F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions

This is the protocol of a (series of) workshop(s) held by @PaulaToThePeople for Fediverse beginners, especially those who came to Mastodon after Musk bought Twitter.

👉The poll for the next workshop can be found here.

What is Mastodon?

See also the article What is Mastodon? in this wiki. As well as Mastodon features explained for a full review of all Mastodon features.

Mastodon is a free software microblogging project. It shares quite a few similarities with Twitter, but differs in some key features.
It is decentralized/federated and belongs to the Fediverse (see below).

Mastodon's lack of certain Twitter features like "Retweet as Quote Tweet", are not an oversight but the can be deliberate choices by its developers.

When you just created an account you'll see the basic interface with an empty home timeline. Follow other accounts and create your individual interesting home timeline.
To follow/find accounts that are hosted on different instances (servers) than your own account, you usually have to search for their full handle (username@instance.tld) or their profile's url.

When you use Mastodon via your desktop browser, you can change quite a few things about its look and feel via your account settings. Anyone looking for an equivalent to Tweetdeck's many columns, may switch to the advanced interface:
It allows you can for example to pin a column for hashtag you've searched by clicking on its top right corner.

All notifications a shown in one column, in which you can switch between different types of notifications. The column's top right corner opens its settings, where can optimize your notification column to your individual needs.
As with Tweetdeck, if the number of columns exceed your display's width, you either need to scroll left and right or zoom out, until all columns fit again into your screen.

If you want to ensure, you will not miss posts from accounts that are the most relevant to you or you want to cluster accounts to create thematic timelines, for example, you can create lists, and pin them as a column. Only accounts you are following, can be added to our lists.

Your home timeline shows posts by accounts you follow and boosts by those accounts. There is no algorithm sorting posts for "relevance". Everything will appear in the chronological order it was either posted or boosted. Everything in your timeline will have the same look whether it originated from a Mastodon account or an account from some other Fediverse service.
The local timeline displays all the public posts accounts on your server published - boosts are exlcuded. The federated timeline shows posts from the whole Fediverse as your server knows it. It includes posts from every account your server was introduced to either by someone following or successfully searching from your server.

What is the Fediverse?

See also the article What is the Fediverse?.

Mastodon is just one part of the Fediverse.
On Mastodon, all content may look like it only originated from Mastodon, but many posts may originate from other parts of the Fediverse.

All of these different services in the Fediverse can communicate with Mastodon and each other.
It works similar to email. You can write to someone who has gmail from an icloud account, for example.

Besides microblogging there are services for picture-blogging, music, podcast, books and so on.

See also Fediverse replacements for traditional social media platforms

What is Pixelfed?

See also What is Pixelfed?

It works similar to Mastodon, but the interface looks more like Instagram than Twitter and you can only post and see picture posts.
Some special features include the ability to add license information for your media and adding your posts to collections.
Users from Mastodon or other parts of the Fediverse, who follow Pixelfed-Accounts won't see the license information or collections though.

Questions from participants

Will Mastodon/the Fediverse remain niche?

It grows every time the big commercial platforms f**k up, so it may depend on how big and thorough those are. But because Fediverse is not a centralized platform, everyone and anyone can create their own niches (which may not even be connected to the rest of Fediverse).

How to choose the right server / instance?

See also How do I get an account?

First think about which service you want to use. Mastodon, Pixelfed, ...
Then think about the size of the server. Very large servers go against the whole idea of decentralization/federation and especially right now they might be overwhelmed from all the new users. Additionally, huge servers are much more attractive target for hackers.
Tiny instances might appear very sleepy and thus making harder for you to discover interesting people to follow, as you have to actively search to find them on other servers.
Then think you should ask yourself what is most relevant for you: sharing a server with people, who share the same special interest, or who are geographically located in the same area or do you want neither and prefer a general interest server.

You can also check-out which servers are most relevant for you, based on your Twitter connections - more on that here.

A small selection of helpful server lists:

• Special interest instances
• Local instances
• joinfediverse.com - small instances ready for new users
• fediverse.pary (Themed Servers)
• instances.social - instance picker (check out the advanced mode and sort by interesting details like security quality)
• fediverse.observer - filterable list of all servers
• DE: Deutschsprachige Mastodon Instanzen

Do Mastodon servers generally have the same technical features or are there relevant differences? If so, can I check this out before joining?

