This is probably a terrible faux pas, and I don't mean to bother everyone, but I clearly still haven't got the hang of this place.

[urban_hermit@mstdn.social]

@AnnieG hey!
You chose to follow me, usually that follows liking something I said or I ended up on a list somewhere.

I looked up your account and saw things that I liked, so I decided to follow you back. I want a chance to see and like or boost things from people who liked my stuff. I follow as many people as possible, so I may not see all conversations everyday, but we are all on the same bus together and sometimes overhear conversations we want to get in on.

Read posts, join when you want.

[hakona@im.alstadheim.no]

@AnnieG What I wrote there does not jibe with the text on the visibility-button, so I'm probably wrong here. Unless the text on that button is a bit misleading ? @Nettlephagus @tuban_muzuru @GhostOnTheHalfShell @lin11c @beandreams @roknrol @Yehuda

[lin11c@toad.social]

@AnnieG @Nettlephagus @tuban_muzuru @GhostOnTheHalfShell @beandreams @roknrol @Yehuda
I see this.

[mazz@mastodon.well.com]

@AnnieG 90% of the replies I get are on posts with hashtags, if that helps. The remaining 10% are from mutuals I know outside of Mastodon.

[urban_hermit@mstdn.social]

@AnnieG I also did a courtesy & boosted your comment, because I may not have all the answers you need, and I thought it was important. Other people who follow me will have a chance to see what I boosted in their 'follows feed', which is the first and main one most people look at everyday.

I also removed that long list of specific people from my response to you. People may mute conversations that get blasted to their notifications that they didn't chose to start participating in. Or block user.

[annieg@mementomori.social]

@mem_somerville
Thanks. It feels a little weird to suddenly be getting answers, but it's nice!

[annieg@mementomori.social]

@beandreams thanks, I've wondered about that, but my thoughts seem so random it's hard to pick hashtags

[anguadelphine@mk.absturztau.be]

@AnnieG@mementomori.social

​​ Hello from mk.absturztau.be.
Here runs Sharkey, a fork of Misskey. Different software so I can't answer your main question.
All my accounts are "Follows Require Appoval" too; sensible these days.

I saw your post as a boost from @garthderby@mstdn.party (hi).

Your instance has one of the most reasonable limited / suspended instance lists i've seen BTW. IE well run.

[annieg@mementomori.social]

@raven667 Ooh, this is almost too much! Thanks for telling me, I'm pretty sure I've never been boosted before. A lot of 'firsts' today...

[urban_hermit@mstdn.social]

@AnnieG oh, and if you don't see much variety to try and get in on, you can look at different feeds. My default is 'follows', but I can go out to 'local' which is everybody on the same server but will include people I don't follow, and 'Global' which includes everybody my server accepts posts from, more of whom I might not be following yet.

The server admins are mostly volunteers & will block some servers for letting hate speech or spam accounts last to long. They deserve an occasion donation.

[pixysjourney@beige.party]

@AnnieG
I see this Toot due to a friend boosting it.
AFAIK, quiet public means that it won't be visible to everyone when you share it. So that could be why not many people interact with your toots, because they've not been able to easily see them on their time lines.
@FediTips has a lot of info on their website about all the settings and how the affect your visibility. While I may not have all the answers, I am almost sure that Fedi Tips will have many questions you may have already answered on their site!
Hope this helps.

[beandreams@friendhole.social]

@AnnieG Relatable

[urban_hermit@mstdn.social]

@AnnieG other people make far better and more technical guides than I can, and I am sure you will eventually read them... but honestly, it is much more like sitting on a bus full of friends and neighbors, and sometimes you just join conversations in progress and give them a courtesy boost.

And if you want to make sure all your followers see your last comment in a post, because it was clever and you know some would like to join in, give your own comment a boost too.

[annieg@mementomori.social]

As I read it, quiet public posts only appear in timelines of one's followers, but they're not hidden. I think that might mean they could be found floating in the vast sea of live feeds (which means effectively "invisible") but I have no idea. Being in the US while fascism is taking hold, I'm leery of public posting ...

[nettlephagus@mementomori.social]

@tuban_muzuru @GhostOnTheHalfShell @lin11c @beandreams @roknrol @Yehuda @AnnieG hi there

[annieg@mementomori.social]

@Urban_Hermit thanks, that all makes sense! I do go out and explore the live feeds - it's like the deep ocean instead of the kiddie pool; interesting, but you can drown there... It's nice to try to build a diverse little 'community' pond, but it's been slow.

[urban_hermit@mstdn.social]

@AnnieG this self boosting doesn't force it into their notifications, like adding their user name does to a conversation, but does add it to their 'following feed', which is always a sample.

People who don't like my boosts don't want to follow me.

So read what you like, boost if you want your followers to have a chance to read it, and favorite things for any reason. Comment on posts freely, generally supportively. Boost your comments too if you'd like more people in on this, more visibility.

[annieg@mementomori.social]

Thanks. I'd be REALLY worried if you didn't, bc it would mean I'm even more clueless than I thought about how things work here!

[bluedot@left-bank.net]

@AnnieG

If you want to post something that lots of people see, but you don't want the fascists to identify you, consider using the Tor Browser to set up and use an anonymous account. Then your posts don't lead back to you, even if the server is compromised.

[olivernoble@mastodon.world]

@AnnieG
Hi, I saw your post after it was boosted by your followers @Urban_Hermit