Aral Balkan

Seeing some new folks joining the fediverse. Welcome!

A few tips to help get you started here on the right foot:

- Take a moment to edit your profile and add a photo/avatar and bio so we know who you are.

- Make a post and tell us about yourself and don’t forget to add the #introduction tag so people know you’re here.

- Follow folks and talk to them. Be human. (This is a human space, not a corporate one.)

- Don’t hesitate to ask if you’re unsure how something works.

- Have fun :)

👋🤓💕

Apr 6, 2023 at 11:36amWeb
Show threadThe Life of BrianApr 6, 2023
@aral Important line: " Follow folks and talk to them. Be human. (This is a human space, not a corporate one.)" Many people want to talk but not listen, as in follow me! Oh, I won't follow back though. Grrrr.
Show threadYooper MooseApr 6, 2023
@aral Thanks for the tips. 😀
Show threadRichard RatheApr 6, 2023

@aral

In that spirit I’ll ask about something that’s been vexing me… #hashtags

How does #Mastodon handle #plurals?

Example: #bird vs #birds

Must I always include both? Does #birds include sub-tag #bird? (Appears not to.)

Are there best practices or policies for this?

I haven’t found any documentation online.

A link or a pointer would help…

Thanks!

Show threadParsingphaseApr 6, 2023
@richardrathe @aral For that specific example (a subject close to my heart), I know that the plural is much more commonly used - and I think that's a reasonable general case, from searching on pairs of singular/plural tags. Using both always feels excessive to me.
Show threadRichard RatheApr 6, 2023

@parsingphase @aral

I completely agree! Double entry for something that is computationally easy (think spell check) seems dumb in 2023.

Simple "stemming" could help…. Search results could just chop off the singular/plural endings… 'nurseries' and 'nursery' become 'nurser' for the purposes of following links. Occasionally this would yield an unrelated word/stem, but small price to pay for general utility IMO.

Show threadRichard RatheApr 6, 2023

@parsingphase @aral

Another questionable #hashtag example with my next post!

Masto appears to ignore/remove punctuation… rendering possessive into a plural. Notice the hit counts… 2 vs 501. That's a pretty big delta! Ideally I'd like any hashtag that references the man Putin to resolve to a single tag.

Better algorithm would be to cut off tag at the first non-letter/number IMO.

Show threadParsingphaseApr 6, 2023
@richardrathe @aral I think my hack for that was to stick a space before the apostrophe, which isn't ideal, but I can see some case for its existing behavior (eg a #Workers'Rights hashtag, or a book group reading #Charlotte'sWeb)
Show threadParsingphaseApr 6, 2023
@richardrathe @aral OK, turns out the edit interface ignores apostrophes and the display interface stops at them. That is clearly a bug.
Show threadbiscuit tornadoApr 6, 2023
@aral thanks for putting this together! I haven't done an introduction post yet; I'll get on that!
Show threadjrefanApr 6, 2023
@aral how do i make sure my message shows up in the federated section in mstdn.science that i signed up for? or will it do that automatically?? that not be great bcs what if i want to post something non-related to science?
Show threadMycotropicApr 6, 2023
@aral also you can't follow a hashtag on the android app, you have to use the browser version.
#IrritatingThings
Show threadKevin Teljeur ❄️Apr 6, 2023
@aral Damn it, this is all reasonable, sensible advice!
Show threadJimmApr 6, 2023
@aral can you explain what each one of the symbols mean at the bottom of a message?
Show threadAral BalkanApr 6, 2023
@Jimmmurray Hey Jimm, if you roll your mouse over each of them, you will see their labels in tooltips. From left to right, they’re reply, boost, favourite, bookmark, and more :)
Show threadMy camera shoots fascistsApr 6, 2023

@aral

Also, Fedi Tips! https://fedi.tips/

Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

Show threadmrjonnoApr 6, 2023
@aral
Mate. So much I can relate to in your profile posts.