My advice for new arrivals, because it seems to me a significant number of those who don't like it here are unaware of this:
That's the thing about Mastodon.
You follow hashtags the same as you follow people. And that's how you get introduced to new people/things.
It's NOT about having huge numbers of followers. It's about connecting people.
Quoting doesn't work here, so don't miss it - that's just kind of stealing -> #boost or comment!