Mastodon now supports searching by keywords and phrases, so some people asked should they still bother using hashtags?
Yes! Hashtags are still a really good idea!
1) A lot of people follow hashtags, if you use a tag they follow your post will appear in their timelines
2) A lot of people prefer searching by hashtag as it indicates an intended topic, rather than accidentally mentioning a word
3) Not *every* server supports full text search, but all of them support hashtag searches
Hey new people! 
You can do likes by clicking the 
favourite button. Favouriting lets the author know you liked their post.
You can do re-tweets by clicking the 
boost button (AKA "re-blog" on some apps). Some apps use a 
symbol instead of the arrows. Boosting shares a post with your followers.
To view a post later, click the 
bookmark button. No one else sees your bookmarks.
More info including how to browse your favourites, boosts & bookmarks at:
️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-do-likes-and-re-tweets-in-mastodon-and-what-are-bookmarks
If you want help with using Mastodon and the Fediverse, feel free to ask!
FediTips is an unofficial tech support account, it exists to help people use this place.
I'm especially keen to help non-technical people, please don't feel nervous asking about something. There is no such thing as a stupid question!
There are also lots of beginner's guides at https://fedi.tips and new people may find the "Quick Start" section especially useful.
PeerTube is the Fediverse's video platform. You can follow and interact with PeerTube accounts from Mastodon, but if you want to upload videos you will need to join a PeerTube server. There is a beginner's guide to PeerTube at:
️ https://fedi.tips/peertube-video-hosting-on-the-fediverse
My other account Fedi.Video shares nice PeerTube videos and suggests PeerTube accounts to follow:
I also run a site which lets you browse and search PeerTube videos safely:
Lot of new people asking how they can discover people to follow, and how they can make their own account more discoverable.
Here's a guide to discovering accounts to follow:
...and here's a guide to how to make your own account and posts more visible:
️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-get-more-followers-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse
If you see new people asking about these topics, you might want to share links to these guides.
(Also, all the text in my guides is CC-By-SA so feel free to build upon it.)
You can use Mastodon on your computer, the web interface is excellent and there are also a number of desktop apps available. Here's a guide to desktop options on Mastodon:
️ https://fedi.tips/desktop-apps-for-mastodon
If you do use the web interface on a computer, you might want to explore the advanced web interface which has a Tweetdeck-style multicolumn layout:
️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-activate-mastodons-tweetdeck-style-advanced-web-interface
The search box on Mastodon is very powerful, as it lets you interact with posts and accounts on other Fediverse platforms.
For example, here's a video on PeerTube:
https://fedi.video/w/cbQE3NRw76FayQCSdb14TU
If you copy-paste the link into your search box on Mastodon, the video appears as a post within Mastodon. You can comment, like and subscribe by replying, favouriting and following within Mastodon.
This works with platforms that have joined the Fediverse using a standard called ActivityPub.
There are lots of options for searches on Mastodon! You can search by keywords, phrases, hashtags, emoji, or narrow down results by using special "operators". Here is a beginner's guide to all of Mastodon's search features:
️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-search-for-stuff-on-mastodon
The search operators are especially useful if you want to do an advanced search of very specific terms such as posts on particular date ranges, by specific people, in certain languages, types of post etc.
@nuekaze @mastodonmigration @foo_fighter
There are lots of ways you can make a smaller instance see a much wider view of the Fediverse:
An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse
(fedi.tips)
@foo_fighter @mastodonmigration
I agree this isnt ideal, but this is a result of having many indpendent servers each with their own site. It's like email, you can't log in on GMail's website with a Yahoo Mail account even though they're both on the same email network.
But fortunately, if you just stick to following people who appear in posts on your own server's timelines, you won't have to go to other servers' websites at all.
@foo_fighter @mastodonmigration
You don't have to go to the other site to follow an account. For example I'm on a different server but you can click on my profile name and follow me without leaving your server or your server's website.
The only time there's the weirdness about not being logged in is if you visit the other server's website.
The workaround for this is to paste the web address on the other site into your own search box and it will make the profile or post appear on your server.
Someone asked how they can follow news on here. You can find lots of news accounts by scrolling to the "News & Media" section on this page:
️ https://fedi.directory/society
Paste an address into your search box on Mastodon etc to follow it.
There are country-specific news categories, for example US News is https://fedi.directory/tag/us-news
Some news accounts post a lot, and it may sometimes overwhelm your timeline. You can avoid this by using Mastodon's Lists feature:
️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-the-lists-feature-on-mastodon
I'm an unpaid volunteer who runs five websites and five accounts helping people use Mastodon and the wider Fediverse. I pay all their bills every month.
If you want to help support these sites & accounts, you can buy me a coffee at:
(No registration, choose any amount, all currencies work.)
...or alternatively become a patron at:
️ https://liberapay.com/FediThing
All support greatly appreciated! 
️ @FediTips, @FediFollows, @FediVideo, @FediGarden & @homegrown
Yay, good luck! 
Let me know if I can help!
I have a website for people setting up their own instances at https://growyourown.services/grow-your-own-social-network/
Lot of new people over past couple of days asking for help! Welcome
I am an unofficial tech support account helping people use Mastodon and the Fediverse. If you want to ask anything at all about this place, feel free to mention or message me:
My website is full of beginner's guides:
I also run a site and account to help people discover who to follow:
If you have any questions, please ask!
Right... (deep breath)
We *need* community-owned decentralised social networks. The Fediverse is the only place where this exists.
Centralised corporate social networks are easier to use because of investors' money, but these same investors demand ever-larger profits by spying on users, manipulating feeds and encouraging toxic engagement.
The Fediverse is trickier to use because it is decentralised and community-owned, but that's also what protects it from being bought out and enshittifying.
Thanks for the mention
I run a website at https://growyourown.services which encourages even non-technical people to set up their own online sites and services. There's a list of reasons why at https://growyourown.services/why-growing-your-own-services-is-a-good-idea/
If you want your account and posts to be more visible on the Fediverse, there are lots of things you can do to achieve this:
️ https://fedi.tips/how-do-i-get-more-followers-on-mastodon-and-the-fediverse
You don't have to do all of these, but each suggestion will make it easier for people to discover your account and what you post.
(For privacy and safety reasons, some people prefer not to be discovered easily. This is why so many of these options are off by default and require you to opt in if you want to activate them.)
The long-running useful bot server botsin.space is closing down. If you have a bot on the server, now is the time to start finding it a new home. Here's the announcement:
️ https://muffinlabs.com/posts/2024/10/29/10-29-rip-botsin-space
Here's the closedown schedule:
- Signups already closed
- 15th December 2024 goes into read-only mode
- Will stay online until at least March 2025 to give people time to move their accounts
If you have questions ask the admin @muffinista
Mas.to welcomes good bots (https://mas.to/@trumpet/113395387488192787)
