Mike's Meanderings

MadVibes.Social Starter Pack

I recently stood up a Mastodon server for my friends. Here is a Mastodon starter pack for madvibes.social to expalin what Mastodon is, and how to use it.

I know that Mastodon can feel like a lot, so here's some tips to get you going.

Terms

ActivityPub - The protocol that allows Mastodon instances to connect to each other. Boost - Shares a toot with other Federation - Borrowing from the official Mastodon website, "Federation is a form of decentralization. Instead of a single central service that all people use, there are multiple services, that any number of people can use." This is in contrast to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram where you can't easily interact with other websites. Mastodon, being federated, operates more like email. Where it doesn't matter if you have a Yahoo, gmail, Apple, or Protonmail address, you can still communicate with others. Microblog - Mastodon is a microblogging platform. Meaning you can post short updates, similar to Twitter/X. Quote - Similar to a "reply" function. Allows you to comment on a toot Toot - We don't tweet or post here, we Toot!

The Fediverse

Because of the magic of the ActivityPub protocol, Mastodon can connect and follow users from a wide variety of sources. Below are a few instances where you can find other interesting people to follow.

Mastodon Instances

mastodon.social - The largest general-purpose instance, run by the Mastodon team. infosec.exchange - An instance for info/cyber security-minded people. mstdn.social - A general-purpose instance hosted in Europe social.lol - An instance for OMG.lol users. My personal favorite. tech.lgbt - This Mastodon instance is generally for folks who are LGBTQIA+ and Allies with an interest in tech work, academics, or technology in general.

Bookwyrm

Do you like Goodreads? Bookwyrm is the fediverse version. You can find different instances and decide who to follow here.

Pixelfed

Pixelfed provides an Instagram-like experience for the Fediverse. Here is a list of Pixelfed servers.

Using Mastodon

Mastodon requires a little effort to get interesting posts in your feed. There's no algorithm that will show you new content. To discover more you need to follow hashtags and accounts. It's worth it.

Timelines

Home Timeline - Shows toots from accounts you follow Live Feeds Timeline - Shows toots from your local, madvibes.social, instance, even if you don't follow them Trending - What posts, hashtags, and people are trending

Following Accounts

You can find more people to follow on FEDIDEVS.

Accounts to get you started

@[email protected] - The admin account for MadVibes.social @[email protected] - My primary Mastodon account @[email protected] - Mike's account on madvibes.social @[email protected] - Tips and tricks for the fediverse @[email protected] - George Takei, because he's wonderful @[email protected] - Ars Technica News @[email protected] - ProPublica News @[email protected] - 404 Media news

Following Hashtags

You can also follow hashtags! This is a great way to discover new accounts and interesting things.

To follow some, put the word into the searchbar and click "Go to hashtag" under the quick actions, and click "Follow".

Here's some fun ones: #lego #dnd #dogsofmastodon #videogames

Tooting

Clicking "New Post" or going to publish. When writing your toot, be sure to use hashtags and/or tag people!

Visibility

You can get pretty granular in your posting visibility. Here's a brief rundown:

  • Public - Anyone can see, even if they're not a member of our instance. Searchable on the Fediverse.
  • Quiet Public - Publicly visible, but hidden from searches
  • Followers - Visible only to followers
  • Private mention - Only visible to people tagged in the toot. This is the closest equivalent to a DM.

Images

You can share images! When posting them, you will be asked to provide ALT Text. What is ALT Text? It's a description of the image. [Disabled Social Blog] has a great description.

Alternative text, or alt text for short, is descriptive text that conveys the meaning and context of visual items including images and videos. Alt text is critical for those who use screen readers to navigate visual content. Alt text is also the text that will show up if an image is not rendered correctly on a webpage.

This is by no means required, but suggested.

Polls

Polls are a great way to ask a question and get answers.

Content Warning (CW)

madvibes.social is adults only. And while it's for adults only, not everyone wants to see NSFW stuff. Or they might be at work, and not want that content to be visible. Selecting the Content Warning flag blurs images and text in your toot. Here's a short list of what type of content should contain Content Warnings.

  • TV/Movie spoilers
  • Really, any spoilers
  • Nudity
  • Smut
  • Violence/Gore

All the above is allowed on our server, just use CW when you post it.

Crossposting

You can cross-post between different services (like Bluesky) using different tools. They can be a little unwieldy, so reach out for help. Bridgy Fed EchoFeed

Mobile Apps

There's dozens of apps for Mastodon on Android and iOS. Here's some quick links. Even more can be found here

Android

Official Mastodon App Tusky Moshidon

iOS

Official Mastodon App Ivory iMast

Customizing Mastodon

I've enabled Tangerine UI for our server! This provides themes that you can select. To use, follow the steps below.

  1. Click Preferences >> Appearance
  2. Select "Site theme"
  3. Choose your theme
  4. Click "Save"
  5. Enjoy