User:Robin Patterson/Make a Mastodon account (CC-BY tips from EFF): Difference between revisions

The following page is from https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/12/how-make-mastodon-account-and-join-fediverse - license CC-BY.

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The recent chaos at Twitter is a reminder that when you rely on a social media platform, you’re putting your voice, your privacy, and your safety in the hands of the people who run that system. Many people are looking to Mastodon as a backup or replacement for Twitter, and this guide will walk you through making that switch. Note this guide is current as of December 2022, and the software and services discussed are going through rapid changes.

EFF is excited and optimistic about the potential of this new way of doing things, but to be clear, the fediverse is still improving and may not be a suitable replacement for your old social media accounts just yet. That said, if you’re worried about relying on the stability of sites like Twitter, now is a good time to “backup” your social media presence in the fediverse.

When joining the fediverse, you are frontloaded with several important decisions. Keep in mind it’s easy enough to keep your account information when changing social media providers in the fediverse, so while important, these choices are not permanent. 

Next, using a site like joinmastodon.org, you’ll need to choose which specific Mastodon instance you join– and there are a lot of them. In making a selection you should consider three things:

Newcomers, especially those trying Mastodon after using Twitter, will likely want to try a large general-interest server. To reiterate, Mastodon makes it relatively easy to change this later without losing your followers and settings. So even if your preferred instance isn’t available to new users, you can get started elsewhere and move later. Some of you may even eventually want to start your own instance, which you can learn about here.

Once you’ve registered your account, there are a few important settings to consider. While there is a lot to say about Mastodon’s privacy and security merits, this guide will only cover adjusting built-in account settings. 

Mastodon setting page called "Appearance" under "Profile"

Preference - Other

It’s worth emphasizing again that your instance is controlled by its administrators—which means that its continued existence relies on them. Like a website, that means you’re trusting their continued work and wellbeing. However, if your instance is suddenly seized, censored, or bursts into flames, having a backup means you won’t have to completely start over.

Making sure your followers know you’re really you isn’t just to stroke your ego, it’s a crucial feature in combating misinformation and impersonation. However, if you’re looking for an equivalent of Twitter’s original blue-check verification system, you won’t find it on Mastodon– nor on Twitter, for that matter. You do have a few other options, though. 

So when setting up verification, a good strategy is to include the website(s) you have the most secure control over, and which has the most recognizable name. A personal blog is less assuring than an employers’ or schools’ site, while including all three can be very assuring– especially on reputable instances.

Now you’re ready to jump into the fediverse itself. There are a few options for viewing posts: your “Home” feed will show you posts from everyone you follow; “Local” will show the listed posts from others on your instance; and “Federated” will show you all of the posts your instance is aware of–like a shared follow list you have with everyone on your instance. Keep this in mind as you follow accounts and “boost” posts by sharing them with your followers (similar to a retweet). There is no algorithm deciding what you see on Mastodon, but rather a shared process of curation and these actions increase the audience of a given post or user.