From what I understand about Mastodon now, the more people I follow, the better chances I have to find discussions I'm interested in.
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Hashtags are a big help.
@justbob @iwritelike yep, follow hashtags in addition to accounts!
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@footsteps @iwritelike The same creator of Fedi Follows also has a list of servers based on topics on the Fedi Garden website. Finding users on those servers could be a start.
I highly recommend following @FediFollows anyway because they often post accounts based on topics. If you scroll through their page you might find something you like.
@stephaniepixie @footsteps @FediFollows What a treasure! Thank you so much for sharing the link!
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From what I understand about Mastodon now, the more people I follow, the better chances I have to find discussions I'm interested in. Not that it's a complete Catch-22, but it’s certainly hard to start discovering things when your following list is quite short. Does anyone have recommendations from the world of literature, science, or art?
@iwritelike I made two starter packs with artists totaling 186 account between both, here are
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@iwritelike I made two starter packs with artists totaling 186 account between both, here are
@hashraydamon Thank you so much for sharing this!
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From what I understand about Mastodon now, the more people I follow, the better chances I have to find discussions I'm interested in. Not that it's a complete Catch-22, but it’s certainly hard to start discovering things when your following list is quite short. Does anyone have recommendations from the world of literature, science, or art?
@iwritelike I don’t know if you also want others to find you, but it helps to have an intro post (with the hashtag # intro) pinned at the top of your profile.
You already have info in your bio which is great. Just elaborate a bit on that in the intro post with relevant hashtags for your interests (like the ones you included in this post).
Many people in the Fediverse boost intro posts because we all know this is the best way to find mutuals.
Also, for some servers the pinned posts are the only posts that show up on a profile if your server is muted (mastodon.social has some major moderation issues so some people have reduced your server’s visibility to avoid harassment or bots).If in the future you move to a smaller server that pinned post might also be the only post people see because their server hasn’t yet federated with your server.
So don’t fret if an account looks empty or only shows your posts they’ve interacted with (it doesn’t necessarily mean they are fixated on only your account which is what I thought when I was new to mastodon), this just means the two servers haven’t yet been introduced and need more interactions. That’s why some people’s profile photos only show up once you follow them.
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@jztusk No, I've never followed that many! I initially thought the fewer I followed, the easier it would be to sort through my feed. I'll try that, because right now my feed feels both alien and deserted at the same time.
Thank you!Yeah, it's definitely different from other social media, where they're eager to show you stuff to keep you on their app. Here you have to actively "ask" for stuff.
It's like doing topiary: first you gotta do some wild growth, then you go and cut it back to what you want.
And don't be afraid to cut, esp. if you follow sometime very generic, like # art. I'm not into video game fan art, so I just mute acc'ts that post that into my timeline. Nothing personal, I'm just not into it
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@justbob Thank you! That's what I thought, but I was apparently doing it wrong. I used the search box and it gave very limited results. I've just discovered that clicking on tags in posts gives more and better results, hence the tags in my post. Now I can click my own tags and, hopefully, find something interesting!
@iwritelike @justbob@kolektiva.social
Search is, uh, a work in progress on Mastodon. There are so many servers, and not all of them index their posts, so it's best not to depend on it. But it looks like you've gotten a lot of good suggestions!
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From what I understand about Mastodon now, the more people I follow, the better chances I have to find discussions I'm interested in. Not that it's a complete Catch-22, but it’s certainly hard to start discovering things when your following list is quite short. Does anyone have recommendations from the world of literature, science, or art?
check out the whole server I’m on!
@iwritelike -
Yeah, it's definitely different from other social media, where they're eager to show you stuff to keep you on their app. Here you have to actively "ask" for stuff.
It's like doing topiary: first you gotta do some wild growth, then you go and cut it back to what you want.
