Primary Account: @mark
Software engineer, photographer, musician (though not always in that order) | he/him
| github | https://github.com/markphilpot |
| flickr | https://www.flickr.com/photos/markphilpot |
| website | https://markphilpot.com |
Honestly, not being able to actively participate in multiple communities without secondary accounts is the only large strike against the system that I've come across.
"Pick One Interest" isn't a great model (at least for me... realistically I could concieve of joining instances for tech, software dev, anime, photography, music (that one alone would fragment heavily)
Currently exploring wether or not to run my own instance (unfortunately all the SAAS options aren’t accepting new subscriptions given the current environment)
Went with the Digital Ocean droplet method and have to say I’m impressed. Yes, it’s BYOS with sendgrid and s3, but pretty turn key for the most part.
Currently exploring the admin interface to see what’s up… Not 100% sure I’ll dive in yet
I very strongly recommend that recent arrivals here, like me, stop right now and read this end-to-end:
https://www.hughrundle.net/home-invasion/
The title is: “Home invasion :
Mastodon's Eternal September begins”
Note that I am *not*, as I would on Twitter, including the handle of the author. Just learning but I think that is fedi-appropriate.
For all it's advantages and faults, #Mastodon was not built to be a *new* Twitter. It was built to be *not* Twitter.
That distinction is important.
Interesting… So I’m running Metatext on macOS (first iOS-first app I’ve tried this with)
On iOS the KeyboardToolbar has a lot of essential UX for the Compose screen, but on macOS that gets pinned to the bottom of the parent view, not the compose view
Definitely didn’t notice it the first time…
I have communities that I follow on Twitter that will probably be slow to migrate elsewhere (they are posting where to find them elsewhere, but still planning on using Twitter as their main network)
This #TwitterMigration feels different… Personally, I feel less of a need to cross-post and I see a lot more people not reaching for that crutch as well
I will continue to “follow” on Twitter for quite sometime to come (can I just considered a siloed RSS feed?)
So turns out…
I can actually run Metatext on Mac (this is the first time I’ve tried it though I knew in principal Apple rolled that out a few years ago when the M1s appeared)
It’s definitely a little wonky, but it’s definitely the best fedi client I’ve used so far.
Tip 1: Use hashtags. There's no algorithm to suggest followers or shove posts into your feed in the hopes you follow someone.
Tip 2: Boost (re-post) toots liberally. *You* are the algorithm.
Tip 3: Use CW (content warnings / content wrappers) to discuss politics, the meta.
Tip 4: To create "threads", make the first post public and each reply "unlisted" to prevent clogging up your instance's feed.
Tip 5: Provide text descriptions, even just basic ones, when attaching photos or media.
Tip 6: Use the "report" features for moderating trolls so your admins can take action.
Wrote up an analogy that I've been finding really useful in helping me (and I think others) understand Mastodon:
Mastodon is just blogs
https://simonwillison.net/2022/Nov/8/mastodon-is-just-blogs/
(Extended version: Mastodon is just blogs and Google Reader, skinned to look like Twitter)
Mark Philpot
Tim Bray
Mike McHargue
Tamitha
Simon Willison