Most servers will have the same features and limits. Some may have higher limits for e.g. characters in a post (climatejustice.social has 5.000 instead of the usual 500).
The limit for poll options or the number of bio-links may have been adjusted by the admins. But each code change may create problems at every Mastodon update, thus most servers run with the original settings.
As of right now, there are no listings of Mastodon instances that also include information about deviations concerning features or limits. And instances commonly also do not advertise them on their "/about" pages. Asking around before joining a server, is currently the only way to figure this out.

How to move to a different instance

There is a guide in English, German and Japanese here and another one in German with screenshots here.

How to find people on other services?

You usually need to know someones full handle (@profile@server.name) or their profile's URL. Both can then be used to find them with the search function of the service, where you are logged in.
Whether you want to find an account on a different Mastodon server or an account on a different Fediverse service, you always need the same information for your search.

How to find other members of niche communities/ people with shared special interests

You can search for topics or hashtags. The results are clustered as follows: all ⏐ people ⏐ hashtags ⏐ posts. "People" will show you accounts, that have handles or display names containing your search word. "Hashtag" will list hashtags, that start with your word. You can click on each hashtag to see posts containing it. Under "Posts" you will only find those, you have interacted with.
You can also find a server that is dedicated to the topic you are interested in (e.g. here) and find people on the "/discover page" of each server (only Mastodon servers).

How to find people you know from Twitter

Tools like fedifinder , debirdify or twitodon will crawl the account info of everyone you follow on Twitter for Fediverse accounts. You can download the results as a .csv file and upload it via "preferences >> import" to your account.
You can also use debirdify to create and upload lists with Fediverse account info for Twitter accounts you have previously blocked or muted.
Debirdyfy also shows you, which servers/instances are most relevant for you based either on the Twitter accounts you are following or on those who follow you.
Make it easy for your Twitter contacts to find you in the Fediverse by adding your account info to your Twitter profile. You can either adapt your display name, add it to the description in your bio or as the bio's link. Screen reader users prefer, if you do not change your display name into your long Fediverse info, because impacts their user experience as it will lengthen the sound bite for each Tweet.

How to best share audio, pictures and movies?

As seen in the graphic above, there are specialized Fediverse services for multimedia sharing. An example: If you often want to share your videos, especially if they exceed Mastodon's file limit of 40 MB, it is better to use Peertube. You can then use the link of your PeerTube video to create your Mastodon post. Using a PeerTube link will not impact how other users can engage with your video content.

If you want to share video from Youtube, you should create a tracker-free link, because many Fediverse users do not want to share their data with big tech companies. You can use invidious.snopyta.org or another invidious instance to create such a link.

Is it sensible to have several accounts, so for Mastodon, Pixelfed, Peertube, etc.? And how to connect them?

It can make sense to have more than one account on different services, especially if you want to share different media.
You can use the same handle and display name for very account, but each full handle will be different, so e.g. @PaulaToThePeople@climatejustice.social (Mastodon) and @PaulaToThePeople@climatejustice.video (Peertube).
While you can link from one profile to the other in each accounts meta date, they will always remain separate accounts.

Are there special servers for governmental accounts?

There are:

• social.bund.de for Germany (invite only)
• EU Voice for the European Union
• more will probably come...

Slide-ins

Account verification

There is no official verification system in the Fediverse like on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. But there are indicators, that help to access how legit an account is:

• If the account belongs to an official invite only server, for example to one of the government servers mentioned above, they had to verify themselves to create their account on those servers
• Each Mastodon account can create verified links to their official website
  • To verify yourself as the owner of a link in your profile metadata, the linked website must contain a link back to your Mastodon profile. The link back must have a rel="me" attribute. The text content of the link does not matter.
  • As anyone can set up fake websites and then successfully create a verified connection between such a fake site and their Mastodon profile, it is not 100 percent reliable.
  • It is helpful to check for the following: If you click the Mastodon verified link, does its URL in your browser exactly match the URLs that you may find through their officially verified accounts on a different platform? Do other links from other reliable sources like news media match exactly? Or in cases where real life products featured their URL, does it match exactly with their Mastodon link?

Accessibility

• To share your content inclusively on Mastodon, ad a description to every video or picture/graphic you post. A good description is short but includes all necessary information, so someone unable to see does not miss out on what it is you want to share through your video or picture.
• The fediverse service Glitch-Soc has a feature where you can see red boarders around pictures or videos without alt text.
• There is also a bot @PleaseCaption@botsin.space that reminds you privately, if you the media in your posts lack a description.

Deleted posts

"The internet doesn't forget and the Fediverse can't forget."
Because servers have to crawl each other for content, a deleted post may still be visible to users on servers. If they engage with the post after you have deleted it, you may not even see this in your notifications because by deleting it, you have severed your account's connection to it.

