Scott MatterElectronic mail is so confusing. Why do I need to choose a provider and how do I even decide? And once I have an address, how do I find my friends’ addresses and send them letters? Will I only be able to send letters to people using the same provider?
Vilhelm Rothe@scottmatter I just learned that even if someone uses a particular hashtag, I can only see their toot, if someone from my instance follows that person, otherwise it will never appear to me. That at least makes the choice of instance more important, even if it's relatively painfree to move instance.
lazysupper 🍂🍁 salguod, man@vilhelmr @scottmatter I see hashtags from all over the fediverse when I click on them. You only see toots on your instance?
pillarist@lazysupper @vilhelmr @scottmatter I believe hashtags work the same way all posts work: it's contingent on what your local server knows about, which is determined by the union of accounts followed by the local instance's population, and then if there are any relays being added in.
"Also, it only shows posts that are visible to your server anyway, it is not pulling posts in purely on the basis of the hashtag."
https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-advanced-tips/#FollowingHashtags
Steve Yelvington@pillarist @lazysupper @vilhelmr @scottmatter
This tells me that a group bot is a more effective way of building a focused community discussion than a hashtag.
@steve @lazysupper @vilhelmr @scottmatter I think...maybe? Mostly yes? Some of the group bots I have seen come with a lot of "reply-all" posts, as well as outright spam that may disincentivize followers. For communities that prefer more anonymity, group bots have large lists in ways that individual subscriptions to hashtags don't?