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@chrisabides@infosec.exchange

Post #948100

2022-11-08 17:17 UTC

Some Mastodon thoughts, for bird-site expats (which include myself). I'm aggregating these from posts I've boosted before, so little of this is my own brain. - There's no algorithm here. That means favoriting/liking doesn't do anything except communicate approval to the OP and others (which is still nice!). - No algorithm means boosting ("retweeting") is the true method to increase a post's visibility. Do that more than you did on birdsite. - There's no post-quoting here, and that's by design. Look at quote-tweets on the birdsite; it's a feature primarily used for toxicity. - There's no direct word-search here either; that means you want to use hashtags to make posts more searchable. This is also intended, since word-searching posts was often used to harass/stalk on the birdsite and elsewhere, so that was left by the wayside here. This also means hashtags are much more a thing here than any of the algorithm-powered sites. - It's encouraged to put in text descriptions when you post images; a lot of Mastodon users use screen-readers due to various disabilities, and getting an image description read out loud helps them immensely. - Speaking of screen-readers: using capitalization in your hashtags allows the screen-readers to read them more easily, especially if you're smashing multiple words together. #rockmusic = unreadable. #RockMusic = readable. - The best way to make threads is to make set your first post as public, but "unlist" all of your replies. This prevents your whole thread from clogging up feeds. - Content Warnings should be used more liberally here. If you haven't gotten the impression yet, much of Mastodon was built and populated by marginalized groups who were harassed/bullied off of other platforms. This is the culture they built, to respect each other's mental health. It's not a rule, but it's well-appreciated. - Consider chipping a few bucks towards whomever runs the server you're on; the strain is real, and most server admins were likely paying out of pocket before so don't have an existing donation base. The growth here has been extremely fast, and that means money's needed. - DMs are just posts with privacy settings. So if you @ someone in a DM, you pull them into the thread. That could be embarrassing. - Also, no, DMs aren't end-to-end encrypted, but they aren't on Twitter either. Don't use either if you want true privacy. - Including your Mastodon handle in your birdsite profile will help people find you here; there's a tool (pruvisto.org/debirdify/ is one of them that's used) people can use to pull Mastodon handles from Twitter profile. - Use the blocking and reporting features liberally, if needed. This should go without saying, but they work, and work well! - If there's an entire Mastodon server you don't want to hear from, you can block the whole thing too. - Preferences -> Appearance -> "Slow Mode": this can make larger "Local" feeds and any "Federated" feed much more readable. I'll reply with some more as I see them, or reply here too. I've only been here 4 days but I'm loving it so far.

Replies (32)

  • @matthewvallone@c.im 2022-11-08 17:37

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange This is really helpful, thank you!

    Open ##3289264

  • @aristeon@tooting.ch 2022-11-08 18:08

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange I absolutely love that there is no algorithm! I hate algorithms that manipulate content according to corporate agendas. I have been criticizing algorithmic manipulation for years because I saw how Facebook and Twitter were ruined by it.

    Open ##3289266

  • @aserebrenik@mastodon.social 2022-11-08 18:25

    Quoting @chrisabides@infosec.exchange "There's no post-quoting here, and that's by design. Look at quote-tweets on the birdsite; it's a feature primarily used for toxicity." This sounds like an exciting CSCW project...

    Open ##3289274

  • @DrBex@mastodon.nz 2022-11-08 18:26

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange brilliant thank you!! @stargazer@mastodon.nz you might find this a handy reference for sharing too?

    Open ##3289275

  • @kravietz@agora.echelon.pl 2022-11-08 18:37

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Very good guide! Just a few notes to cover more use cases: 1) Full text search — I'm not sure if I understand correctly that it it's not present in Mastodon, but it's is certainly implemented by Pleroma and likely other software as well. I know because my instance runs Pleroma and I use the search quite a lot :) 2) Threads are largely an artificial workaround to the limited Twitter post size, but most Fediverse software doesn't impose such a short limit and it's largely instance-specific. I'm personally writing no threads as my instance's post size limit is well beyond whatever I wrote so far :)

    Open ##3289276

  • @PetraMeijers@mastodon.nl 2022-11-08 18:50

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Thanks Christopher! @eliane@mastodon.nl: goeie samenvatting.

    Open ##3289278

  • @KN3RDS@mastodon.online 2022-11-08 18:57

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange many thanks for this. Still trying to figure out how to set my levels and expectations for this platform.

    Open ##3289279

  • @antnommer@meow.social 2022-11-08 19:03

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Can you explain the unlisting of replies thing?

