Derek Powazek 🐐

One piece of advice for people new to #mastodon: follow capriciously. People are interesting! You lose nothing by following anyone who posts something you like. And then: unfollow just as quickly. Seriously. Nobody cares. You are creating a stream of things you're giving your attention to. You don't owe anyone your attention.

Follow fast, unfollow faster. Make this place a place you wanna be.

Dec 12, 2022 at 5:54pmWeb
Show threadtswan Dec 12, 2022

@fraying “unfollow faster” is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle. I followed a few too many accounts in the past week and before I knew it was feeling overwhelmed—I did a lot of cleanup today and things are much better.

I’ve also found disabling boosts helps me hear from people I’m interested in but don’t quite want the “full” experience from — it’s another great tool to curate your timeline!

Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 12, 2022

@tswan Yeah. It's funny how, even after all these years, people are STILL so scared of unfollowing. They don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

I also turned off boosts. To me, they just feel like ads. I wish Masto wasn't so stubbornly opposed to QTs - they're just boosts with added context. I want to know WHY someone I followed boosted that post.

Show threadAdam Gessaman Dec 12, 2022
@fraying @tswan Agreed. I wish there was a way to turn off boosts in my home feed and keep them in lists. Then again, I just had to unfollow someone for boosting NSFW cartoon furry porn. So maybe losing all boosts wouldn't be bad.
Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 12, 2022
@adam @tswan You can turn them off per user on their profile page, fwiw. I also wish I could toggle them on or off from Home, or maybe visit a page that's JUST boosts from people I follow, when I feel like hearing from new people. But they feel like an intrusion in my Home stream.
Show threadBrian HawthorneDec 12, 2022
@fraying @adam @tswan I find that people I follow tend to boost in spurts (I know I do!) so if someone is in the midst of a boost spurt, I just mute them for 30 minutes.
Show threadTimDec 28, 2022
@adam @fraying @tswan look unless it’s legit & a high quality people don’t get involved in the NSFW keep in mind if they won’t leave you alone their fraudulent especially if they do not know you or get pushy
Show threadTimDec 28, 2022
@adam @fraying @tswan I understand how annoying getting spammed by NSFW if you feel uncomfortable tell them to stop otherwise take action
Show threadBrian HawthorneDec 12, 2022
@fraying @tswan On Mastodon, if you reply to a post, your reply will show up to your followers without having to explicitly boost the post. That’s the preferred method to increase conversation. If I have the urge to boost, but I want to add context, I just reply publicly to everyone. That both adds to the conversation on the original post and makes the conversation available to people who follow me. I think this is a wiser approach than quote boosts would be.
Show threadMMSDec 13, 2022
@fraying @tswan So in agreement with you on the QTs! Perspective is important, and
brings nuance and insight to pre-existing content. Boosting is, in a way, an act of curation. And it's not a bad thing to think about trying to justify these choices -- if only in order to figure out one's own thoughts.
Show threadHollieKDec 13, 2022
@fraying @tswan It feels difficult to unfollow, because it seemed to be such a big deal elsewhere, and it was tantamount to hurting people's feelings. Here it's different, but it takes a while to adjust. I still find it harder to unfollow than to follow, but I'm getting better at asking myself what I want to see in my timeline.
Show threadAnnyaDec 28, 2022
@fraying @tswan I’ve unfollowed a few accounts that just littered my TL with way too many posts I had no interest in.
I also like the WHY as it relates to QTs. Another feature I’d really appreciate is link previews (I like visual too). Or at least accounts providing more info on the link they share.
Show threadPeter ButlerDec 12, 2022
@fraying Following fast is easy. Unfollowing faster is the hard part.
Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 12, 2022
@peterbutler Why is it hard? What would make it easier?
Show threadachinatigerDec 13, 2022
@peterbutler @fraying how does one follow fast here? The pull-down menu seems to have every option but follow or am I just being dense?
Show threadPeter ButlerDec 13, 2022
@achinatiger @fraying I wasn't very clear. By "follow fast," I mean follow lots of people somewhat indiscriminately to fill up your timeline.
Show threadCraisianAmericanDec 12, 2022
@fraying Excellent advice!
Show threadHughsterDec 12, 2022
@fraying The thing is, this is something everyone used to do on Birdsite for years without complaint until The Algorithm came along and made all those decisions for us. It would simply suppress accounts you followed that it didn't think kept you engaged, and you'd end up following thousands but only seeing a handful regularly—so it's more like rediscovering the past than learning something new.
Show threadSpencer DaileyDec 12, 2022
@fraying absolutely found this to be true, and has led to electric chats for me like this https://journa.host/@spencerdailey/109298056446949504 . But also, if you want to use the Lists feature on mastodon (which i'm leaning on a lot personally), you must follow someone before being able to add them to any particular list
Spencer Dailey (@[email protected])

