p.s. The official Mastodon Android app does not have hashtag following. If you're using Android, I would strongly advise using the third party apps Tusky or Fedilab instead, which do support hashtag following and have a lot more features besides.
Alternatively you can use the website on your phone, it works well too and gets all the latest features first.
@feditips Alternatively, use https://elk.zone which installs as a PWA and works well with Chrome to host the PWA. (Mobile Firefox, sadly, is missing needed features for it to work reliably.)
Having everyone using an official app tends to concentrate power in one place, which makes that one place vulnerable to Musk-type takeovers.
It's safer for the long term sustainability of this place that we use third party apps. Mastodon used to be 100% third party apps, the official app was only released last year.
There's no point in unsustainable growth, it will just end up in a dumpster fire as we can see on Twitter right now.
The UI on Tusky, Ice Cubes etc is very good, they are available from app stores... I don't see how they are more difficult to use than the official app.
You can follow hashtags on Tusky by searching for a tag, then clicking the + icon at the top of the screen. It's got a little silhouette of a person next to it.
You can't add people to lists without following them. It is on the roadmap, but it hasn't been done yet.
I think the original concern was about trolls using lists to share targets, which happened on Twitter, where people were being added to lists without their knowledge. This was why the following requirement was brought in, to give people control over who can list them.
The solution suggested is to still require following, but you would be able to mute them on your Home timeline.
@TheActualBrian@feditips I saw someone on here compare Mastodon to email (I'm sorry I don't remember who!). Instances are just like the email provider you use (Gmail, Yahoo, etc). They're different and have their own rules but they all communicate together. I thought that made a lot of sense and helped to simplify the concept for me.
There's no tone. You hear what you want to hear. That part is on your head, period.
I'm not angry or hostile. That's also just your confirmation bias, what you're imagining, in your head.
"Your" thread? 🙄
I do know what I'm talking about, no one has been "discussing," just trying to push their limited views, and you're awfully pushy for a "help" account.
I'll do you a favor. I'll just block you and continue to spend my time on Threads with normal people.
@feditips The pot calling the kettle black since the app change was made. Yes the federation is important, but time after time the community has mentioned that "normies" need a lower barrier to entry, and Threads will be that gateway, for my friends, family, colleagues, classmates, etc.
It's not a gateway, it's just another centralised social network owned by Meta/Facebook. You will not be able to move off Threads to another server, and it will probably never federate with most servers.
By that definition, Threads will be a gateway into ActivityPub. Remember that just because ActivityPub is open, does not mean each server and client software has to implement every single feature or be compatible with each other.
This place isn't ActivityPub, this is the Fediverse.
The idea of this place isn't to promote a specific protocol, it's to have a decentralised social network.
All that Threads will do is drive people onto Meta and keep them there, and centralise as much as possible. It's the opposite of what this place is supposed to be about.
@feditips Every instance is allowed to do that dude. I can make a mobile app that exclusively interfaces with my CalcKey instance, and expose the features I deem appropriate. There's no governing body saying how the Fediverse has to function, and if the Fediverse thrives like centralized email providers and SMTP. If that's the way the ecosystem goes, then so be it, that's the freedom of this ecosystem.
Yes you technically can, and then others can block you for trying to centralise a decentralised network that thousands of people have built without compensation.
Swooping in and taking advantage of other people's effort is not very nice.
When I was using the Mastodon app, there was no way to switch.
Little to nothing was happening.
I was also on rando server.
Once I switched servers and got Fedilab, I have control, but I needed to have knowledge about how the back end works.
A vast majority of people don't know, don't care, and won't enjoy themselves if it looks like no one is saying anything because their in their local, random server.
Right? I did the same thing. Had no clue why nothing was changing, ever.
They're not invested in building a new concept in distributed social media is whatever nerdy people, like us, find interesting.
They want social media that isn't hostile or toxic or whatever they're running away from.
