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Toot Ya Later, Elon: Introduction to Mastodon

Introduction to Mastodon for BLAIS staff, August 2023, by Jenna Freedman

Instances

photo of a slice of pizza on a paper plateinstances

  • affinity groups
  • multiple
  • transfer

View

screenshot of mastodon menu with an arrow pointing to preferences

screenshot with an arrow pointing to a checked box next to "Enable advanced web interface"

Toots

screenshot of toot box

  • emojis
  • attachements
  • polls
  • audience
  • content warning
  • language
  • character limit

Alt Text

screenshot of Mastodon toot box with an arrow pointing to the alt text area and the help text "click to start typing"

Private Messages

screenshot of toot box audience menu with "Mentioned people only" in a red box

Click Direct Messages in the Getting Started menu on the right to read them. (See Feeds section below)

Feeds

screenshot of Mastodon "Getting started" menu with links to Local timeline, Federated timeline, Home, Direct messages, Bookmarks, Favourites, Lists, and Preferences

Hashtags

screenshot of the hashtag #saa23 and the follow icon with a red box around it

 

Bookmarks

screenshot of toot from Flashdancer that reads: HOW TO SURVIVE THE HEATWAVE: 1. Stay hydrated. 2. Have an ice cream cone. 3. Dismantle the fossil fuel industry which is literally burning the planet for the short term profit of a vanishingly small capitalist class. 4. Wear loose clothing.

screenshot of a toot that reads "Hi, it's Pandora! Welcome to my first unboxing video!" with an old master painting of a woman about to open a box

Access

screenshot of Mastoon ios appI just use the Mastodon app, but I understand there are good third party apps, too.