Shaun 💬Nov 21, 2022
Pssst. Is anyone out there? Trying to find ways to stay optimistic about my experience here on #Mastodon but little momentum gained thus far.
Show threadChristopherNov 22, 2022

@mralwayswrite Use more hashtags! #Hashtag #all #the #things! Then actually follow the hashtag links on your posts to see who else is talking about the things you want to talk about!

Check out #hockey (#Leafs? #Habs? #Sens? Gods, not the #Bruins, I hope), and #marvel, #mcu, or #spiderman, to start.

You're into #branding? Check out #marketing! And are you into any other #sports? I hear there's some #soccer (#football) happening right now.

Also, as a writer, you seem to be on a good server. Check out the local timeline there and see what your fellow wordsmiths are spitting out.

Follow people liberally. Especially people who boost/reshare a lot. Then follow people who get introduced to your timeline via those reshares, if they look interesting.

Also, unfollow people freely. If someone's filling your timeline with noise, you don't need 'em. Life's noisy enough!

And if there's a topic you're into, and you feel it's underrepresented here, be the pioneer. As a freelancer, you're used to seeing and seizing opportunities like that. And the land is fertile here right now. If things grow and become strong, you have a chance to be a foundational voice in this space for those areas.

By making heavy use of hashtags.

Show threadShaun 💬
@Kichae I really appreciate you taking the time to share this, that's all really solid advice and guidance.
I'll have to re-think #hashtag use on #Mastodon, as I'm jaded from how they have become increasingly ineffective on other platforms like #Twitter or #Facebook. Good nudge there, thanks.
Big time sports fan, especially #hockey (and NEVER the #Bruins, as I'm a #MapleLeafs and #Blackhawks fan).
Coincidentally, I just published a #WorldCup article all about hashtags!
Nov 22, 2022 at 1:47amWeb
Show threadShaun 💬Nov 22, 2022
@Kichae the length of your post also got me thinking that I need to allow myself to realize we're not as limited in that regard here.
That said, it seems I ran out of space long before you did. Do you have access to longer posts?
Show threadChristopherNov 22, 2022

@mralwayswrite At least for the time being, hashtags are *super* effective here. Mastodon won't let you search the body text of a post, only hashtags. This is, in theory at least, to help make people only as discoverable as they want to be.

And yes, some servers are running modified versions of Mastodon, which have tweaks such as higher character limits, differences in how media is handled/displayed, formatting options (markdown, HTML tags, etc.), or even the ability to flag posts to only be visible to users using that server ("local only" posting).

Hell, some people are using completely different platforms, which have radically different sets of limitations. If you've ever wished you could have the conversations of Twitter, but the interface of Facebook, that's a thing you can do here (via Friendica servers, e.g. https://venera.social/). Or if you're an electro-cyber teen who's never grown up (and also maybe always identified closely with cats?), there are platforms that interoperates with Mastodon for you, too (see Misskey, CalcKey, e.g. https://kitty.social).

There's a lot to take in 'round here if you're willing to let your eyes bleed.

Home | venera.social 🍀

Show threadShaun 💬Nov 22, 2022
@Kichae have already started to take in a lot more than I had been initially, thanks to people like you engaging on that post of mine, and it's been great.
Hoping the momentum continues, for all!