sortiusDec 4, 2022

I'm noticing a lot of "I'm bored of Mastodon, I'm going back to #Twitter" posts.

In case they are genuine, here's what I've found works:

⚫ try to post content, not complaints. People want to engage with you, not your gripes

⚫ try to learn. If you're putting in an effort to be part of the community, the community will welcome you

⚫ Try to avoid posting links to tweets, definitely don't cross-post. People want Mastodon content

⚫ Reply! Reply! Reply! Everyone wants to know someone's reading and considering their content, even you

⚫ Don't lurk. Many of us check for a filled out profile, avatars, and posts, before we follow someone back

⚫ Chill. It's a big new world that doesn't serve everything up to you

⚫ Avoid the trap of rebuilding Twitter here

Feel free to link this post to people struggling with Mastodon. It's what I've found works, and may not work for everyone

Show threadEeeee WooooDec 4, 2022

@sortius actually #1 you have to follow a bunch of accounts. Like 1000. Usually those I’ve seen complaining only follow about 50 accounts!

(Edit: this was a response to someone saying they weren’t finding enough engagement on Mastodon. My advice was about how to address that in the easiest way possible for a new user. There were great observations in the other replies and I definitely suggest reading them to learn more about how others use Mastodon. And then do what you like!! Enjoy!)

Show threadsortiusDec 4, 2022

@EeeeWooo yeh, I see low effort being put into following people.

And while that can work if you just want to follow hashtags, it's definitely not the way to tell the community you're here to be part of it

Show threadMark GardnerDec 4, 2022
@sortius @EeeeWooo I saw somewhere that it starts getting good once you’re following at least 200
Show threadElysia MachtDec 6, 2022

@mjgardner @sortius @EeeeWooo I find it fairly difficult to efficiently read in a way where I could engage with people if I follow many more than the 60 or so I'm already now at. If it's 100s, you don't see anyone consistently to KNOW them either.

Tolerance levels vary greatly & I had more than enough to read the first day already.

What I lack is _specific_ content I like & am into if only 2-5 ppl like something & it's not easily to be found here. Specific, not just befriending anybody near.

Show threadMark GardnerDec 6, 2022
@ElysiaMacht I saw a suggestion earlier today to manually curate lists for different circles of friends. Keep your inner circle small so you can see everything, and only dip into your home feed when you want to see the most recent stuff from everyone you’re interested in even if you miss stuff.
@sortius @EeeeWooo
Show threadKatzentratschenDec 6, 2022
@mjgardner @ElysiaMacht @sortius @EeeeWooo I'm following about 200 folks at the moment, and I'd love to follow more. But unlike Twitter it's not possible to read accounts via lists while muting them in your home feed. The latter is the first feed you see every time you open the app and therefore the most important one by design. One should be able to curate it in the same way you can curate lists – or to set a list as home feed instead of default "your followings" feed.
Show threadMark Gardner

@katzentratschen Have you tried simply bookmarking a list on the web?

Also, there is no “the app.” There are many that work with #Mastodon. One may work better for you. This isn’t like Twitter where a single company kneecapped third-party developers by only exposing a restrictive API.

@ElysiaMacht @sortius @EeeeWooo

Dec 6, 2022 at 2:22pmWeb
Show threadKatzentratschenDec 6, 2022
@mjgardner @ElysiaMacht @sortius @EeeeWooo Oh my. The mastosplainers have arrived.