Introduction

[NOTE: Quite a few things in this article have changed since it was originally published. This article is being left in its original form mostly for the history it represents.]

In Part One of this series we looked at the criticism that the signup process is cumbersome. It's a fair criticism, so we looked at the process, and I provided a shortcut for signing up. In this article we turn to the other major criticisms of Mastodon.

Since the beginning of the Twitter Exodus / Migration there have been several sites that attracted attention. Mastodon has possibly been the most impacted by this migration because of its similarity in appearance to Twitter. Of course, with this attention there will be people who are not happy about the differences that exist, and find it appropriate to criticize the platform.

Some of these criticisms are fair, however many of them actually underscore the difference between Twitter and Mastodon. And those differences, are what make Mastodon special, and in many people's opinion special. So, let's talk about these criticisms.

Too Many Instances Makes Mastodon Complicated

No, it really doesn't. Actually, having as many instances as possible is a strength of Mastodon. There are, in fact, several specific strengths that having so many instances brings.

The first strength is that individual instances can focus on building a community around a specific topic, interest, or need. For instance there are instances for writers, artists, members of the LGBTQA+ community, activists, and journalists. By having these instances it makes it easier for people who having things in common to find each other.

And, for some of those communities, it makes it easier for the moderation policies to be adjusted to handle the specific needs of those communities. For example, creating safe-spaces for members of the LGBTQA+ community.

But, there is another strength in this, with multiple instances there is a guarantee that there is no one person calling all the shots. The shape of the network is the work of multiple people who are highly motivated to make the network into something special.

The final benefit is that if you aren't happy with one instance, you aren't tied to it. You can migrate to another instance that has policies that fit you better. And, you can take your followers with you – just download them from your current instance, and upload them to your new instance.

No Single Administrator for The Network

This is something that should be seen as a major benefit given the current state of Twitter. Since there is no single person responsible for the whole network there is a better chance of actually being able to communicate with the person responsible for your instance.

When I was on traditional social media sites, there were many times when it would have been normal to actually have direct contact with someone to address an issue. But the way most of these social media companies are operated, it's only the people with the largest impact on the site that have any ability to work with a representative from the company.

However, Mastodon is different. The administrator for your instance is known to you. You can send them direct messages. They can investigate issues on your behalf. And, many times, if it is warranted the administrator will take action. Why? Because it is in their interest to do so. The Admins of Mastodon want to create the best environment they can for their users.

If the issue involves another instance, the Admin can work with the admin of that other instance. If the issue is much bigger in scope (such as an instance that is posting illegal materials, or whatever) that can be addressed at the network level — the administrators have tools for handling these things.

The fact is, by having multiple administrators, it's more likely that issues get addressed and resolved, instead of festering is some support queue for months on end.

There Are No Quote Posts / Toots

[Note: This has changed. Most platforms, including Mastodon, now offer Quote Posts.]

That is correct. There aren't quote posts. Why? Because this feature on Twitter is widely abused, and is the antithesis of what Mastodon has built for a social environment.

Quote Tweets have frequently been used to offer snarky or negative commentary on a person's post without contributing to the conversation. Instead, this often leads to dog piling, brigading and ratio'ing of the original post. This is the kind of negative behavior that is not being encouraged on Mastodon.

Instead, if you have a counter-point or argument, reply to the original post. Do it respectfully. Through directly exchanging opinions and perspectives all parties involved in the post can learn things.

Honestly, you won't miss quote-posts after a little bit.

Content Warnings Are Stupid

Admittedly, Content Warnings are controversial. There are some people that feel you should never have to use them, and others that feel they should be used more frequently than they are. Personally, I find there are times to use them, and times that they probably don't need to be used.

So, how do I approach this? There are two times that I will use them:

1. When talking about more sensitive topics, like SA, Self harm, politics, religion, etc. This one is a little bit tricky to know when to use them – but when you participate in these kinds of topics you get a feel for when it is appropriate. Rule of thumb: if something could be a trigger, it's a good idea to use a content warning...

2. When a post might cause problems for people using assistive technology. One that was pointed out to me recently was posting Wordle results. For people using screen readers it's horrible to hit one of those posts... They have to listen to “colon <emote name> colon” repeated thirty times. It gets worse if you post other similar games along with Wordle (like SquareWord or QuadWord).

So, while Content Warnings aren't the most obvious feature to use – there are times / contexts in which it makes sense to use them.

There's No Verification

There is no formalized verification. However, there is a way to link to other presences you have on the Internet. For example, my Mastodon profile shows the following:

The green highlight is the verification that I have control of this website. This was done by inserting a link into this website's code that links back to my Mastodon profile. How this is done is found in the Settings->Profile for your Mastodon account:

We are starting to see other services pop that offer verification of this type. For example, tonight I found PressCheck, which provides credentials for journalists that have moved to Mastodon, and provides this same back-link to their profiles.

Inconsistent Moderation Policies

Now let's be clear about something. All the Mastodon instances that are listed on the official Join Mastodon website have agreed to the Mastodon Server Covenant. This is a requirement to be allowed to have an entry in the database.

