I’m liking the vibe here so far, but i’m still confused about the whole server/“ instance “thing ??

[notyourfanboy@kolektiva.social]

@anxietynectarr
Don't worry about which server you are on.

Most folks don't spend lots of time on their server timeline. Although you can if you want.

Build out your personal timeline.

Follow everyone you run across. You want to follow like 200 folks to get started. Then unfollow, block, or mute as needed.

You should follow everyone who replied to this post, for example. Since they took the time to offer advice.

As there is no algorithm it's on you to build a personal timeline that you like. And this is the great thing about mastodon.

[notyourfanboy@kolektiva.social]

@anxietynectarr
Server and Instance are mostly interchangeable in this context. They mean the same thing.

[david@social.ofaolain.com]

@anxietynectarr Welcome! I agree with the suggestions about hashtags. Search for a keyword related to an interest you have and follow matching hashtags. You'll also see ones like #SilentSunday or #DogsOfMastodon, which can help to increase posts you see and accounts to follow. You can probably see both a local feed for your server (which is a big one) and a federated feed, which is from all over. Scroll that a bit and follow individual accounts. You'll find your feed gets pretty active.

[curiousmagpie@beige.party]

@anxietynectarr check out @FediTips

[jztusk@mastodon.social]

@nancylwayne @anxietynectarr

Bingo. If you want more in your feed, do more following, of hashtags and other accounts. If you're new, just go add 30 hashtags - some specific, some general, some interests, some geographical.

You posted a drawing, maybe follow #art. When you see an account with a post you like, follow them. You can always unfollow later.

Plus bot accounts can be fun. Here's one I recently added: @Remedios_Varo_Bot

Have fun, and Welcome!

[jztusk@mastodon.social]

@david @anxietynectarr

Just a note that some of the huge servers have turned off their local feeds by default. I think the OP is on the same server as I am, and it's turned off here.

[rdp@hachyderm.io]

@anxietynectarr You're probably hearing this from other folks too, but don't overthink the instance thing. I hung out on the default .social for 5 years before I finally had a reason to jump to something else. You'll know when it's right.

[axolotl1@gaygeek.social]

@anxietynectarr okay so basically different instances have different rules and operate differently. Admins can control which instances and accounts have connections to theirs, preventing everyone on that instance from seeing the other one. You can also block an entire instance. Basically it's all spread out so it's literally impossible to buy fedi. Also you can have a backup of your account on your own computer and use that if you want to change instances or something.

[axolotl1@gaygeek.social]

@anxietynectarr you can also have multiple accounts on multiple instances if you want. There's literally nothing stopping you. @catsalad has an unknown number of accounts and I don't even think she knows how many alt accounts she has.

[axolotl1@gaygeek.social]

@anxietynectarr @catsalad also if you still don't get it you will understand eventually because you'll start seeing a lot of stuff related to it, then when you do get it you'll stop noticing it.

[wannabemystiker@expressional.social]

@anxietynectarr
Also, as you find some interesting people to follow, check who they are following.

[david@social.gamefan.net]

@3janeTA @anxietynectarr Or you can be like me and run your own and be all alone by yourself at least @picklebot loves me

[catsalad@infosec.exchange]

@Axolotl1 @anxietynectarr Welcome to the Fediverse! :3

[waitworry@sakurajima.moe]

@anxietynectarr honestly just hang out long enough and find people you mesh with and you'll become aware of instances where you'll fit in

[alexraffa@mastodon.uno]

@anxietynectarr you see, I am on a different "instance/server" than yours, and still I see your post... This is the magic of fediverse, users/participants do not need be all bunched up in one place....

[cthos@mastodon.cthos.dev]

@anxietynectarr Well @catsalad boosted you so everyone has seen this now...

Welcome! A bunch of other folk have explained the different server bits by now, you're gonna do fine.

[diazona@techhub.social]

@rdp @anxietynectarr Yeah, endorsed - like, for my Fediverse experience, it has been almost completely irrelevant which instance I'm on. (Except that my instance is financially stable, actively maintained, and moderated well enough that others don't generally block it. But there are a lot of instances meeting those criteria.)

If it helps, I personally think of Mastodon instances like email servers: GMail, Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, Proton Mail, Fastmail, Tuta Mail, etc. Some of them have nice (or not-nice) features that others don't, but they all let you do the core thing of sending and receiving email.

[mermaidchaser@mstdn.social]

@anxietynectarr The amount of activity you get is related to what YOU follow, hashtags or accounts, and you can follow or unfollow according to your preferences and interests

[australopithecus@mastodon.social]

@anxietynectarr
If you're familiar with MMOs you can think of it kind of like joining a guild (or clan in some games), where mastodon.social is kinda sorta equivalent to the global chat channel, and what you see in chat depends on your guild.
Some guilds block chat with (defederate from) certain other guilds, some guilds choose not to interact with world chat (defederated from mastodon.social), and some guilds are actually blocked from world chat (defederated by mastodon.social)

[androcat@toot.cat]

@anxietynectarr
Getting off mastodon dot social is generally recommended and migration itself is easy. The problem with mastodon dot social is that it's overly huge and so not really moderated much, which means there's more risk of abuse and ironically also more risk of moderator overreach (because they get a billion reports, most likely they're going to ignore most and then just pick random ones to power trip on)

As you point out, finding a good server is the hard part.

As good a way as any: Once you find people you resonate with, look out for what instances they are from, see if there are patterns. Then maybe have a look at the Code of Conduct for any instances that stand out (if there isn't one, that's bad) and maybe talk to people from there about what it's like. Then reach out to the admin to hear if they have room, and take it from there.