@mastodonmigration @jeffjarvis All Mastodon newbies and wannabes should read this guide; Jeff knows his stuff! I'll add a few more tips:

If you don't know what server to join, check out https://instances.social/ - its default Simple Mode gives you short descriptions of each server, and Advanced Mode tells you what servers are up/down and open/closed, as well as their uptime, etc. Many of the larger instances, like Jeff's new home mastodon.social have been straining under the load of new émigrés - pick a medium-sized server with good uptime. And if you are obsessed with making Twooshes, avoid the servers with 1000 character limits. They are a huge time suck!

I found the official Mastodon app a little restricting. You should try out a good third party app like Tusky: Tusky.app

You can cross post to Twitter from Mammoth using moa.party.

Lastly, Jeff is one of the most incisive journalists I know, but he has terrible taste in backgrounds. Save your eyesight by choosing dark mode!