You get one chance to make that first impression and if they're staring at a dead timeline because they're on local and some tiny server, they'll leave.
That's why there's hashtag searching, to reduce the ability of trolls to find victims.
And even small things like the colour of the alert icons being light blue on dark blue is designed to lessen the artificial alertness of the red dots you see on most social networks.
The Fediverse structure means vulnerable groups can own their own servers, it costs about $10 a month for a five person server or $100 for a 2000 person server, with all tech stuff done by the hosting company.
They can set their own rules, and block other servers they consider hostile or abusive. It's giving them the power instead of leaving it up to some billionaire to say stupid things like "cis gender is a slur".
@TheActualBrian@feditips@Tearcell Speaking as a member of a 'vulnerable group' yes I want to be out in the open, and treated as normal, and because I am. But the only way we can have that is zero tolerance of bigotry and zero tolerance of those that enable bigotry. It is the Nazis, Tankies and other assorted bigots that need to be driven into hiding, and not seen as 'normal'.
"They need to be in the open, treated like they're normal, because they are."
I think it's up to vulnerable groups to say what they need. My point is that this place gives them options and powers which do not exist on Twitter, Facebook etc.
<sigh>
You're the one who claimed your technology was best for them.
You're just arguing to argue.
Responding only to the last thing I've said with no recall of the overall conversation.
You've drifted so far off topic that you've forgotten what I was initially saying.
This platform will never grow beyond obscurity if you don't embrace the general public and cater to them.
Period. Dispute that.
@feditips@TheActualBrian which is perfect... If those who need it most realize it's there and how to do it. But many give up before they find the beauty in the ideals. I know I did on my first try here.
I know there are solutions, just hoping we get there and other people can come and help build something great.
@feditips actually thinking about it if I had just know about or see your account, I probably would have been much better off. Your tips DO make a difference.
"Maybe many, smaller servers makes moderation easier, but it does not, inherently, create a better place."
In my experience it does. Having human moderators on small servers that you can actually talk to directly is far better than massive billion-person servers with unreachable robots making inexplicable decisions.
"Trying to find technical "arguments" just to oppose me at this point."
These aren't technical arguments, they're human arguments.
"In my experience it does. Having human moderators on small servers that you can actually talk to directly is far better than massive billion-person servers with unreachable robots making inexplicable decisions."
Thanks for agreeing with me!
Like I said, it's not the federation of the server size, IT'S THE MODERATION.
On a grassroots level, where each server is small, the people who run it are more invested and have more direct control over it. That in itself provides better quality.
Twitter can't do the same because it's a vast corporation whose job is to make money for its shareholders. It doesn't care about anything else.
If you want a real world example, who is more committed: a small family that own a restaurant, or some random people at a random branch of McDonalds?
🟡 "are" No. Being small DOES NOT ensure this and you know it.
🔴 "can't" No. They can. They don't.
🟢 Logical fallacy. I guess you couldn't do this without logical fallacies.
You're disingenuous with a cult like obsession to this place.
This will grow beyond the control of its creators. Deal with that. Try to guide it or get left behind. Trying to keep it just the way you imagine it should be isn't an option, though.
Also the numbers just don't add up for large servers. The average server on here has about 500-1000 people. Let's say 1000.
Even if they had just one moderator, that's a ratio of 1:1000 staff per user.
Twitter has about 300 million users, so to get a ratio of 1:1000 they would need to employ 300,000 moderators. Depening on who you ask, the actual number of total staff at Twitter is 2000 to 7000, and only a small fraction will be moderators. That's why they use algo.
For example, at least on the web version, you cannot see how many replies a post has, it says either 0, 1 or 1+. The alert signs aren't red. There's no algorithm constantly feeding you new things to provoke you into an instant response.
Some platform on here hide the number of followers, to prevent clout-chasing.
Those aren't the only things, just my brain isn't functioning right now 😁
There are additional safety features too such as hashtag searching instead of full text searching, it means people opt into discussions by including hashtags and it's harder for "reply guys" to strike on random people.
