Online Political Forum(s)

Huntn said:
And I’m lost, lol! There has to be a big picture, but I’m only seeing a small fraction of it. :unsure:
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Are you using an app or trying to do it from the web interface?
 
Yoused said:
Start by following AlliFlowers@talkedabout.social and you will see a fair amount of content.
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sorry in advance… :p
  • When hovering over these icons, why don’t explanations pop up when you hover over an icon? (rhetorical)
  • Is “follow” the curved arrow?
  • Is Star a like?
  • I’ve been researching, if I post “public”, does this get the most people seeing it?
  • I read something about cross posting, I don’t see a choice for this?
  • How are hashtags used and applied? Can you create your own? I suppose a hashtag should only be used if your post is related to the hashtag?
  • Can you follow someone directly from a toot? I ask because when I first signed on, a list of people popped up to choose to follow if you want to.
Alli said:
Are you using an app or trying to do it from the web interface?
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I’m currently using Duck Duck Go browser. Is there an advantage of using the mastodon app?

Ref:Follow, it looks like you have to go to a person’s homepage to follow (follow button)

potus@bird.makeup- says it‘s from Twitter, author can’t see mastodon posts, is this real potus?
 
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I’m felling like a dummy with Mastodon. I read
mastodon.help

Mastodon Help - Guide

A thorough introduction to Mastodon
mastodon.help mastodon.help

Imo, a good guide would include application examples or, is it just me? Don’t just tell me what can be done, show me how it is done.

Boosting is reposting someone‘s toot, but which of the icons are used to boost? I mentioned this in a previous post, that it’s too bad for new users that the when an icon is hovered over, a brief description of it’s function does not appear.

Another thing I am missing are thread titles. I realize you can get the gist of it by just reading the toot, but this is a case where because there are no thread titles, I would use a hash tag, if I knew how… :unsure:
 
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Huntn said:
I’m currently using Duck Duck Go browser. Is there an advantage of using the mastodon app?
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HUGE advantage. There are a bunch of free ones, including IceCube, but I stuck with Ivory, which is a subscription, mostly because I used their app on Twitter.
Huntn said:
potus@bird.makeup- says it‘s from Twitter, author can’t see mastodon posts, is this real potus?
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The bird.makeup thing is a redirect from Twitter, so it is that person’s Twitter feed, but they cannot see any replies.
Huntn said:
Another thing I am missing are thread titles. I realize you can get the gist of it by just reading the toot, but this is a case where because there are no thread titles, I would use a hash tag, if I knew how… :unsure:
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It’s not a forum, so no thread titles. Often when someone knows they’re going to do a lot, they’ll start numbering their posts. You can go straight to the first post and then read them sequentially as replies.

As to hashtags, some people are really good about using them, some not. I’m terrible about using them, but they’re a great way of finding specific content and other people who are also interested in specific content. I’ll try to be better about approving trending hashtags so you can see more.
 
Alli said:
HUGE advantage. There are a bunch of free ones, including IceCube, but I stuck with Ivory, which is a subscription, mostly because I used their app on Twitter.

The bird.makeup thing is a redirect from Twitter, so it is that person’s Twitter feed, but they cannot see any replies.

It’s not a forum, so no thread titles. Often when someone knows they’re going to do a lot, they’ll start numbering their posts. You can go straight to the first post and then read them sequentially as replies.

As to hashtags, some people are really good about using them, some not. I’m terrible about using them, but they’re a great way of finding specific content and other people who are also interested in specific content. I’ll try to be better about approving trending hashtags so you can see more.
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  • How do you apply a hash tag? Is it just #blabla in the body of the message?
  • How do you “boost” someone’s post? Is replying to it or quoting it, boosting it?
  • How do you “reblog” a post? It is frustrating finding answers to this Stuff… ok it looks like clicking on the oval double headed arrow reblogs it. :unsure:
Thanks!

The app I have just has a big M, I though this was “the” Mastadon app? It looks like:

B3A1B7C9-A8B1-4FD1-8578-7D8579A9CF3C.png
 
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Huntn said:
  • How do you apply a hash tag? Is it just #blabla in the body of the message?
  • How do you “boost” someone’s post? Is replying to it or quoting it, boosting it?
  • How do you “reblog” a post? This is frustrating finding answers to this.
Thanks!

The app I have just has a big M, I though this was “the” Mastadon app? It looks like:

View attachment 23683
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That little square of arrows is the boosty thing (it puts the post where your followers will see it. Hash tags, TBMK, are, yes, just "#hashtag" stuck in the text of your post.

And I did not much like the Mastodon app – try the one called Mammoth. It is just as confusing but easier to use.
 
Another Mastodon question, looking at the image I posted above, in the Mastadon app I don’r see an easy way to go surf Mastodon. Where as in the browser, there is such a chouce.. :unsure:
 
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Huntn said:
Another Mastodon question, looking at the image I posted above, in the Mastadon app I don’r see an easy way to go surf Mastodon. Where as in the browser, there is such a setting. :unsure:
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The Mammoth app has like 6 or 8 full columns you can slide across. One of them has some browsing tools and a small list of trending hashtags. I have not fully mastered it. I think the Mastodon app has a column on the right that has a browsing tool, but the column is pretty tiny (narrow).
 