Not yet formatted protocol(s)

What is Mastodon?

   Two types of interfaces: Basic one and extended one like Tweetdeck

   Local timeline

   shows posts by ppl from your local instance

   for themed instances this timeline will be mostly about the theme then

   federated

   shows "known" ppl:

   ppl that other follow, boost or searched for

   search

   you can use hashtags

   you can search for @<username>@<domain> even across services like @foo@open.audio for following an account of funkwhale on mastodon

   profile

   top left corner shows indication whether user is already following you

   notifications

   settings (top right corner)

   display categories: Differs between replies, favs, boosts, reminders, ppl follow you

   user preferences

   tip: not crop images (cropped by default)

   normally just shows a part of the image in the home timeline

   advanced interface

   multiple columns like on tweetdeck

   you can "pin" new columns

   you can also combine multiple hashtags together in one column

   in v4 of mastodon: you can follow hashtags

What is the Fediverse?

   joinfediverse.wiki/Beginners_Fedi_Workshop

   lemmy: like reddit

   friendica: like facebook

   peertube: youtube

   pixelfed: instagram

   funkwhale: soundcloud

   bookwyrm: goodreads

   writefreely: simple blog

   wordpress: can be made "fediverse-compatible" by plugin

   all fediverse systems and instances can communicate via a common protocol called ActivityPub

   look & feel of posts from the different services don't differ in the UI of mastodon for example

Funkwhale

   One instance for example is open.audio

   you can browse by hashtags, albums, artists, playlists

   only for license-free audio

   upload

   publish work in channel

   channel

   series

   license (only cc0 or cc)

   there are apps available that are compatible with funkwhale

bookwyrm

   Example instance: bookwyrm.social

   there is no federated/local feed, just your home feed

   can upload books or select some from the catalogue

   you can add your status about the book (started reading, stopped readinge etc.)

   you can leave reviews about books

   You can view the same info if you e.g. follow the bookwyrm account on mastodon

Questions:

   How to find a trustable instance? Server rules are nice, but there is no guarantee these will also be respected and followed by the admin, especially if the instance is new, and you are a new user.

   joinfediverse.wiki/FediBlock, fediblock.org

   list of instances that are usually blocked for various reasons

   on mastodon you have <domain>/about page where you see also other instances this domain has blocked maybe as an indication that admins are actively "managing" and moderating

   or by recommendation :)

   joinfediverse.wiki/Special_interest_instances

   explain the process if a post violates the rules & should be reported?

   click on the dots of a toot

   modal opens up to indicate which toots you think are violating the rules

   you can also forward the report to the instance of the author of the toot you are reporting

   there is a moderation UI for Mastodon moderators

   you can block

   hide (can still follow, but no longer exposed to the outside)

   local users can be deleted completely

   you can report

   not following the rules

   spam

   herassment

   How do you conect to other servers in mastadon

   you can not connect to the WHOLE server, only to accounts via @username@domain within your mastodon search or by full URL of the users' profile

   "See what's happening" on other instance's landing page will show you sort of "timeline" from this instance.

   "Profile directory" shows you active ppl on the server --> copy link --> enter the link into your search

   If you start following a new account no one else on your instance already follows, then the user's toot list will be empty

   the timestamp of a toot is the direct link of a toot

   paste this to your search and you will see the toot suddenly appearing in the profile of the author

   android app fedliab: you can follow feed from a whole instance but not the whole local timeline (only the known part by ppl that already are known to other ppl on your server)

   Can you demonstrate how to use the "lists" feature?

   create a new list

   search for ppl you are following and add them ("+" sign)

   you CAN NOT add ppl to a list that you do not follow

   A list only shows new posts since you added a person to the list

   you can tweak the lists in the advanced layout whether you want to see replies by others

   lists are NOT PUBLIC

   How to find new interesting users at the beginning?

   via explore --> users

   via hashtags of your interest

   via profile directory of another instance

   via fedifinder tools (fedifinder.glitch.me, pruvisto.org/debirdify/)

   Does it make sense to create accounts on instances of the different software (like pixelfed, mastodon etc.)?

