DanAnimal🏳️‍🌈🌏ダン
Trying to develop a satisfying feed on mastodon seems to be a flop after 6 months of trying.
Discovery is tedious and slow people aren't reciprocal with following and the results are a feed which is extremely underwhelming and brief.
This seems to be a different experience for accounts with some critical mass of reach, but since this is hampered by the discovery issues how can this be overcome?
Boost at will to prove me wrong 🙏
May 4, 2023 at 10:06amWeb
Show threadDanAnimal🏳️‍🌈🌏ダンMay 4, 2023
Thank you to those who took the boost challenge 🙏
Show threadSimon 🪗May 4, 2023

@dananimal Interaction. That's it. Put the work in.

use the local feed and hashtags, find interesting people.

Show threadHughWRoberts05 🏳️‍🌈May 4, 2023
@dananimal I understand what you're saying. I'm only four days in, but the best advice I can give is to engage with people on here and look for them using hashtags. Good luck.
Show threadHerzleidMay 4, 2023

@dananimal I most definitely do not have "critical mass of reach", but I'm very happy with my Home feed to a point where I can no longer fully keep up.

What kind of people/topics are you looking for? IME following a few good boosters is key to an interesting and not-too-slow xp. There's also @FediFollows which toots round-ups of interesting accounts based on topic/theme.

Other than that, interaction is it, I think. Follow a lot, then unfollow accts that you don't enjoy in your timeline later.

Show threadDanAnimal🏳️‍🌈🌏ダンMay 4, 2023
@herzleid @FediFollows I don't know what that critical mass may be. Yours is double mine fwiw.
Show threadPhilMay 4, 2023
@dananimal start by doing an introduction post with the hashtag #introduction in it.
Use hashtags for all your interests, hashtags are key to discovering al& being discovered.
Maybe look through other introductions & follow people who interest you and are similar. People are pretty good at following back.
If you have a particular interest join an instance that is focused on that and check out the local feed.
& always take a moment to just appreciate how little hate/anger is on here.
Good luck
Show thread☆Luci☆BrennaColleenMay 4, 2023
@dananimal I just had to mass follow people when I first got here and slowly unfollow to get the feed to how I like it. Takes longer than starting at other social sites, but it’s much more enjoyable and less rage inducing in the long run.
Show threadJuliaMay 4, 2023
@dananimal You don't seem to use hashtags, that might explain your issues with discoverability.
Show threadMike DMay 4, 2023

@thalassa @dananimal
I agree that hashtag use is important. I follow many hashtags and almost always add hashtags.

I also have LOTS of filters. Following hashtags adds lots of toots I'm not interested in. Filters handle that issue. I also like that filters have time limit.

#hashtags

Show threadbenjohnMay 4, 2023
@dananimal So far I'm feeling a bit similar. I'm not super grabbed. Perhaps that'll change, but at the moment I think I could be enticed away. … this isn't particularly a criticism of Mastodon: if that's what it wants to be, that's okay. Just maybe not what I need / am looking for.
Show threadBob HarveyMay 4, 2023

@dananimal
I think that the absence of an "algorithm feed" makes it feel strange. A lot of folk have yet to learn that "favourite" status is only seen by the original poster. "Boost" will show it to more people, but not exactly everyone.

The upshot is that whilst things /can/ go viral, they don't rise as high, and decay very quickly.

But that means we are less likely to have mobs, and the people are following are far more approachable. It's a really social social network.