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--- mastodon [2021/06/28 07:42] – [What next?] wraidd
+++ mastodon [2021/07/12 15:14] (current) – [What next?] wraidd
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 As I said, it's basically Twitter -- you can post short messages, pictures, and videos about your life, and follow other people who are all doing the same thing.
-A lot of people have written a lot about Mastodon -- you can visit https://joinmastodon.org if you'd like to learn more.
+A lot of people have written a lot about Mastodon -- you can visit https://joinmastodon.org and https://mastodon.help/ if you'd like to learn more.
 ===== How do I get started? =====
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 ===== What next? =====
-Follow some of your townies!  Everyone on Moonbeam.town has a Mastodon account -- mine's @jack@sagephoenix.org.  You can also have a look at the Federated timeline to find other people you might want to follow, or browse the [[https://communitywiki.org/trunk|Trunk]] to find people to follow by interest.
+When you first log in, you'll be presented with the default interface, a Twitter-like monolithic timeline.  This timeline will be empty, because you aren't following anyone!  This is your "Home" timeline, which is the "Twitter" option, i.e. everyone you, personally, follow.  So the first thing you should do is follow some people!
+Of course, you'll need to find them first.  One easy thing to do is add your townies -- @wraidd@moonbeam.town, @jack@sagephoenix.org are my two accounts.  Enter them into the search box and my profiles should come up.
+Next, switch to the "Local" tab.  This tab is all the toots from everyone on our server, so that's an easy way to find people.
+Then there's the "Federated" tab.  Nobody seems too clear on exactly how the Federated tab works -- the most common explanation I've seen is "it's all the people you follow plus all the people ''they'' follow," and even if that's wrong that's close enough. There's also the "Profile Directory," which displays the people who have been active recently on the Federated network.
+Finally, there's the [[https://communitywiki.org/trunk|Mastodon Trunk]], an opt-in list of lists of users, sorted by topic.  Adding people from the Trunk is a bit tedious, but at least you only have to do it once.
+Between these sources you should be able to find plenty of interesting people to get you started.  Just make sure you read profiles first, and respect people's boundaries.  One of the reasons I like Mastodon better than Twitter is that it's marginally less toxic, but that takes everyone to maintain.
+Something else you should do early on is edit your profile and upload an avatar.  No-face accounts are looked at with suspicion and I don't want the server to develop a reputation.
 ===== A few caveats =====
 Because this is a new instance, the block lists aren't properly populated yet.  If you see someone on the public timelines posting bigoted or Nazi shit, let me know and I'll get it taken care of.
+At the moment, the Federated timeline will be populated basically by the people I follow.  As you all use the service and follow more people, the Federated timeline will get more interesting and diverse.