As artists rely on audiences for support and earning a living, it's scary and difficult having to start over on a new platform. I know a lot of you are nervous, and worried, and anxious right now. Here's a little thread on how you can get settled in on the fediverse, how to build up a community here, and how to get your work seen.
The main form of discovery on here revolves around hashtags. Unlike other platforms, there's no algorithm here, no punishement for using (or not using) tags /🧵
, using too many tags, or using specific tags. Hashtags are used to find content, so when you're tagging your work, think in terms of 'what words would someone use to find this specific thing'. On insta, weird esoteric tags trend that aren't necessarily descriptive of the work but people have to be aware of them and use them to get views. That's not a thing here. If you're posting digital art of your OC, tag it #Art #DigitalArt #OC , etc.
More info on hashtags here: https://mastodon.art/@Curator/108220154510678618 🧵
General advice for people coming over from Twitter and Instagram regarding hashtags: Hashtags are a useful and important tool here. Clicking on a hashtag will show you results from across different servers, so they're important for federating content and finding people. There's no need to have loads of tags on your post like Insta to try to catch more engagement, but also you won't be punished for using tags like Twitter. (cont)
As well as hashtagging your own work, you can use hashtags to find people you might like to follow. For example, if you're looking for watercolour artists, click #watercolour .
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We value accessibility here, and adding alt text to your media is important. As well as just being a good thing to do, many people (me included) won't boost posts that have un-described media. So, adding alt text helps your work get boosted and seen by more people.
More on alt text here: https://mastodon.art/@Curator/109279035107793247 🧵
We have a lot of blind and partially sighted users on the fediverse. Accessibility is important here, and as such, it's good form to include image descriptions (alt text) when we add media to our posts. When someone uses a screenreader to read the timeline, and the screenreader comes to an image with no alt text, it just says 'image' (as far as I know). That's boring, unhelpful, and provides no clue as to what the image actually *is*. This differs slightly depending on how you're using (cont)
mastodon.art is a community instance, and our Local Timeline is important for forming friendships with our neighbours, supporting each other, and strengthening those community vibes.
Have a browse through the Local Timeline and interact with the posts there. If you see new folk, drop them a welcome. Leave nice comments on people's art. Like it and boost it. Be supportive.
Remember: no algorithm, the feeds are chronological, we have to find the content we want to follow. 🧵
Outside of the Local Timeline, follow hashtags to see the content people are posting to them, and do the same - comment, like, boost, be supportive, make friends, spread the love.
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.art encourages posting shop and support links as often as you need to. If you're sharing art that's for sale, put the direct link to buy it in the post. The fediverse is hugely supportive of indie creators and would love to throw money at you. Put those links in your bio too, and make sure they're clickable. 🧵
Make a post that's an introduction to you and your art, includes your shop and donation links, and has some example images of your work. Use the #Introduction tag. Pin it to the top of your profile. You can make this a thread if you want to, just pin the first post in the thread. People look for filled-out bios and good intro posts when deciding who to follow.
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Follow my account. I boost creative work from all over the fediverse, not just from .art. I help make connections and promote 🧵
creators to help them grow their audiences. (Just please don't @ me when you're posting your work - my notifications are usually pretty busy with people asking for help; if you're hashtagging your work, I'll see it, and hashtags mean *other* people will see it too, which is better than just relying on the offchance that I'll boost something if you tag me).
That said, if you want a signal boost on something specific, like asking for art-related help and want to reach a big audience, tag me. 🧵
To close, some #WormsOfAffirmation (<- check that tag) - you're not alone here. The .art mod team and me are here to keep you safe and to help you grow in our community. Our members are lovely and supportive and encouraging.
There's no algorithm working against you. The mods are real people. There are no ads, no corporate overlords. You're not competing for engagement. You can relax, take a breather, and get back to making art because you enjoy it.
If you need help, yell. 
@Curator out of curiosity, are we allowed to make posts saying our commissions are open?
The rules state that we may not advertise, but commission ads are so important for artists. I was unsure if the rule was strictly for non-art related ads, or if that includes commission posts as well.
@shelbybenefield Companies/corporations may not advertise - the rules explicitly state that users CAN and are encouraged to advertise :)
"(Advertising and spam (does not include sharing links to your art-related income sites!)"
So yes, please share your commission info! <3
@Curator This might be a minor quibble, but I wouldn't say there's *no* punishment. No hashtags: (Almost) no discoverability. Wrong hashtag: People searching #hashtag won't see posts tagged #hashtags. (See also asstodon controversy. Or, like me, try to pretend it doesn't exist.) Too many tags: Eating up your character limit.
But the fact remains that there's no ML black box capriciously burying your posts because it "thinks" (Bender, Gebru, et al. forgive me) they're not ad-friendly enough.
@Curator On the other hand, these are mostly not "punishment" so much as *pitfalls*.
(Except maybe people jumping down your throat for using a hashtag they decided means something else, but I haven't personally seen that happening in the wild. Again, though, I'm steering well clear of whatever the asstodon people are up to.)
)
Suika 🍉
Mastodon•ART 🎨 Curator
✿ Laura 🧸 amigurumis (she/her)
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