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Chris Jarvis
Chris Jarvis

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Mastodon tips

With the recent changes to the bird app, Many people have been moving towards Mastodon. I had an account a long time ago but that instance closed and I had to find a new one. I didn't use it much then but now I'm figuring out the site.

Here, are a few tips I've learned from about a month on Mastodon.

Find your twitter contacts

There are a lot of great people in tech twitter, I hate to lose all those voices in the move.

Use Fedifinder to find people you follow on Twitter that are on Mastodon. Fedifinder will check a user's name, pinned tweet, and description for a Mastodon Instance.

Fedifinder looks for @user@host.tld, user@host.tld and host.tld/@user in the name, description, location, url field, and pinned Tweet.

Make sure to add your mastodon address in your twitter name or description so your followers can find you.

You need your username and the instance name. @JarvisScript@mastodon.social
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It will give a list of accounts, then you can click and follow. It's easier and quicker to follow this way that going through twitter itself and clicking on a users profile.

When someone follows you, you get a notification, click the follow icon to follow back.
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Enable advanced web interface

If you want multiple columns similar to tweetdeck enable advance wen interface. Click the preferences icon then under appearances check Enable advanced web interface.

4 columns of text

Emojis in username

You can use emojis in your posts. Just click the in emoji icon but you can also add them to your screen name. The format is :clippy:

Each instance will have its own set of emojis to see them all use. https://emojos.in/{yourinstance} Tap and copy to the clipboard the post in your username. Some instances even have a :verified: emoji.

Follow Hashtags

You can follow hashtags. Click a hashtag and then click the follow button. If you see an interesting post follow that user. You can search for hashtags or click ones in a post.

Mastodontips is a good one to follow to help onboard you. You could also follow the account @feditips@mstdn.social.

More Tips

Do you have any tips and tricks for Mastodon?

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