this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2023
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Okay, so I never used Twitter but figured I'd give Mastodon a try.
But what do you even do there? Is it just a place where you wait for specific people to shout into the void? And then what?
Also how do I even find interesting subjects or people to follow?
Twitter/microblogging is a weird thing in general but you seem to have the idea. It can be useful for following events or people who write interesting things.
Mastodon hashtags are the way to discover conversations and people to follow, they go across instances in search.
Those words don't make sense to someone new to this
I feel like twitter has been around long enough that people that want to use a platform like it will be aware of the concept of a hashtag for finding posts on a topic, etc.
@freecandy @nick I understood the "weird thing in general" part ...
If you know how to use Twitter, then you aren't "new to this".
The person said they never used twitter
Shit. You're right. That's what happens when you comment on stuff right after rolling out of bed.
Lol I totally empathize with you!
Basically I use mastodon as a feed for entertaining shit that I can easily interact with. I follow a bunch of artists and comedians. I scroll down and am entertained. If I want to be extra nice, I leave a comment and tell the artist they are super cool. People usually reply back, which is nice!
And because it is part of the fediverse, you can follow people from all kinds of apps! It's pretty cool :)
Sometimes it's useful following specific projects or organizations you're interested in to be notified when anything interesting is going on. In a way similar to an RSS feed I suppose
Whats an RSS feed?
Essentially a web feed to have a single timeline from multiple sources. Think of it as Google News but you manually choose the sources and it's chronological.
One of the best things the web has to offer
They are also RSS feeds by default, just append .rss to the back of the profile address and add to your feed reader. For example, to tune into Elvira Mistress of the Dark in your rss reader the link would be:
https://universeodon.com/@TheRealElvira.rssWe need this for Lemmy communities.
I just love the fact that Mark Ruffalo is using Mastodon
@Cuteblooded @Troll I just follow a bunch of people and hashtags. Anybody suggests following something or someone I do. It's easy to unfollow if you end up not liking the content from someone or some hashtag.
@Cuteblooded @Troll You can find topics using hashtags (#).
https://fedi.tips/
@Cuteblooded @Troll Start here: https://fedi.tips/
@Cuteblooded @Troll shout into the void... Or voice an opinion... If enough of us voice an opinion it might change things... the alternative is keeping silent and that is not mentally healthy
I always had the same issue the few times I tried to use mastodon and twitter.
@Cuteblooded @Troll just keep posting and follow some interesting people you'll get it
@Cuteblooded @Troll I found that posting about stuff that interests me, following bright people who respond, and using hashtags is not a bad way to start. And check the local feed and the fedi feed from time to time to find new people to interact with.
#welcome
@Cuteblooded absolutely wild that I'm reading your lemmy post on mastodon as we speak
Yes?
You can also shout into the void yourself. Eventually somebody might notice and reply.
You can watch the local or federated timelines and if someone says something interesting you can follow them and reply. Or you if you get linked from elsewhere to a good post you can follow the author. Or you can see a list of popular hashtags (or look up a hashtag) and see posts in them, or post to them.
What else is there supposed to be to do there?
@Cuteblooded @Troll
https://mstdn.social/@feditips/110827772311097668
@Cuteblooded Assuming the instance you joined is some kind of community that you’re a part of, check out the Local feed. Other people on your server may show you some good stuff and/or be worth following.
@Cuteblooded For starters, hashtags seem to be a bigger deal here than on Twitter. You can follow hashtags for their themed content, or just search them to find people to follow. And if you hashtag your posts by category, people will actually notice.
@Cuteblooded ahhah, if you stare into the void, the void stares back at you. (just reposted your lemmy post to the void/mastodon 😅)