Mima is right, we should link to toots. It is kind of a way around the absence of "quote tooting".
However, I have recently learned that, by design, Mastodon doesn't automatically share all toots across all instances, and we are essentially not seeing most of the Fediverse depending on how active people on our instance are.
If you really want to make sure everyone that can see your toot can also see your quoted toot, boost it first. Or use a screen grab.
@selzero Also, if you're posting with Public visibility in #Mastodon or any other #fediverse software that doesn't support #quoteposts, consider using the #MissedQuoteBoost hashtag so that you can signal to your instance software's devs that you want this feature! :alice_wine:
"So führt der Wassermangel etwa zu Ernteeinbußen in der Landwirtschaft, durch lange Trockenperioden kommt es zu erheblich mehr und auch großflächigeren Waldbränden und wegen des Trockenstresses und des damit verbundenen Käferbefalls verschlechtet sich auch der Waldzustand deutlich. 2020 starben dem Bericht zufolge 20-mal so viele Fichten wie im Durchschnitt der vorangegangenen zehn Jahre. "
This is an example of the kind of quote tweet/boost I miss. I could have written my own summary of the article but I really like nathanheller's take. By using a screenshot and link I can produce the same effect and since it's a cross post from twitter this is pretty natural.
But it'd be awesome if this could be done with posts On Here.