Piotr Kotnis
Chris TrottierWill people talk to you if you join the Fediverse? Does Twitter kill Mastodon when it comes to interactions?
Let's do a comparison. I crossposted the same message to Twitter and Mastodon.
Twitter: 1 like
Mastodon: 112 boosts, 257 likes
If you're new to Mastodon (and the Fediverse) you might have a lot of questions:
How many followers do I have on Twitter compared to Mastodon? 8,583 followers on Twitter, 1,324 on Mastodon
Are you more notable on Mastodon than on Twitter? No, I'm more notable on Twitter.
Did you do anything special to make people want to interact with you? No.
Is the difference always consistent? Yes, I always get more interaction on Mastodon -- even on small accounts with small instances.
There have been some blue checks on Twitter who claim there's no audience on the Fediverse, so don't bother joining.
However:
1. They're blue checks on Twitter, there's no blue checks on Mastodon
2. Most blue checks haven't actually tried
What Mastodon reveals about Twitter is a big lie: that follower counts is an important metric.
No, it's not.
If you have 1 million followers but no one interacts with you, what does it matter if you have 1 million followers?
When I had 10 followers on this Mastodon account, I had more interactions than I had on Twitter.
On my other accounts, I have more interactions than on Twitter.
Most active users on the Fediverse have more interactions than on Twitter.
By now, you're all probably wondering, "What's the secret sauce to interactions on the Fediverse?"
Three things:
1. Keep posting interesting things
2. Reply to people about interesting things
3. Be generous and friendly
A big mistake a lot of people make when coming to Mastodon is believing their arrival entitles them to conversation.
No, it doesn't.
Fill out your bio. Upload a profile pic. Make an introduction.
LEARN about the people in your home feed!
Further tips to help your interactions on the Fediverse:
1. Read bios. They explain how people want to be approached
2. When in doubt, use a CW. You might think they're stupid, but they're important.
3. Don't go looking for dunks!
When looking to interact on the Fediverse, culture is something *important* to understand.
A big component of the Fediverse community has been LGBT+, furries, the neurodivergent, and tech workers.
These folks have built the Fediverse.
When interacting on the Fediverse, it's important to understand that interactions are not a game.
This isn't about metrics. Yeah, I showed you metrics -- but this isn't about numbers, it's about actual human-to-human (not bot) connections.
Don't be racing to bolster those Fediverse metrics. Nobody here gives a damn about your followers.
What they actually care about is if you're being a genuine human to them.
If they sense bullshit, they'll sod off.
FINALLY: What you get out of the Fediverse largely depends on what you put into it.
There's no shortcuts or cheat codes.
There's no algorithm to play.
There's no ads that will give you more exposure and reach.
This requires effort 😮
Mx Autumn 
@atomicpoet your right, the fediverse requires effort and that can put a lot of people off; I theorise that this is largely because a lot of media has made consumers used to being spoon fed miles of feed they can mindlessly scroll through.
Alex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UKTBH I think any serious collapse of Twitter/Meta etc won't even bring all the normies onto here, they will simply go back to using telephone calls/emails etc or passively consuming linear TV and radio..
bhtooefr@vfrmedia @carbontwelve @atomicpoet also it could easily mean that they just go to yet another siloed corporate social media platform created in the wake - just as MySpace was supplanted by Facebook, Facebook and Twitter can be supplanted by another corporate platform
hell, that platform could even be a silo using an internal, non-federating Mastodon fork - there's at least two of those that have existed, marketing themselves to fascists
hell, that platform could even be a silo using an internal, non-federating Mastodon fork - there's at least two of those that have existed, marketing themselves to fascists
@bhtooefr @atomicpoet @carbontwelve
The young women at my workplace now tend to only use social media for contacting people in small groups they know IRL (extended family, friends) as a substitute for text messaging - they no longer contribute to public areas of social networks as they have already experienced too much harrassment...
@vfrmedia @atomicpoet @carbontwelve ...could mean that Discord or maybe Telegram is what supplants Twitter and Facebook, then, if huge swaths of people are using them as messaging platforms first anyway
@bhtooefr @atomicpoet @carbontwelve
and possibly Signal - most people aren't even that worried about privacy/security, but want easy group chats and don't want to pay 50p a time for sending an MMS (which is what the mobile providers here charge)
Jessica@vfrmedia @carbontwelve @atomicpoet I'm all for this, those websites are absolute trash and actively make the internet a worse place
VysogotaYeap, the veterans have forgotten all about the communities of old -- BBs/IRC/Forums, and the majority have only ever known the global village with an algorithmic feed...
Going back to this would be a long process that will require:
1. Many people leaving social media entirely, and sticking to offline stuff.
2. Weaning people away of the algorithmic fire hose, and getting them used to compact tightly-knit communities, and manually curated personal feeds.
Synth Morxemplum@carbontwelve @atomicpoet you can accomplish that with Mastodon as well if you follow enough people. But people are afraid to leave what they have behind, because using Mastodon is starting over.
Also, no celebrities so why move there? xddddddddddd
Nathalie Tasler@carbontwelve @atomicpoet am new here and after initial "how does this work panic" find it much more relaxing.
Still have to use bird for a couple of work accounts (at least for now) and now struggle to go back there
Laura Deeds - CS prof ++@atomicpoet But you can implement your own feed filter... I think that is a huge plus.
Bird migrating to Mastodon expecting an open-Birdsite will just be disappointed because well, its not the Birdsite.
