the others if you are comfortable with the general feel. If you follow people who use other instances, they can follow you as well. All your followers will move with you if you choose to move your account there. Your previous posts won't come with you.
Do you know who you are? The first thing you need to do is write an introductory post. A good idea is not considered a courtesy. Let people know that you're there, what you're interested in, and in general, say hello. Add the #introduction to your post. Which leads me to something.
They're your friends. People who might be interested in your topic can find you if you use them in posts. When you start a hashtags, you will get a list of which ones have been used recently and how often they have been used. I have read that it is better for people who use audio readers if you list your hashtags after the body of your post.
Don't let it get you down. Mastodon isn't as difficult as it sounds. We had to learn to use these networks. You will get it in no time.
Here is how to follow and ignore people. There are a variety of other apps out there, and directions for those may differ.
Everything in your home feed will arrive in the same order as the post it was posted to. What you see will be determined by who you follow.
It is assumed that you are looking for a specific person.
You can type your friend's name into the search box. There is a search icon at the bottom of the page in the mobile app. If the name appears in your friend's profile, it should show up in your search results under the "All" tab in the mobile app. It is possible that your friend didn't use their name when they registered. Try to search under the name they usually use. Once you find the person you want to follow, you can click on the icon next to their name to follow them. If you want to no longer follow that person, click on the X icon and you will no longer be following them. You will be told that your follow is pending if the person is limiting their following. Next to that person's listing, there will be an icon with an X. You can tap on the person's name on the mobile app. Next to their name, tap on the "Follow" button. If the button is changed to following you will be told the follow is pending. All you need to do is tap the button again.
Additional notes were added.
If you see someone in your feed who you want to follow, you just have to click or tap on their name to follow them. You can still follow someone even if they aren't a member of your instance. If the person decides not to approve you, or if the administrator of that person's instance blocks you, there are exceptions. You should contact your administrator if that's the case.
Here is how you can approve anyone who follows you.
Under your profile name, click on the Edit Profile button. You can select the appearance in the column. Check theRequire follow requests in the center.
The gear icon can be found in the upper right corner. Select account settings after scrolling down. You can find the hamburger icon in the upper right corner. If you want to require follow requests, scroll down.
If you enable Require follow requests, you will see a lock next to your Mastodon address indicating that all follow requests must be approved.
There are more resources that you can use to navigate this new social network.
Mastodon Help is an introduction to Mastodon. There are a variety of tips on how to use the resource. It would be a good idea to make this one of the first addresses to follow. There are tips for beginners here. There is a list of resources for Mastodon users. It's a great place to visit.
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