    Open ##3289280

  • @oom_rl@infosec.exchange 2022-11-08 19:16

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Thanks - your explanation of "y moar #hashtags" and implication of "hashtag capitalization is useful, probably needed" for screenreaders was ++ helpful as I learn the ropes.

    Open ##3289285

  • @njvack@ruby.social 2022-11-08 19:34

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange How did you make your post so long?

    Open ##3289286

  • @ryanschultz@mastodon.social 2022-11-08 19:43

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Awesome compilation of advice, boosting it, thanks!

    Open ##3289290

  • @Fascinatorfun@mastodon.green 2022-11-08 19:45

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange that is SO helpful and has answered some of the questions that have been brewing in the couple of days I’ve been on here. Thank you

    Open ##3289291

  • @DrBex@mastodon.nz 2022-11-08 19:47

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange oh @suebr@mastodon.nz you might find this useful re your recent question abt CW?

    Open ##3289292

  • @nafnlaus@fosstodon.org 2022-11-08 20:11

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange How did you write such a long post? (Also, it's not entirely accurate to say that you can't "quote-tweet"; it's just made less convenient, to discourage it. You have to copy the link and then paste it into a new post)

    Open ##3289293

  • @billybitts@masto.ai 2022-11-08 20:13

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Great advice. Especially about using caps in hashtags. And I’m going to take your advice and like and boost. (Unless if boosting it delivers the same accolades as a like? If so is there a reason to go both?)

    Open ##3289295

  • @kirsties@mastodon.world 2022-11-08 20:21

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange @SturdyAlex@toot.community I saw you were looking for guidance on CWs. Hope this helps

    Open ##3289300

  • @corneliusroemer@mstdn.science 2022-11-08 20:23

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange How is it possible to post such a long toot? Is that because it's under a content warning?

    Open ##3289301

  • @RobertDaleParker@mstdn.social 2022-11-08 20:23

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange

    Open ##3289306

  • @macke_47@ruhr.social 2022-11-08 20:34

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange

    Open ##3289307

  • @Moppel@mk.absturztau.be 2022-11-08 20:36

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange "There's no post-quoting here, and that's by design." - if you use a mastodon instance. If you're on some other fediverse software, you can.

    Open ##3289308

  • @garygouldsberry@twit.social 2022-11-08 20:47

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange useful to know I should use “CamelCase” in hashtags.

    Open ##3289309

  • @bilidru@bildung.social 2022-11-08 20:50

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange excellent, Ty so much for this collection. So heldful to someone #newhere #neuhier

    Open ##3289310

  • @blmurch@mastodon.online 2022-11-08 20:53

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Thank you so much for putting this all together. Really great info.

    Open ##3289311

  • @stefan_grvl@norden.social 2022-11-08 20:54

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange very helpful, thanks a lot! 👍

    Open ##3289312

  • @awkwardlefty_cj@eldritch.cafe 2022-11-08 20:56

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Thank you for sharing this! I've been picking things up as I go but the info re: threading was particularly useful.

    Open ##3289313

  • @schnupperboy@chaos.social 2022-11-08 20:58

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Thanks, this helped me a lot! I do think though, that having decided against quote tooting is at least questionable. Having read through the github discussions regarding this (https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/12753) I fully agree with the primary goal of not enabling toxic use of it. However, there might be better ways of achieving this, especially in regards of better working moderation that you also mentioned.

    Open ##3289314

  • @petetaylor@oldbytes.space 2022-11-08 21:02

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange Unlisting replies is a good one! I didn't realise you could do that. Ironically, I am not enlisting this reply as I think it's a good tip! If you are reading this and wondering how... When you reply to a post, select the globe icon and select "Unlisted". Interestingly, I can't see this option on the mobile app (Android). There, it only has the options "Public", "Followers only" and "Only people I mention".

    Open ##3289316

  • @Lookitmychicken@aus.social 2022-11-08 21:03

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange oh that tip about unlisted posts for threads is new to me! Thank you for this compilation

    Open ##3289317

  • @wolverinuno@masto.pt 2022-11-08 21:04

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange thanks for putting this list together. Learning curve but happy to do it.

    Open ##3289318

  • @jfenn2199@fosstodon.org 2022-11-08 21:04

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange so I just learned about unlisting thread reply’s! Thank you!

    Open ##3289319

  • @HighTechHobo@ieji.de 2022-11-08 21:08

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange I'll read this at some point

    Open ##3289320

  • @veno@socel.net 2022-11-08 21:08

    @chrisabides@infosec.exchange trying to use the new site everyday, but i'm concerned about whether mastodon is a site that can be used for the growth of my illustration business. What do you think? From what I can gather it leans harder towards "networking" over "recommendation"

    Open ##3289321