And don't be afraid to cut, esp. if you follow sometime very generic, like # art. I'm not into video game fan art, so I just mute acc'ts that post that into my timeline. Nothing personal, I'm just not into it
@jztusk @iwritelike
yes, you don't have to follow people, following topic hashtags will bring all kinds of people straight to you! -
@jztusk @iwritelike
yes, you don't have to follow people, following topic hashtags will bring all kinds of people straight to you!@traecer @jztusk @iwritelike I would add that the folks you're already following, take a look at the hashtags /they/ use, those tags most likely will bring in posts from accounts you also want to follow.
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From what I understand about Mastodon now, the more people I follow, the better chances I have to find discussions I'm interested in. Not that it's a complete Catch-22, but it’s certainly hard to start discovering things when your following list is quite short. Does anyone have recommendations from the world of literature, science, or art?
Don't kniw if you're aware, but you can follow hashtags, not just people. That way your home feed is populated by all your favorite topics.
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From what I understand about Mastodon now, the more people I follow, the better chances I have to find discussions I'm interested in. Not that it's a complete Catch-22, but it’s certainly hard to start discovering things when your following list is quite short. Does anyone have recommendations from the world of literature, science, or art?
@iwritelike @quietmarc You’ve made a good start with those hashtags. Simply follow them to view posts sharing those hashtags and follow anyone who seems interesting. And follow any other hashtags they might be using. Also just start typing a hashtag and see what suggestions come up. It’s all very organic.
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@iwritelike @quietmarc You’ve made a good start with those hashtags. Simply follow them to view posts sharing those hashtags and follow anyone who seems interesting. And follow any other hashtags they might be using. Also just start typing a hashtag and see what suggestions come up. It’s all very organic.
@iwritelike @quietmarc And I’ve just noticed the other 400000 people saying the same thing. Lol.
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@jztusk @iwritelike
yes, you don't have to follow people, following topic hashtags will bring all kinds of people straight to you! -
@traecer @jztusk @iwritelike I would add that the folks you're already following, take a look at the hashtags /they/ use, those tags most likely will bring in posts from accounts you also want to follow.
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@iwritelike @quietmarc And I’ve just noticed the other 400000 people saying the same thing. Lol.
@andymoose @quietmarc
It's still helpful! First of all, new information sticks better with repetition
. Plus, I treat every reply as a thread to the larger world of Mastodon where I can discover more accounts. So thank you very much for your reply! -
Don't kniw if you're aware, but you can follow hashtags, not just people. That way your home feed is populated by all your favorite topics.
@MissGayle Thank you! I think I'll do just that from now on. I was afraid it would clutter my feed with unrelated posts, as I've noticed that sometimes tags don't really match the content. But I'm willing to give it a try
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check out the whole server I’m on!
@iwritelike@clew Thank you! As soon as I figure out how to do this, I will
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@gptreb Thank you! This sounds really helpful and promising.
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@iwritelike I don’t know if you also want others to find you, but it helps to have an intro post (with the hashtag # intro) pinned at the top of your profile.
You already have info in your bio which is great. Just elaborate a bit on that in the intro post with relevant hashtags for your interests (like the ones you included in this post).
Many people in the Fediverse boost intro posts because we all know this is the best way to find mutuals.
Also, for some servers the pinned posts are the only posts that show up on a profile if your server is muted (mastodon.social has some major moderation issues so some people have reduced your server’s visibility to avoid harassment or bots).If in the future you move to a smaller server that pinned post might also be the only post people see because their server hasn’t yet federated with your server.
So don’t fret if an account looks empty or only shows your posts they’ve interacted with (it doesn’t necessarily mean they are fixated on only your account which is what I thought when I was new to mastodon), this just means the two servers haven’t yet been introduced and need more interactions. That’s why some people’s profile photos only show up once you follow them.
@stephaniepixie Oh, what a guide! Thank you so much! It answered so many of my questions. I did notice all those things you mentioned, including the accounts that looked empty, which made me think there was no reason to follow them, and the changing profile photos.
Everything is so new and intricate here. Your reply is a real treasure!