@[email protected] omg, someone else knows about witcoin (much less one of the first people i met on mastodon 🤯)?! I hope mizerydearia is doing ok, the last irc communication i had with dearia (10 y ars ago), they were fighting a flea infestation in their apartment and were pretty down :/ - I'd love to reconnect but not sure how to. And yeah, this kind of microtransaction-driven community is a cool concept that seems to struggle past a certain point

Mastodon
Show threadHeide EstesDec 12, 2022
@fraying this is how I curated a great Twitter feed.
Show threadpkDec 12, 2022
@fraying I had been hemming and hawing over this to not get a crazy overload of content, and I think that was stupid and I appreciate you posting this, you’ve unstuck me
Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 12, 2022
@Patrickcentral Hooray!
Show threadßо₿ Dec 12, 2022
@fraying I wish there was a follow button easily accessible on a toot. I have to click on the person and click follow.
Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 12, 2022
@bim yeah - at least put a follow option in the ellipses menu. Good idea!
Show threadニルス・スキニールDec 13, 2022
@fraying Don't be afraid to block either
Show threadHollieKDec 13, 2022
@Skirnir @fraying Not to mention mute and filter, with the useful option of different time-periods.
Show threadDeana AnnDec 13, 2022
@fraying Thanks for posting a helpful tip. The layout here is certainly different then twitter.
Show threadGeraldineDec 13, 2022
@fraying *following you for lots of baby goat content*
Show threadDavid J. LoehrDec 13, 2022
@fraying @everywhereist You have come to the right place.
Show threadPippa 🌈Dec 13, 2022
@fraying @everywhereist wait, baby goats? count me in!
Show threadCodyDec 13, 2022

@fraying I feel like I learned this on accident because I made my own server and had absolutely nothing in feeds.

That being said I 100% agree.

Show threadstefan hartwigDec 13, 2022
@fraying 100% agree and the important part is freedom to unfollow. curate your feed!
Show threadJeanDec 13, 2022
@fraying "Follow fast, unfollow faster." Great advice. One thing I like about Micro.blog is that we don't show who is following whom, so there is no stress over unfollowing.
Show threadNickDec 13, 2022
@fraying With my headspace I’ve long felt like I need two accounts: one small, intimate, familiar and calm space, and one that’s totally gregarious and capricious and voracious and draws me out. I wish you could flip a single account between introvert and extrovert modes like a thermostat.
Show threadDinah 🕊🇺🇦Dec 13, 2022
@holgate @fraying I sort of do that by keeping my follow list small (through frequent pruning off after adding a few more follows than is working well for me) but then browsing the explore column in extrovert moments.
Show threadDinah 🕊🇺🇦Dec 13, 2022
@holgate @fraying But that isn’t the same as a single account that has two follow views one pared down and one expansive.
Show threadShoq 🌿Dec 28, 2022
@fraying I take your points, but encouraging all that follow/unfollow churn didn't resonate for me. Makes it feel like some kinda online dating app for knowledge acquisition. Or maybe even TikTok. Follow if you love the thinking, resource, or whatever, but then blow it off to make room for the next shiny thing (no matter why you probably shut it off already)! I'd personally like to see much more depth to all this topic surfing than anything we've known thus far.
Show threadMr CheesequakeDec 28, 2022
@fraying how do you turn off boosts? (Noob question)
Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 28, 2022
@chris_ I just use the website, not apps. On the website, on the main page, to the right of “Home” there’s a settings icon. Click it to reveal a toggle. Looks like this:
Show threadMr CheesequakeDec 28, 2022
@fraying thanks Derek 🙂
Show threadDerek Powazek 🐐Dec 28, 2022
@chris_ happy to help! Someone had to tell me, too. It’s not obvious.