Okay, it's time to tell new users a secret about Mastodon.
Mastodon is (whispers) part of a much bigger network 😮
Mastodon servers use an open standard called ActivityPub to talk to each other. That's how you interact with people on other Mastodon servers.
But, dozens of other federated networks also use ActivityPub, so (this is the good bit!) you can follow people on these other networks from your Mastodon account!
For example:
PixelFed (https://pixelfed.org) is a photo sharing network, here's a random example account @Iancylkowski
PeerTube (https://joinpeertube.org) is a video sharing network, with a p2p system that allows videos to go viral even on small servers, here's a random account @craftykat
BookWyrm (https://joinbookwyrm.com) is a social reading site, an open alternative to Amazon's Goodreads, here's a random account @mouse
Together, Mastodon and these other services form... The Fediverse
(whispers) Click on the link...
https://framatube.org/w/4294a720-f263-4ea4-9392-cf9cea4d5277
Just so new people know, #Mastodon is not normally slow!
There has been an incredible number of people joining recently, which has caused some growing pains.
As the server admins adjust to the new numbers, Masto should get back up to speed ![]()
As an alternative to FediTips, you might want to also check out @noelle's "Increasingly Less-Brief Guide to Mastodon":
https://github.com/joyeusenoelle/GuideToMastodon
It's got slightly different takes on many issues, but hopefully seeing a different perspective will give you a fuller understanding of how Mastodon works.
#support Is there a way to have my home feed pick up where I left off the last time I was on the site? Ideally this would carry over across devices.
What I've learned so far, for the benefit of other #Elongate refugees:
1) The best way to find people is to browse the #introductions hashtag. It's like walking into a party, talking to people at random, and deciding who you want to know more about.
2) The federated timeline is a firehose of extremely free speech with a very low signal to noise ratio. Your home or local timelines are probably better bets, but if you want to look into the unfiltered heart of the internet, you do you.
If you just came here and don't know how to "fill your timeline", remember that besides following people with the same interests (there's plenty in #introduction / #introductions), you can enable the advanced web interface in your preferences.
Create your own "content columns" for every topic you're interested in!
Just pin the hashtags you want, even multiple in one column if you wish (like #cats & #dogs), or exlude some you don't want to see (like I did in the #art column in this screenshot).
Weird starship names generated by neural net software.
Yes, they sound like something out of an Iain Banks "The Culture" novel
#2612 Lightsabers
A lot of Jedi romances start with this turning into a Lady and the Tramp spaghetti situation.
https://xkcd.com/2612/
Hmm, why didn't that last toot show up on the local timeline? My stuff is maximally public by default. #support
This is what it's like.
I finally figured out how to find the to-be-reviewed work in #GoogleClassroom without clicking through each assignment. Go to the the main GC page (not within an individual class) and click on "to review" at the top. #education #lms
CS professor, game designer, and fire dancer ordinaire.