Beyond the Mastodon Server Covenant, the administrators of each instance are at liberty to implement moderation policies / rules that are the best fit for the community that they want to build. This flexibility is actually powerful and important in the Mastodon network. This allows Administrators to do things like create safe spaces for members of the LGBTQA+ community. It allows administrators to choose whether NSFW content is allowed or disallowed on their instance. More importantly, it allows them to set the policy for how these rules are enforced.

When you go to sign up for an account you are shown the rules for the instance. It's typically a fairly short list that doesn't take long to read. If you don't agree with something in the rules, find a different instance with rules you don't have an issue with.

If you create an account on an instance, only to find you don't like the way it is being run, you are free to migrate to another instance. The Mastodon documentation as a whole section on Moving or Leaving Accounts.

Finding people isn't as easy as other social sites

Is finding someone on Twitter easy when you don't know anyone? Not really. But with Mastodon it really isn't more difficult. There are a few things you can do:

1. You can use tools like Debirdify or Movetodon to find others who have migrated from Twitter to Mastodon.
2. Adding “Featured Hashtags” to your profile will help in curating you home timeline to include content that is likely to be of interest to you.
3. You can follow a hashtag, just like you follow other users. Just search for the hashtag, and above the results will be a little button to follow the hashtag (it looks like the follow user button).

So, there are ways to find people on Mastodon, by actually looking for the content that interests you.

Direct Messages aren’t really direct messages

They are direct messages, but it might not be quite the way you think of direct messages. On Mastodon a direct message is one that is sent between you and the people you list / mention in the message.

Think of it this way... Email allows you to have direct one-on-one communication. But, if you CC or BCC someone, then that person is able to take part in the conversation as well. Mastodon's direct messages work in this same manner.

Direct Messages aren’t private / encrypted

As explained above, Direct Messages are (mostly) as private as you make them. Yes, an administrator could potentially see your private messages, but they generally would not be likely to look at them unless there is a specific need to.

As for messages not being encrypted.... Guess who else doesn't have encrypted DM's? Try Twitter. Encryption of DM's has been a feature they have tried to add several times. However, they have found that the need to have some kind of personal information for generating the keys to encrypt the messages to be a stumbling block.

In general, outside of messaging applications that specifically offer encryption (like Matrix and Telegram), don't expect your Direct Messages are encrypted.

Conclusion

If you have read this far into the article, congratulations! Hopefully you have a better understanding that many of the criticisms of Mastodon aren't really bad things. They are just differences between Mastodon and Social Platform X.

In many cases, the choices that have been made for Mastodon actually make it a more powerful and flexible network. For example, having so many instances and different rules / moderation policies make the communities of that instance stronger and/or safer for the users of that instance. And, having so many Administrators means that you have more access to the person(s) running your instance.

In some cases things are just different, like the way Direct Messages work, the use of Content Warnings, or how you find people to follow and talk with.

None of this is to say that there isn't room for improvement, or other features that can be added to the system. For example, adding encrypted direct messages is a desired feature that is likely to be addressed by the developers in the future.

One of the exciting things about being part of the Mastodon network is that you can have some influence in its direction. The developers are aware of things that are talked about / requested. And they look for ways to add features that satisfy the needs of as many users as possible.

In the next part of this series we'll try to get you up to speed on using Mastodon. We'll offer a series of etiquette examples for Mastodon (such as the one I touch on here regarding the use of Content Warnings), and then move into some of the power-user tips (such as following hashtags).

Categories: #Technology #Features Tags: #mastodon #socialmedia #socialnetwork #twitter #twitterexodus #twittermigration

Introduction

With the recent upheaval at Twitter many people have decided that it's time to find a new community. While numerous sites have grabbed people's attention including Post News, Hive, Tumblr, etc. My choice is: Mastodon. However, as is always the case with something that is new, there are questions and concerns that people have with a new community.

And, that is expected. Not all social networks are designed the same way, they each have their own flavor. While Mastodon bears a similar look to Twitter in some respects, there are quite a few things that are very different about it. These differences range from how you sign up, to how you find and interact with others, to how you (and the moderators) deal with bad behavior.

So, what are the best ways to get on to Mastodon, and how can you make it into a meaningful experience for you? That's one of the topics we'll explore in this series of articles. The other topic is: dispelling some of the myths that have arisen with the rise in popularity of Mastodon.

Migrating To Mastodon Issues

The most common criticism of Mastodon is that it is difficult to get started. This stems from the fact that some people find the sign-up process to be difficult. The irony is that the current sign-up process was intended to accomplish a couple of goals:

1. It was designed to make it easier for new users to find groups of people that share common interests.
2. It was designed to make the distribution of users, and therefore the load / usage of the instances more even.

However, the criticism of this system is not without merit. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, TikTok have a simple signup process because they are a single, monolithic service run by a single entity (typically a business). Mastodon isn't a single entity, it is a collective of entities spread throughout the world that chose to interoperate in the Mastodon Federation.

So, let's take a look at starting a Mastodon account and getting started.

And, if you find that the process is getting a bit too involved for you, scroll down to the section A Faster Way.

