I still don't know how to use mastodon, I feel like I'm only here to share my stuff and read replies, and less so any kind of discovery of following and engaging with other people's stuff
it seems like there's only a chronological feed of those you follow (which I usually don't like because it skews to the most active people), and a generic feed for your instance (pretty much useless), but no algorithmic discovery thing?
@acegikmo Nothing here is algorithmic, which is a blessing or curse, depending on your stance.
It certainly does mean feeds are horribly weighted by people who just Cannot Stop Posting - especially those who endlessly repost themselves.
Still, I find the explore and live feed tabs can be fun for discovery - their lack of algorithmic weighting can mean you're more likely to see smaller accounts, which is a nice change from the birdsite.
@acegikmo yeah that is the curse. I really want an easier way to view the live feeds of other instances. Mine's great for gamedev, but I'd like more art or music focussed feeds.
In theory hashtags _could_ help this, but it always feels weird to use them, so they're only really used by those trying to Build An Audience™️
@SudoCat @acegikmo It feels weird because hashtags were for Being Discovered on The Other Platform. But, you should be using hashtags.
Here, they're the only way to discover new things, by design!
My "algorithm" is "I like stuff from this hashtag, I'll follow that hashtag".
(not targeting this at you, SudoCat, just giving my perspective to try to demonstrate the "blessing and curse" that is hashtag-first discovery!)
@b4ux1t3 Oh absolutely agree - like the idea, unsure on the reality.
I have complicated feelings about hashtags (and I'll spare Freya's replies from waxing lyrical about it) 😅
@SudoCat yeah, this is outside of the realm of replies to her.
I'm a big fan of self-directed data tagging (so much so that it's pretty much the only option I give users of the data-centric apps I write, which is fine, I'm generally the only user of them).
I think there's definitely still a place for a discoverability feature that would favor users who don't post quite as prolifically, though.
@b4ux1t3 It's one of those systems that works so well when everyone uses it honourably, but I so often see it decay into some folks using 30 tags per post, while many feel uncomfortable using any at all.
I'll occasionally use one or two specific tags in a post, but I still feel a bit weird and corny doing it (dumb as that may be!)
In theory I love the idea of user-curated tags, but that puts the onus onto viewers, which hampers initial discoverability - and can be equally fraught (see steam)
Freya Holmér
Robin Neal
b4ux1t3 
#1️⃣