Also Lists require you to follow people on them, so that you can stop people adding you to lists by blocking them.
Oh yeah, another anti-addiction thing: you can't see post stats when browsing a feed. This means you're judging posts by their content, not by the numbers under them.
(You can see stats if you enlarge a particular post though.)
@feditips@TheActualBrian@Tearcell I’m on ivory so I actually can see how many boosts and likes a post has, but that is still a cool feature to add in on the main site.
@feditips I've tried fedilab a couple times, and it definitely has more features, but... something about the notification system on it could use improvement, I think. Maybe the 'read' part of notifications was a bit buggy for me? Idk.
Also, local repost counts would be nice. Its extra effort for the servers, but even if incomplete it is a very useful signal.
@feditips omg thank you for this. I was using the official app and kept seeing advice to follow hashtags and couldn't figure out how to. Just installed #tusky and love the feel. So much easier to find what I want to see on my TL!
@feditips
I can second the fedilab recommendation, a small cost, but I like the UI and customizability better than Tusky.
Tusky is more "set it (install) and forget it, if that is more your speed though.
If you switch to Tusky, I think you'll find it very easy to use. It's one of the apps that Mastodon officially recommended before they had an actual official app.
Having said that, the Mastodon roadmap does include putting hashtag following on the official Android app. It's already on the iPhone app.
I think you're using Mastodon's advanced mode with its pinned tags.
That's a totally separate system from hashtag following.
If you've been away a long while, it may be that you are seeing the advanced mode by default. Multicolumn was replaced with a simpler single column interface as default, with multicolumn made an optional mode.
You can switch modes by going to Preferences > Enable advanced web interface, tick/untick to activate/deactivate, click Save Changes
@feditips Yes, I'm using the advanced mode with multiple columns. I very much prefer the multi instead of single (on desktop). It's also the only way I've found so far that groups multiple hashtags together in a single column instead of switching between one for each. Switching would be a pain for hashtags such as #3dprint, #3dprinting, and #3dprinted which all give different results for the exact same topic.
If there are people spamming or misusing a hashtag, mute or block as much as possible. It is fine to mute or block, it isn't seen as a personal insult on here.
On most tags there shouldn't be problems anyway (for example #Mosstodon, #BreadPosting, #Lichensubscribe etc are wonderful), but obviously tags related to controversial things will attract more problematic posts.
@feditips But for the love of god don't follow any cat hashtags, you will never find anything ever again as your timeline is drowning under the glorious flood.
I find a distinct lack of news, especially the live update variety. So I tune into the Laffy stream. It is informative, and it's like an oasis in a desert. While you occasionally have opinions interjected in some posts, it does not muddy the news.
Plus, you are pretty thick-skinned when it comes to gentle ribbing. I mean it as playful humor, not malice.
You can do this if you're using a computer, there's an Advanced website mode where you can add lots of separate columns with each column containing multiple hashtags. Here's how to activate it:
@feditips Is search logic different between Mastodon instances? I find that the infosec.exchange search yields more (and usually better) results than the one on mastodon.social. Makes quite a difference in the early stages as I'm looking for people to follow and content to interact with.
Yeah. There is no central server for searches, your search results depend on which parts of the Fediverse your server sees.
It sounds like infosec.exchange has connections that are more relevant to your searches than mastodon.social, and it's one reason why it's good to join a server that matches your interests.
If you want a detailed explanation, here's a list of how a server "sees" the Fediverse:
@feditips I started following several hashtags but the posts I was getting were in German and not English. Is this because of the server I chose or because the users of that hashtag just happen to be German speakers?
I'm not sure, it depends on whether the German speakers were choosing the correct posting langauge in their preferences.
If they are on a server where English is the default language, they may have not changed it to German.
Don't be afraid to mute accounts if they are showing you irrelevant content. If you're nervous doing so, you can use a timed mute instead of a permanent one.
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