Instructions on how to opt-in to search! Note: you can't follow them unless your local server has updated to 4.2. To check if it has, try these options:

1) look in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen, if you're using the default Mastodon client + don't have advanced mode enabled

2) go to {your instance's domain}/api/v2/instance and look for "version" (3rd item from the top)

3) @ your admin and ask

4) follow Eugen's instructions. if they don't work, assume you're not on 4.2

#FediTips

Lifehack:

Instead of wondering if something is normal, ask if it's harmful.

Dressing up as an anthropomorphic animal character isn't normal, but it makes a lot of people smile.

Being exceptionally talented isn't normal, but it sure offers a way to enrich your life as well as the people you care for.

To hell with normal. To hell with being afraid of being called weird. Furries figured this out decades ago. Many anime fans and gamers, too.

Yet, I hear people ask things like, "Is it normal to feel the way I do?"

I dunno.

Does it make your life harder? Then you might want to do something about it. Does it cause harm to others? Definitely do something to correct it.

But to cry when you watch movies? Or to want to cuddle so much that you lose any interest in actually having sex? Or to hate the world we inherited so much that it hurts, and so you channel it into helping others suffer a little less?

Who gives a shit about normal. That's human.

I am happy to share my first publication from my PhD research in special issues of Social Media Society (Trust and Safety on Social Media).This article illustrates the changes to platform governance on a (emergent) alternative to YouTube.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20563051231196881

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The latest version of Mastodon (4.2.0) brings full text search, so you can search by words instead of hashtags.

However, for privacy reasons this only includes posts by people who have actively opted into full text search.

If your server is updated to 4.2.0 and you want to opt into full text search:

1. Log into your server's website
2. Click your profile icon
3. Click "Edit Profile"
4. Click tab "Privacy & Reach"
5. Tick box "Include Public Posts In Search results"
6. Click "Save Changes"