After many months on #mastodon I have some learnings:

1) you get precisely out of it what you put into it. Post a lot and you’ll get noticed. If you just lurk, folks will leave you alone.
2) use #hashtags if you want your posts to last beyond a few minutes
3) relentlessly follow, boost, like. (See 1)
4) block and mute are your friends
5) venture out of your home feed if it feels stale, but don’t get all bent out of shape with the freewheeling federated feed
6) Be nice Be kind.
7) Post about your life. Not just virtue signaling. Be authentic.
8) back up your bookmarks and follows in case your instance goes down, so you can easily migrate.
9) join multiple instances if you want a richer experience
10) have patience for new users. Give them good advice. Don’t be fussy.