JenMerciecaFriends, I've finally figured out how the CW thing works & now I feel like a total idiot. To save you my embarrassment: click the CW in the text box as you compose & it opens up a headline text box & when your post comes out that's what folks see & they can click through for more.
Also! This was on my desktop. I’m on the app now and the same thing happens when I push the <!> button (exclamation mark) in the compose window. 😍
Jennifer Reitman@jenmercieca I haven't downloaded app yet, is it better/worse/same?
@jenniferreitman honestly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This whole experience is confusing me (end of day 2)
@jenmercieca sigh, me too but I am determined to make it work until something else presents itself.
Sikntyrd54@jenniferreitman @jenmercieca I took me a few hours to figure out that following someone requires the user to click on the person’s photo. I hoped there was an easier way to follow someone other than having to type their user name into the search bar. 💃🏻
Kathy Manelis@jenmercieca @jenniferreitman It’s confusing me too. I only have a <!> on my phone’s app. #howtousemastodon
ylwsunflwergrl 🌻@jenmercieca I was wondering how that works. Thanks for sharing. I think most everyone here is learning and really attempting to make this a welcoming space.
Sarah Fackrell@jenmercieca Thanks! This is good to know.
Megan 
@jenmercieca Thank you for sharing this info!
JHadleyC@jenmercieca Got it. Thanks. Not what I thought at all.
Martin Vermeer FCD@jenmercieca TFW "intuitive" user interfaces aren't. Been there done that...
Rob Garver@jenmercieca Is it your sense that the "headline" can be informative? For example, is "I'm linking to a story about politician X saying controversial thing Y" okay?
I mean, where the details of "Y" are the reason for the CW in the first place?
I'm not sure how much insulation from news is expected here.
@rrgarver I'd maybe do: US POLS and then the actual headline? I'm not sure if every news article requires a CW though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now -> Just "Person X on Topic Y" - or even less & more generic if you can manage it.
** NOT ** the whole headline - for people who don't want to know, it's already too much.
"CW: US Election" is enough for people who are interested - or not.
Think of it as asking for consent. Many of us are here specifically to *not* know certain things.
It can flow past us on the timeline, but CWs mean it's not forced upon us.
(Or gives us time to ready ourselves before opening.)
@Her_Doing @jenmercieca Thank you very much for replying to this. (Apologies in advance for glitches. My interface with this site has been a complete cluster.)
I'm trying to understand who sees what I post. My experience on the birdsite has been that nobody really sees anything I post unless they have made an affirmative decision to do that. Either by following me or tracking a hashtag, etc. etc.
Is it different here? Are my posts landing in front of people who haven't sked to see them?
Hi Rob - by default, your posts are open and will *at least* be seen by anyone on your local instance who happens to be on at that moment, or scrolls back to check.
Hashtags will potentially boost eyes if anyone is interested in your hashtag.
If someone boosts (RTs) your post, it will be seen by all of their followers and everyone on *their* local instance. 1/
If you had wished your convo private, you'll see a globe (probably, or possibly an open padlock) at the bottom of the post field
(Paperclip, poll graph, globe or lock, CW, etc.)
That's where you can change the privacy levels fr open to unlisted (useful for all but the 1st post of a thread), just followers, or private
Does this make sense?
I'm not sure what your settings were; I think someone boosted Jen's post to me / my local, & seeing your post went from there 2/
@Her_Doing @jenmercieca Thank you very much. I appreciate the help in understanding this place.
My pleasure - any time!
I'm sorry if I sound terse -
a) I am *VERY* tired, and
b) 500-character limit and still not enough 😄
I was trying to be helpful without the thread being too long. 😬
But I'm happy to answer questions if I can! 😇
ThisBarbara@rrgarver I really hope not too much insulation from news. That may be a dealbreaker for me
tom4okstate
Ramsey Haddad@jenmercieca Not sure Im understanding. On my phone app, I don't see a "CW".
I did however find a speech bubble with an exclamation mark that does the trick.
I did however find a speech bubble with an exclamation mark that does the trick.
Sarah Dilling@rwzh yes. On the web interface it is two capital letters "CW" and on my Android phone app it is a speech bubble with an exclamation point in the same relative position under the post text area.
Rob Chappell@rwzh @jenmercieca if you are using android app the exclamation mark! Is the CW function
@rwzh ah! you're ahead of me, I've only used this thing on my desktop.
Josh 🏳️🌈⃤
Linda Magid@jenmercieca I would never have figured that out if you hadn't told me. Thanks!
Power-Mad Anarchist
AntiLiz1@jenmercieca Now I’m the idiot—what’s the CW thing?
Gtmlosangeles@jenmercieca you can almost always replace “idiot” with “human” and come up with something far more meaningful and far less ableist.
Someone Somewhere@jenmercieca Thanks for this!
Has anybody else encountered an issue when you click to see who a certain person is following? E.g., if Daniel Kahneman ever joins Mastodon (one may dream!), I would want to follow everyone he follows. But when I click on people’s “Following” tab, I get a spinning circle of death and the list of people never loads.
Am I doing something dumb? Thanks I’m advance!!
@SomeoneSomewhere I think you're only allowed to see the followers if you're on the same server as that account.
@jenmercieca @SomeoneSomewhere
Yes & no - if someone is on a different instance, click on their profile picture & you should be linked there & can see *all* their followers.
Regardless, either way, if you get the circle of death, their server is probably having a hard time - they pretty much all are this week!
Sometimes I'll start the process & have it finally come through five minutes later. 😬
@jenmercieca if using android app the CW can be accessed through the exclamation mark "!"
Oliver Sampson@jenmercieca Very cool feature!
B.E.@jenmercieca what is CW ?
@jenmercieca oh ! content warning- got it.
Wesley Oman (he/him)@jenmercieca thanks for this!
Don Melton@jenmercieca Do not at all feel embarrassed! That's nothing. I didn't even know what "CW" meant until earlier today, let alone how to use it. 
@donmelton @jenmercieca I’ve had to look CW up twice in the past 2 days. Don’t feel bad. 🤦🏻♀️ #howtousemastodon
Bathsheba BlueEverything is easy once you've learned how to do it. 💪
It's the learning part that's tricky. 😳
Alex Palombo@jenmercieca This feature is not only great for sensitive content but tailor made for talking television and movie spoilers.
Phoenix@jenmercieca oh wow! Thx for the hint. 😆
redcirclearmy@jenmercieca Off topic: I've looked and looked but have no "bookmark" icon. How do I access it?
@redcirclearmy try the three little dots at the bottom of the tweet? (on the desktop anyway, I can see the bookmark option)
@jenmercieca thanks, Jen. Yeah, there are no dots or icon on my mobile devises and just tried my desktop which is how I set up address originally but PC now won't recognize address/PW. Hoo-boy.
Susan B.@jenmercieca The CW process is new to many of us, so thanks for figuring it out. Next question: what is the protocol or common understanding as to content that requires a CW? Is this spelled out somewhere you know of?
Penny Stuart@jenmercieca thanks, really useful 👍🏻
@jenmercieca If you ask me this is already getting overused, it's like guessing from the hashtag whether you want to read the post. I can scroll and scan faster than I can click through
Jelaine 🥸@jenmercieca I was Ten Minutes Ago Years Old when I finally realized how to do CW, as well.