this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2023
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Here are tips for everyone to enjoy Mastodon (thoroughly explained in the sourced article at the bottom):
Source: https://www.infoworld.com/article/3701292/6-ways-to-find-better-content-on-mastodon.html
Hold on, what?
I don't think all of the apps have this option, but they change so quickly that they might all have it now. If I put in my search #mastodon, there is a person outline that has a + sign after it. This lets you follow any post with the #mastodon on it. It's pretty cool to find your topics. I know Tusky has it but my version of Mastodon doesn't.
This is how I mainly used Mastodon before Lemmy. It lets you follow topics instead of people; I prefer finding content this way. Unless a person really likes the format of Mastodon better, I'd suggest Lemmy over Mastodon for people that would rather follow topics than individuals.
I like it more than Twitter and go there way more often but I went to Twitter like once or twice a year. I like their search better and this feature but you're right, Lemmy is way more fun.
I found it very refreshing that it doesn't have an algorithm at all. I know there are some downsides to that, but I think they're worth it.
I think they do have an algorithm but it's super basic, Ruud from lemmy.world said they're trying to adjust it. It's not focused on making money but more on what you subscribe to, what your instance puts on the front page and not much else. I think they're trying to make it more inclusive to the little instances and communities so it doesn't get overwhelmed by a few large places.
On Mastodon? I distinctly recall reading that it did not have one but I guess these projects are fast moving so maybe it has changed or I am just mistaken.
Oh sorry, I meant lemmy. Not aware of how that works on Mastodon except that the Mastodon app has a "for you" section. Thats probably an algorithm of some type?
This does make more sense.
I think "for you" is just everything you follow (people and topics).
Nope, when I click it, it suggests people to follow that I haven't followed yet. I just checked.
Oh, that must be new. I only had three tabs, one for my stuff, one for all the local stuff, and one for everything.
There were recommended posts and stuff but they were kind of buried in some menus.
Sounds like stuff has changed. It's only been a few months. I'll stop saying there's no algorithm now, haha.
It's set up weird on mobile, you have to go to the tabs in the search buttons and slide them over to find the "for you" tab. I don't really connect with who they're recommending so not sure how they decide. I do see a lot of things I'm interested in by following certain #hashtags though.
Another good thing is putting people you follow into lists. I just wish we could do the same with hashtags.
Tusky is a great app. But it doesn't seem to have a trending tab, which I use to find cool accounts to follow. For now I use trunks.
It has it, it's in the search bar when you press hashtags. You put in your search hashtag and then press the little silhouette with the + sign and you're following the hashtag in general.
Not not trending hashtags. Just overall trending posts. Maybe I need to uninstall and reinstall tusky or something.
I think I read your comment wrong, I thought you wanted to save a hashtag for watching all hashtags. You're right, tusky doesn't have that.
If you go to settings you can add/remove tabs which includes trending. You can also add your own tab with any combination of hashtags, but pretty sure this only sorts by latest
Those are actually not groups. Groups boost posts from all users that mention them. https://a.gup.pe/ is one implementation of groups with mastodon in mind, but lemmy communities actually work the same way when followed from mastodon. I believe other fediverse platforms implement groups in similar ways under the hood. This means that everything is more or less interoperable between platforms.
Oh you're right, I didn't realize there was a separate thing and that's a great feature too. I think the author needed to add whatever I was talking about then too.
Very true. Following hashtags is a pretty essential feature.
Groups boost posts from all users that mention them. https://a.gup.pe/ is one implementation of groups with mastodon (and other federated microblogging platforms) in mind, but lemmy communities actually work the same way when followed from mastodon. I believe other fediverse platforms implement groups in similar ways under the hood. This means that everything is more or less interoperable between platforms.
EDIT: Try it yourself! Follow [email protected] from Mastodon to see what I mean. Although I don't know that I would stay a follower of a community that large unless I wanted significant impacts on my feed. A smaller, potentially more useful, addition to your feed are things like gardening communities.