Signing Up For Mastodon

There are two ways to sign up for Mastodon: (1) via the official Mastodon App on Android or iPhone, or (2) via the Join Mastodon website. The second method will apply to people using third party apps (like Tusky, Tooot, Fedilab on Android, and Tootle, Metatext, Tooot on iPhone).

Using the Official Mastodon App

Signing up using the Official Mastodon App is less complicated than it has been portrayed as. The biggest confusion tends to come from the need to select an instance.

The start screen (see image 1) for the application offers two options for you at the bottom of it's screen: “Get Started” and “Log In”.

Log in is for users that have already created an account on Mastodon. (It is also used if you decide to change the server that you are logging into... More about that later in the article.)

The Get Started option is the one that you will want to select as a new user to Mastodon. Once you have selected the Get Started button, you will be presented with a new screen (see Image 2). This is the instance selection screen:

The easiest way to navigate this screen is to select “General” from the options, and then select any server that sounds good to you based on the description. The one consideration that might be a determining factor for you is language. The majority of servers are English, however, there are some for languages like Gaelic, Japanese and that rarest and strangest language: Australian. (I'm just kidding...)

Once you selected an instance, select the Next button. This will bring you to the following screen (see Image 3):

Take a moment to review the rules of the instance you have selected. If you agree with them, Great! Click the I Agree button to move forward. On the other hand, if there is something in the rules that you don't agree with, click the Back button to select a different instance.

Once of you have agreed to the rules for an instance, you are presented with the following screen (see Image 4):

This screen presents you with the opportunity to read the Privacy Policies for both Mastodon App and the instance you have selected. I would recommend reading these, although I know many people don't since they are typically full of all sorts of legalese and jargon. When you are ready, click the I Agree button.

And, you are taken to the final screen (see Image 5) – the account creation screen:

This will hopefully look a little more familiar. You fill in the form, select an avatar, and click the Next button to complete the signup on the instance you have selected. From this point on you will be on Mastodon and can start looking around, finding people to follow, etc.

Using The Join Mastodon Website

Using the Join Mastodon website is a similar experience to using the official Mastodon App. When you go to the website you will see the following page (see Image 6):

To get started click the Create Account button, and you will be taken to the following screen (see Image 7):

This is the page where you will select your instance. First we want to scroll down to the Topic section of the page (see Image 8):

In this section select the General topic. This will cut the number of servers to less than half of the original list. Note: there are a few categories for special needs you might want to consider, like LGBTQ+ and Activism. These will provide fewer options, but possibly more supportive communities.

After making your Topic selection, scroll down to pick an instance (see Image 9):

When you find an instance that sounds appropriate for you, click on the Create account or Apply for an Account button. There is a difference between these two buttons, which do need some explanation:

• Create Account allows you sign up and log in automatically. Most of the instances in the General category offer instant access.
• Apply for an Account is used on instances that do a brief screening before granting you access. This is mostly used for special interest servers to make certain that the person is applying for the best reason. For example, the Activism and LGBTQ+ want to be certain that new members won't log in just to attack other members. In some cases the Apply for... button is just used to control the rate at which new users are added to the instance.

So, once you select Create account or Apply for an Account you will be taken to the instance you have selected (see Image 10):

On this page you can look through some of the posts that have been made on the instance recently. When you are ready you can select the Create account button to proceed. You will be shown the rules of the site on the next page (see Image 11):

Once you have accepted the rules, you have reached the for creating your account (see Image 12):

And from this point, it's basically the same process as signing up for most other Social Media type websites. You supply a display name, username, email address, and password. Review the privacy policy, and click the Sign-Up button. From this point on you'll follow the instructions to get started with your new Mastodon account.

A Faster Way

So, as I stated before diving into the signup walk through: there is merit to the point that the signup process is complicated / cumbersome. However, there is a workaround for this: skip the part that makes you go through the Join Mastodon interface, and just jump to an instance and create an account. But how can you do that? Well, here's a quick list of some instances that are good general chat instances that you can get started on:

• Mindly.Social
• The Blower AU
• Mastodon Party
• Mastodon Plus
• Universeodon
• Vivaldi Social
• Ohai Social
• Mstdn Social

Yes, there are lots more instances to choose from, however these instances are good starting points. Once you get comfortable with Mastodon you can migrate to another instance if you wish (there are instructions in Mastodon's settings for how to migrate).

Once you have signed up for your account, you can use your address to sign in to any app that you have installed on your phone without going through the long process of using the Join Mastodon website.

Conclusion

In this first in a series of articles we've looked at how to sign up for Mastodon. It is admittedly a cumbersome process, but one what was designed to be more flexible and allow new users to select an instance that is the most appropriate for them.

Having considered the signup process, I've included a shortcut list of a half dozen instances that are good places for signing up and investigating what Mastodon has to offer.

In the next article in this series, I'll address some of the other criticisms that I've seen in the press. Having considered those criticisms, we'll move on to discussing what makes Mastodon different from other social media websites.

Categories: #Technology #Features Tags: #elon #elonmusk #mastodon #migration #riptwitter #socialmedia #socialnetwork #twitter #twitterexodus #twittermigration