Matt Stine@atomicpoet it is so fucking refreshing not seeing endless posts about the five strategies I used to gain X followers in Y days.
It's like little viruses telling each other how to virus better.
graeme@atomicpoet i want friends
David 
+"Welcome to sharing your life instead of selling your lifestyle."
Arindam Basu@atomicpoet
Well said.
I too have found very low tolerance of bullshit on #fediverse in general (depending on the instance of course), it's the commons and interests that matter here. Follower counts not that much because you do not know where they come from or what instance are they in. It does not practically matter.
Well said.
I too have found very low tolerance of bullshit on #fediverse in general (depending on the instance of course), it's the commons and interests that matter here. Follower counts not that much because you do not know where they come from or what instance are they in. It does not practically matter.
Jessica. 🦕@atomicpoet
This is the most important point to take away from this thread: Mastodon is about communication and civil discussion, about talking WITH people and not just AT them.
This is the most important point to take away from this thread: Mastodon is about communication and civil discussion, about talking WITH people and not just AT them.
Tim@atomicpoet Sure but is the implication then that only certain folks are welcome? That feels like exclusivity just in the opposite direction. I should say they there are folks that I don't really want on ActivityPub but at the same time, excluding folks removes the ability to change minds.
For better or worse, outright bans seem near impossible anyway - at most it's servers banning other servers, but more practical is people banning people? That's something that's sort of 'built-in' that is both an up and downside depending on the frame of reference. If Orange shows up on here, I'm hoping it's from his own domain where I can just ban the whole thing and call it day.
The other factor here is, at least so far, no servers that I know of are doing the super shady things Twittergrambook are in promoting known divisive content. And it's an important distinction, I think, to someone who means well but is fed known bad information and someone who is truly evil.
For better or worse, outright bans seem near impossible anyway - at most it's servers banning other servers, but more practical is people banning people? That's something that's sort of 'built-in' that is both an up and downside depending on the frame of reference. If Orange shows up on here, I'm hoping it's from his own domain where I can just ban the whole thing and call it day.
The other factor here is, at least so far, no servers that I know of are doing the super shady things Twittergrambook are in promoting known divisive content. And it's an important distinction, I think, to someone who means well but is fed known bad information and someone who is truly evil.
Saphkey 🕊️@atomicpoet
What is a CW, and what is a dunk?
What is a CW, and what is a dunk?
@Saphkey CW = Content Warning.
If you don't know what a dunk is, you're a better person for not knowing.
@atomicpoet Too late! I looked it up.
From what I understand, it is making a post on twitter, but instead of posting it normally- you post it as a re-tweet or as a reply to an already popular tweet.
So that you effectively leech attention from other people's tweets.
@atomicpoet what is a CW?
@graeme CW = Content Warning
Ellenor Bjornsdottir 
@graeme @atomicpoet it's a content warning/subject line. It hides your message behind a clickthrough.
@ellenor @atomicpoet thanks! you’re awesome !
anniemo71@atomicpoet
What is a CW please? 🤔
What is a CW please? 🤔
Christoph Begall@atomicpoet what is a CW?
@atomicpoet non native speaker here: what's a dunk?
Caroline Hoy@drntasler @atomicpoet To me, a dunk is when you try to make someone feel stupid by making a point about their post that makes them look bad. And not because they said something very wrong or stupid, but just to make yourself look good.
It refers to when a really good basketball player “dunks” (jumps up and slams the ball in the hoop) on a worse player. They are showing off.
@ahoycaroline @atomicpoet oh that's very toxic behaviour! And I can see how the basketball reference comes in
Thank you for taking the time to explain I appreciate it 😊
Eelco de Rook@eelco I actually wrote a thread on that. https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109281289317107513
NMWThanks for the tips you've shared in this thread -- they sound quite reasonable.
However, I think I've discovered recently that IDC about people as much as I care about natural language + associated information technology.
For more about this, see (e.g.)
I really need to cross-link even more (since I manage so many sites) #FML (oh, neato! 8 FMLs per week! :P )
BTW: I've read your bio now (I think)
:)
Keram 🥽 🎸@atomicpoet yeah that's a little wierd. Is it more like Reddit?
@keram Not at all.
@atomicpoet people replied to me when i had zero bio, i think the indieweb mastodon is frienly like that
lashman@atomicpoet especially #2, mainly #2 really
Mrs Mouse at work@atomicpoet be friends with your circle to have a circle of friends.
@MrsMouse That's a good tip!
Thomas Knoll 🌊@atomicpoet aka the ol’ Dale Carnegie quote, "To be interesting, be interested."
kennon 
@atomicpoet seems pretty straightforward.
costrike@atomicpoet A place for kindness sounds foreign, but wonderful.
Merle, Queen of Crime@atomicpoet
Well, I can do two of those things
Well, I can do two of those things
Shoq@atomicpoet Back in the day on Twitter, I used to tell new people:
"There are lots of gimmicks around, and you can even buy them, but I recommend you attract new followers the old fashioned way. Be interesting."
Opal@atomicpoet Well now, this just reminds me what a terrible twitter user I was - mostly a lurker who just retweeted things, and then very occasionally got into impenetrable dustups. I think my original account had fewer followers than I acquired here in the last 24 hours, and yet I still managed to have an ex-Prime Minister block me.
Adam Dalliance@atomicpoet Posting on Twitter without a blue-check is basically pointless coz nobody will even see it.
@atomicpoet that's my experience as well, 10 out of 10 times