tenspdNov 15, 2022

I feel like the instanced nature of this platform is so difficult to get used to. I have been spending more time here the last few days hoping it will 'click'

I appreciate the uncurated energy of Masto, but also don't have a lot of purpose for a traditional blog roll these days.

What am I missing? Or am I getting it and it's just not the platform for me?

Show threadEasy
@tenspd might take some time, but it does sound like it might not be for you. From what I've observed, this is a microblogging site without a centralized "government" or algorithms to drive your content feed, so the onus is on you for your content. Requires much more work upfront and more interaction
Nov 15, 2022 at 1:54amWeb
Show threadtenspdNov 15, 2022

@juddium I don't disagree that it's a totally different mindset to use this site. I think a different initial instance may have set up a better first impression perhaps.

I'm struggling to find interests and like-minded folks due to plaintext searches not existing and not everyone tags their stuff

I like the idea of Mastodon, and wanted very much to figure it out. I just suppose I don't see how it fits into my personal content i/o. That is disappointing, but it is what it is.

Show threadEasyNov 15, 2022
@tenspd initial instance certainly makes or breaks your first impressions, but fortunately you can migrate to another instance if the one you chose isn't what you're looking for. What you could do is search a tag (even though not everyone is tagging that content), see what instance some of the folks are posting from, then go to that instance and look over its timeline to see if it has the content you're looking for. If so, you can migrate. It's likely it'll be federated with similar interests
Show threadtenspdNov 15, 2022

@juddium so not to be that girl, but that's the method I've been trying to use. Sort of find communities by finding people talking about tags. Unfortunately a lot of my interests don't seem to have much of or any foothold that I can find.

Indie music, chiptune, queerpunk. Blaseball. Fighting games. Tekken. All dead tags :/

Show threadEasyNov 15, 2022
@tenspd ah, sorry for assuming! Given how small the platform is, I'd go out on a limb and say there probably aren't enough people on it yet. I have seen some of those here and there on my federated timeline; for the gaming ones you could check out one or two of the gaming servers and see if anyone knows/plays; I know there are some queer servers that might have queerpunk content. One final option is firing up your own server, but adoption is slow and niche atm
Show threadEasyNov 15, 2022
@tenspd one final thought, this convo is the reason boosting is so important. Because there's no algorithm or centralized server the way people find other people is through boosted posts; you are your own algorithm, and your followers will come across content they might like because you boosted the post. It's certainly waaaay slower than the bird site for tracking down content, but it's much more organic and pure than trusting a corporation to decide what you want