F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions: Difference between revisions
F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions (view source)
Revision as of 13:06, 12 November 2022
, 2 years agoSome language and links added to the general explanations to hopefully make it easier for (former) Twitter user. Also added info about debirdfy's feature that calculates most relevant instances based on someones Twitter followed/followers
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(Some language and links added to the general explanations to hopefully make it easier for (former) Twitter user. Also added info about debirdfy's feature that calculates most relevant instances based on someones Twitter followed/followers) |
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''See also the article [[What is Mastodon?]] in this wiki. As well as [[Mastodon features explained]] for a full review of all Mastodon features.'' | ''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 | Mastodon is a free software microblogging project. It shares quite a few similarities with Twitter, but differs in some key features.<br> | ||
It is | It is decentralized/federated and belongs to the Fediverse ([[Beginners Fedi Workshop#What is the Fediverse?|see below]]). | ||
Mastodon's ''lack'' of certain Twitter features like "Retweet as Quote Tweet", are not an oversight but the can be [https://mastodon.social/@Gargron/99662106175542726 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.<br> | |||
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:<br> | |||
It allows you can for example to pin a column for hashtag you've searched by clicking on its top right corner. | |||
The home timeline shows posts by accounts you follow and boosts by those accounts. | 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.<br> | ||
The local timeline | 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. | ||
The federated timeline shows the whole | |||
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 [[Mastodon features explained#Lists|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.<br> | |||
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?== | ==What is the Fediverse?== | ||
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Besides microblogging there are services for picture-blogging, music, podcast, books and so on. | Besides microblogging there are services for picture-blogging, music, podcast, books and so on. | ||
''See also [[What are Fediverse projects?#Table%20of%20Fediverse%20replacements%20for%20traditional%20social%20media%20platforms|Fediverse replacements for traditional social media platforms]]'' | |||
==What is Pixelfed?== | ==What is Pixelfed?== | ||
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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. | 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 [[Beginners Fedi Workshop#How to find people you know from Twitter|here]]. | |||
* [[Special interest instances]] | A small selection of helpful server lists: | ||
* [[Local instances]] | |||
*[[Special interest instances]] | |||
*[[Local instances]] | |||
* [https://joinfediverse.com/ joinfediverse.com] - small instances ready for new users | * [https://joinfediverse.com/ joinfediverse.com] - small instances ready for new users | ||
* [https://fediverse.party/en/portal/servers/ fediverse.pary (Themed Servers)] | *[https://fediverse.party/en/portal/servers/ fediverse.pary (Themed Servers)] | ||
* [https://instances.social/ instances.social] - instance picker (check out the [https://instances.social/list/advanced#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min-users=&max-users= advanced mode] and sort by interesting details like security quality) | *[https://instances.social/ instances.social] - instance picker (check out the [https://instances.social/list/advanced#lang=&allowed=&prohibited=&min-users=&max-users= advanced mode] and sort by interesting details like security quality) | ||
* [https://fediverse.observer/list fediverse.observer] - filterable list of all servers | *[https://fediverse.observer/list fediverse.observer] - filterable list of all servers | ||
* DE: [https://contentnation.net/de/favstarmafia/artikel2 Deutschsprachige Mastodon Instanzen] | *DE: [https://contentnation.net/de/favstarmafia/artikel2 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?==== | ====Do Mastodon servers generally have the same technical features or are there relevant differences? If so, can I check this out before joining?==== | ||
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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. | 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==== | ==== 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.<br> | 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.<br> | ||
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====How to find people you know from Twitter==== | ====How to find people you know from Twitter==== | ||
Tools like [https://fedifinder.glitch.me/ fedifinder] , [https://pruvisto.org/debirdify/ debirdify] or [https://twitodon.com/ 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.<br> | Tools like [https://fedifinder.glitch.me/ fedifinder] , [https://pruvisto.org/debirdify/ debirdify] or [https://twitodon.com/ 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.<br> | ||
You can also use debirdify to create and upload lists with Fediverse account info for Twitter accounts you have previously blocked or muted.<br> | |||
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.<br> | |||
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. | 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?==== | ====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|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. | 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|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. | ||
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There are: | There are: | ||
* [https://social.bund.de social.bund.de] for Germany (invite only) | *[https://social.bund.de social.bund.de] for Germany (invite only) | ||
* [https://social.network.europa.eu EU Voice] for the European Union | *[https://social.network.europa.eu EU Voice] for the European Union | ||
* more will probably come... | *more will probably come... | ||
==Slide-ins== | ==Slide-ins== | ||
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* 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 | * 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 | *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 <code>rel="me"</code> attribute. The text content of the link does not matter. | **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 <code>rel="me"</code> 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. | **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? | **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? | ||
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====Accessibility==== | ====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. | *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. | *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 [https://botsin.space/@PleaseCaption @PleaseCaption@botsin.space] that reminds you privately, if you the media in your posts lack a description. | *There is also a bot [https://botsin.space/@PleaseCaption @PleaseCaption@botsin.space] that reminds you privately, if you the media in your posts lack a description. | ||
====Deleted posts==== | ====Deleted posts==== | ||