Here's a reminder that you can block hashtags on Mastodon. I'm pretty consistent about tagging politics, typically with USpol or ScottPolitics or both, but also topical tags such as IranWar2026 and POTUS47. If you don't want to see those types of toots, then I encourage you to block them.
I don't CW all generic politics posts. This topic too much to fully explain in 500 chars, but short version: I use CW for spoilers and topics that are commonly trauma-triggering.
I suspect a spambot when I get a new follow where it looks like I've had no previous interaction with them (replying, liking, or retooting, in either direction). It's more suspicious when their bio is blank and they haven't made any toots.
There are many issues with microblogging on topics that are controversial, uncertain, and on which I have unclear, contradictory, or nuanced opinions.
If you can't easily reduce your thoughts to 500 characters, should you just remain silent, or try your best & hope people will consider your writing in good faith?
Ah, good faith — there's the rub! How many will take what you write and form the most unfair interpretation of it, aka a strawman?
@OlivierGuinart Update: I forgot that there is a search function now that actually works pretty decently.
In the search box, type:
from:<your username> keywords
I was able to find my post from June 2024 that way. Yippee.
The lack of a real search function on Mastodon strikes again. I'd like to post an update today on a Toot I made 6+ months ago, but of course I can't find it. I'll probably have to download my Mastodon archive and dig through it if I really want to find it.
As a creative solution, I have been "indexing" my posts with hashtags that start with Scott, which my pal @OlivierGuinart noticed and playfully poked fun at one day. It's a good but imperfect solution.
I missed my 2nd year Mastodon Anniversary (Dec 16), but I will celebrate it now.
Here's hoping 2025 will bring Melon Husk the disappointment he deserves.
It's been 0 Days since the Mastodon search capability has disappointed me.
I've had "Include public posts in search results" turned on for months now, but at least on my instance, it doesn't seem to find anything more than two days old. To verify, I've tried several words that are in toots from 3 to 14 days old, and none of them hit.
#Tootfinder appears to be down at the moment, but only covers ~3 months IIRC.
Scott Miller 🇺🇦 🇺🇸