@Gargron @hee_katie @applebaumian @josephramoney @caseynewton @feditips

Mastodon newbie here, arrived 5 Nov. Since then I have learnt so much about how a few simple conventions can make a huge difference in the resulting communication patterns.

I love the way in which people engage with each other on mastodon.

Please keep the no-QT policy. As this thread shows, many newbies appreciate its role.

@feditips
Excellent down-to-earth survey of features and how they relate to the underlying design philosophy. Sincere thanks from this new arrival in the fediverse.

Recommended to all new arrivals who have started to make sense of the platform and who want to double-check on how it all fits.

@Gargron

I hope you will keep QTs out.

All design decisions are compromises, and yes there are valid arguments in favour of a QT feature. The arguments against QTs have the benefit of being backed by the reality of Mastodon's discussion culture, which we want to preserve and which was shaped by ruling out QTs.

9 out of 10 of those loudly demanding QTs have never asked how they might benefit from not using them. Their very loudness is the strongest argument against QTs.

@Mastodon

#QuotePosts, text-based #search --- ouch. It will be important to see how these are implemented, but it feels like a climbdown. A move toward attention-grabbing broadcasting, away from attention-giving dialogue.

Whatever happened to the slow, considered, anti-viral ethos of classical #MastodonCulture? Awaiting implementation details, but I am sceptical.

And an #onboarding process that sends everyone to one mega instance seems to be the opposite of #federation building.

@feditips

That makes sense, I once received one such private reply from you and there was nothing weird about it!

Your posts and patient replies, public or private, are a substantial service to building this place. Very much appreciated!

@feditips

I have sympathy for the situation of an artist in need of reaching a wide audience. If someone posts an image of a painting, say, and they add a handful of hashtags that are all relevant and non-redundant, I can't imagine many will complain.

Walls of almost identical hashtags just to be picked up by those too lazy to use variants of their keyword? That strikes me as bad taste. Nobody should be harrassed, but an unfollow or block seem the natural response. Does the artist want that?

@feditips

I think I disagree. It's for the person doing the search to try out those variants. We should all use hashtags, but our posts would lose all natural grace if each author were to try to preempt all possible variants of evsry search term.

@feditips

Visits to the Local timeline can be very rewarding. They add a bit of controlled randomness into the posts you see, beyond the more familiar inputs from your Follows on your personal Home timeline. Refreshing.

I am on a fairly large instance where the surprise element is dominant. Those on smaller, more focused instances will see more posts that are closer to their own interests. Either wsy, it's fun to visit Local.

Plus, Local is the place to find new arrivals and welcome them!

@feditips

On Android, I use Tusky, Fedilab and Semaphore. They are all excellent, each in their own way. Worth trying them all out. Fedilab has extensive extra functionality, Semaphore is a marvel of minimalist elegance, Tusky is somewhere in between the two and ultra reliable. All three are great.