Mastodon•ART 🎨 Curator

General advice for people coming over from Twitter and Instagram regarding hashtags:

Hashtags are a useful and important tool here. Clicking on a hashtag will show you results from across different servers, so they're important for federating content and finding people.

There's no need to have loads of tags on your post like Insta to try to catch more engagement, but also you won't be punished for using tags like Twitter.

(cont)

Apr 30, 2022 at 8:48amWeb
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorNov 13, 2022

Using one general tag (like # MastoArt or Photography)and 1-2 topic-specific tags (like # blender3d or krita) on your posts is enough.

We specifically don't like you using tags that don't belong on your content in order to try to get more views; that's not how mastodon works. If people click a caturday tag, they want to see cats.

We also have more granular tags that serve specific functions, like the #CuratorPrompts tag is only for art directly related to those prompts.

(cont)

Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorNov 13, 2022

For accessibility reasons, if you're stringing words together into hashtags, please use CamelCase (where the first letter of each word is uppercase), and include articles - so ACupOfSoup rather than ACupofSoup. This helps people with things like dyslexia, and also some screenreaders that will try to read the whole thing as one word without the separation with uppercase.A^.^

(Also, don't assume people don't know about hashtags and tag their posts in replies for discoverability. Ask first.)

Show threadJoao Nov 13, 2022
@Curator I’m a fan of #camelCase since I started programming. It just leaves everything much more readable.
Show threadteledyn 𓂀Nov 13, 2022

@Curator

For what it's worth, my text-to-voice (android) does a pretty impressive job reading #wordsruntogether — oh sure, some strings are a puzzle, but it #WorksMoreOftenThanNot.

My app (Tusky) also offers completions for tags that are most often all lower case.

Show threadGeraldo Fernández, MLIS (OLD)Nov 13, 2022
@Curator I was so anti CamelCase in a coding context, but this makes perfect sense, appreciate the heads up about this!
Show threadDarth BiomechNov 18, 2022
@Curator I wanted to ask, are tags case-sensitive? GameArt and gameart counting as a different tags?
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorNov 18, 2022
@darth_biomech no, they'll be the same tag :)
Show threadDarth BiomechNov 18, 2022
@Curator Ithink it would be nice if there was a parser that would also discard "_" and "-" from the tags to further help to minimize tag confusion, but IDK if this is possible... or a good idea.
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorNov 18, 2022
@darth_biomech Ah, I can't remember which one it is but one of those makes it count as a different tag entirely XD
Show threadeishiyaMar 28, 2023

@Curator Tags in replies don't really help anyway - it'll be the reply that shows up in those tags, not the original post, and most people will probably not click through.

So, if you'd like to suggest tags for someone,
1. Ask!
2. Make your post Unlisted so that it doesn't appear in the tags you list.

Show threadFitness Foundry (Coach Julio)Nov 13, 2022

@Curator I really appreciate the tips to make sure all are able to enjoy Mastodon.

I am learning the basics to make my posts inclusive and accessible. Mucho gracias.

Show threadProtozoaPrincessNov 13, 2022
@Curator this is a relief! I’ve always found it tedious adding a pile of hashtags to every instagram post.
Show threadcascolyJan 9, 2023
@protozoaprincess @Curator
i just keep an xlsx that has my commonly used hashtags - eg for animals, ai art, mountaineering, travel, etc. so it's just cutNpaste
Show threadSimon CampbellNov 13, 2022
@Curator Great advice. Thanks for heads up and explanations on all things #hashtag
Show threadMark Fixes StuffNov 13, 2022
@Curator thank you for this. I tend to do this anyway but it’s really good to know it’s not just me that benefits from it?
Show threadMar del ValleNov 24, 2022

@Curator Hi! Firstly, thank you always for all your hard work 💜

That said, and reading this thread, I wanted to ask you if sensitive content tags are still in use. I mean, I always try to use descriptive CW when my illustrations show nudity, blood, etc., and besides I also use those tags on the toot so that people who filter those tags can filter the post. Is that still ok? Or is one method more recommendable than the other?

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorNov 24, 2022
@mardelvallearts That's still the way ^.^ Tags help people *entirely* filter content they don't want to see, and CWings help people engaging in their own time, at their own speed, for when they *do* want to engage but maybe not immediately
Show threadMar del ValleNov 24, 2022
@Curator Perfect, that's reassuring, thank you so much 💜
Show threadKanreiApr 30, 2022
@Curator Wait Twitter punishes one when using tags? How so? :o
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorApr 30, 2022
@kanrei I'm not exactly sure, I've just seen people mentioning it - it's some icky thing in their algorithm, like if you use too many tags, or if you use the 'wrong' tags somehow.
Show threadGigawatt121Nov 15, 2022
@Curator @kanrei huh. Never knew that
Show threadKarvMay 6, 2022

@kanrei @Curator Twitter will indeed demote posts that have hashtags in them.

The only reason to ever use hashtags in twitter is for trends, but things like #art are never trending on twitter, trends are just for specific unique things and not wide categories.

Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorMay 6, 2022
@Karv @kanrei Yeah someone else explained further down :(
Show threadcascolyJan 9, 2023
@Karv @kanrei @Curator I always use relevant hashtags and get RT & follows from those hashtags. eg bird images, ai Art, etc
Show threadTashApr 30, 2022
@Curator Fantastic. I hate the hashtag spam on Instagram. All it does is to feed the bots.
Show threadRebekahWSDApr 30, 2022
@Curator I had no idea hashtags here were across...all the servers.
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorApr 30, 2022
@RebekahWSD Yeah! Well - across all the federated servers :) You won't see results from instances we've blocked, or who have blocked us.
Show threadRebekahWSDApr 30, 2022
@Curator Still very good to know my cat photos see more than just social!
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorApr 30, 2022
@RebekahWSD Everyone must see the kitties!
Show threadRebekahWSDApr 30, 2022
@Curator Kitties are deeply important and good, so they tell me every single day! <3
Show threadKateNov 9, 2022
@RebekahWSD KITTIES! 
Show threadMack DervishApr 30, 2022
@Curator
Got it. Thanks.
Show threadKennyNov 15, 2022
@Curator Good point. I'm still trying to figure this all out and trying to decide if I need different servers/identities for my different interests. Will hashtags work across blocked/restricted servers....for example like the recent change wrt mastodon.social ?
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorNov 15, 2022
@kenny If they're silenced, you'll see hashtags from people you follow. If an instance is blocked, you won't see *anything*. Otherwise, hashtags are visible across all servers ^.^
Show threadKennyNov 15, 2022
@Curator Thanks. Got it.
Show threadWolfNov 16, 2022
@Curator Thank you for the information! I usually try to only use 2-3 tags on a post already so luckily I think I should be okay.
Show thread🌈 DanaDec 29, 2022
@Curator What would be the most appropriate tags that I can use if I'm looking for a resource? Say a photographer/regular user who took photos of a place/thing?
Show threadMastodon•ART 🎨 CuratorDec 29, 2022
@dana_cz You can try #ArtistWanted - or tag me and I'll boost :)
Show thread🌈 DanaDec 29, 2022
@Curator Thank you, much appreciated! 😊