   If you want to POST on those software then yes

   for consuming you can only have one account

Fedihelp.online protocol in German (unformatted)

• Heute ging die Meldung rum, dass mastodon.social von mastodon.art geblockt wurde. Was hat es damit auf sich?
• Wie erkenne ich denn gut moderierte, gepflegte Instanzen?
• Wie finde ich eine Instanz, die inhaltlich zu mir passt?
• Ist es nicht ziemlich egal, bei welcher Instanz man landet? Außer bewusst verfassungsfeindlichen etc. kommt man doch eigentlich überall zurecht, oder?
• Was viele vielleicht interessieren würde, ist der Datenschutz hinsichtlich GDPR. Jede Instanz ist für die Einhaltung verantwortlich. Wie soll/kann dies gewährleistet werden? Gibt es da eine generelle GDPR-Richtlinie, die eine Instanz einhalten muss, um am Fediverse teilnehmen zu können? Wie bekommt man interessante NGOs und Firmen in das Fediverse?
• Gibt es Instanzen die man auf jeden Fall blockieren sollte? z.B. wegen Cybersecurity
• Mir gefällt die fortgeschrittene Benutzeroberfläche. Die ist aber für meinen Bildschirm recht schmal, selbst mit 4 Spalten. Kann man das verändern (ohne den Browser-Zoom zu ändern)?
• Wie kann ich am besten mit zwei Accounts auf zwei Instanzen hantieren? Ich bin auf chaos.social, möchte gerne aber auch auf infosec.exchange ein Account.
• Gibt es die Möglichkeit, private Nachrichten in einer Art „Chat“ zu verfassen? Benutze Metatext und da gibt es das (anders als bei der klassischen Mastodon App vom Appstore) aber es sieht „seltsam“ aus > wie mehrere Toots hintereinander.
• Welchen Sinn haben "Listen" und wie legt man sie z. B. in Metatext oder im Browser an?
• Gibt es innerhalb der (Android) Apps eine Möglichkeit sich Informationen über Instanzen zu verschaffen? Kenne die about-Seiten im Web, aber kann man auf diese Seiten auch innerhalb der Apps zugreifen?
• Frage zu den lokalen Timelines: Gibt es eine Möglichkeit, diese von unterschiedlichen Instanzen zu abonnieren oder anderweitig komfortabel zu verfolgen, ohne mehrere Accounts anzulegen?
• wie bekomme ich das hin, das der webclient mit Fedilab sich syncronisoeren? muss ich das manuell machen oder geht ds über das account => listen ist da ein thema ; listen mit hashtag / listen mit accouts
• Ist mein subjektiver Eindruck richtig, dass die Suche nur eine sehr begrenzte Reichweite im Fediverse hat? Gibt es eine Möglichkeit, nach Namen oder Hashtags im gesamten Fediverse zu suchen?
• Was haltet ihr von der Nutzung von Relays, um ganz kleinen Instanzen einen besseren "Einblick" in das Fediverse zu ermöglichen? Hat jemand da Erfahrungen gemacht?
• Gibt es Beispiele für die Kombination von verschiedenen Diensten? Z.B. Mastodon - Pixelfed
• Gibt es eine Webseite, die auflistet, welche Instanzen sich gerade muten /blocken?
• So wie ich es verstanden habe, ist Mastodon ja ein Teil vom Fediverse (welches dezentral ist). Was gibt es denn noch für Anwendungen aus dem Fediverse? Oder kurz: Was ist das Fediverse und was kann es noch so?
• worauf sollte ich achten wenn ich mir ein weiteres account für Friendica, Pixelfed und co anlege => worauf be der instanz achten
• PixelFed ist ziemlich neu oder? Auf der Landing Page stehen nur 4 Server, aber eigentlich gibt es mehr. Wo findet man die denn? :)
• Kann man die Sichtbarkeit von individuellen Boosts einstellen? Mein erster Eindruck ist, dass diese immer »Followers only« sind.
• wie kann ich privat schicken? Fand es heute nicht...
• Gibt es eine Möglichkeit, z.B. ein BrowserPlugin oder bestimmte Instanzen, welche mir einzelne Toots in deutsch übersetzt - ähnlich wie bei Twitter unterhalb eines jeden fremdsprachigen Tweets zum anklicken "Tweet übersetzen" ?
• ich hab letztens gesehen, dass mir ein "Relay" gefolgt ist, was heißt das? ist das ein Bot…?
• wie konnen wir euch mods und admins helfen wenn einer sich benimmt wie die axt im Walde?
• kann man Sprachen (aus)filtern?
• Welche „Bedienungsanleitung“ für die Betreuung einer Mastodon-Instanz könnt ihr empfehlen. Gemeint ist nicht die technische Einrichtung sondern die „Betreuung“ der Menschen auf der eigenen Instanz. (Für Anfänger).