Yoused said:
The Mammoth app has like 6 or 8 full columns you can slide across. One of them has some browsing tools and a small list of trending hashtags. I have not fully mastered it. I think the Mastodon app has a column on the right that has a browsing tool, but the column is pretty tiny (narrow).
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This screen shot of my Mastadon App, has one column on the right with categories on the top: Posts, Hashtags, News, Community, For You. Most of this seems local oriented. If I go to Mastadon on a browser, there is both a local and a federated category. The federated seems to be an across Mastadon stream.

When you make a Mastadon Post, does it just stay on the local instance or can i assume it makes a leap to the federated stream? I’ve figured out that a reply to someone not local, does reach out, and as a rule I’d like my posts to reach out across the Marathon network.

Example 2, I reply to you or @Alli, we are both local, does this interaction stay local, or can I assume this is carried over to the federated main stream, so someone who is not specifically looking for it or following, will see it?

2E007CA1-AEB4-4772-ADCD-C6E521A3A9E2.png
 
Huntn said:
Another Mastodon question, looking at the image I posted above, in the Mastadon app I don’r see an easy way to go surf Mastodon. Where as in the browser, there is such a chouce.. :unsure:
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Firstly, if you have a “Home” option, stay there. “Federated” is choice #2, and “Local” for us isn’t worth bothering with.

Think in terms of Mastodon being one continuous stream of conversation or thought, so every time you load new posts you are, in effect, surfing.
 
Alli said:
Firstly, if you have a “Home” option, stay there. “Federated” is choice #2, and “Local” for us isn’t worth bothering with.

Think in terms of Mastodon being one continuous stream of conversation or thought, so every time you load new posts you are, in effect, surfing.
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I’m trying unsuccessfully to add emoticons to my toots. I know it can be done, because I have seen them in other posts. Also I’m finding that the browser version of Mastadon is better at allowing me to follow what I am doing and see those who are reacting to me. The app in contrast seems to be much less vibrant, practically static, and I can’t help but wonder if it is a result of operator ignorance? Am I missing something? Thsnks…
 
Huntn said:
I’m trying unsuccessfully to add emoticons to my toots. I know it can be done, because I have seen them in other posts. Also I’m finding that the browser version of Mastadon is better at allowing me to follow what I am doing and see those who are reacting to me. The app in contrast seems to be much less vibrant, practically static, and I can’t help but wonder if it is a result of operator ignorance? Am I missing something? Thsnks…
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I just use the emojis built into my OS. I know there are “blobcat” emojis, but I’ve never seen one and definitely never used them. I enabled them on our server, but that could also be operator error. Maybe @Eric can take a look and see what I missed.

You can always try a different app. There are dozens of them now, and several are free.
 
Huntn said:
I’m trying unsuccessfully to add emoticons to my toots. I know it can be done, because I have seen them in other posts. Also I’m finding that the browser version of Mastadon is better at allowing me to follow what I am doing and see those who are reacting to me. The app in contrast seems to be much less vibrant, practically static, and I can’t help but wonder if it is a result of operator ignorance? Am I missing something? Thsnks…
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What isn't working? In both the app and browser you should be able to click on the smilie and get the full list. I'm with Alli though and just use the default that comes with the iPhone, it'll load those too.
 
Eric said:
What isn't working? In both the app and browser you should be able to click on the smilie and get the full list. I'm with Alli though and just use the default that comes with the iPhone, it'll load those too.
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I figured it out. It seems like I’m having better luck with the Mastadon browser version, there is an emoticon Icon which if selected opens up an emoticon window. In the Mastadon app there is something that says talkedabout emoticons, but if I try to select that, nothing happens. So far the browser version is more vibrant.

As stated, I‘m not impressed with the iOS app called Mastodon, the browser version feels better. However I found this article:
www.pcmag.com

The Best Mastodon Apps for 2024

Escape the tyranny of Twitter with the best apps for Mastodon, a decentralized and free social media platform
www.pcmag.com www.pcmag.com

…and I am going to take a look at “Mast” and “Mammoth for Mastodon”. I’m not paying for a subscription if I can help it such as for “Ivory”.
 
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I’ve determined the reason I don’t like the scrolling chat format of Mastodon, Twitter, and Discord (which I have used during gaming for voice coms, but also has scrolling text chat), is that it seems to me to be completely unorganized and is difficult to go back and find content, or get any kind of big picture. It’s like you see just the fraction of what is being discussed, only when you sit there and pay attention to it. A forum structure is far superior.

Maybe someone can inform me what an advantage of scrolling chat is? :)
 
Huntn said:
I’ve determined the reason I don’t like the scrolling chat format of Mastodon, Twitter, and Discord (which I have used during gaming for voice coms, but also has scrolling text chat), is that it seems to me to be completely unorganized and is difficult to go back and find content, or get any kind of big picture. It’s like you see just the fraction of what is being discussed, only when you sit there and pay attention to it. A forum structure is far superior.

Maybe someone can inform me what an advantage of scrolling chat is? :)
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If you tap on a post, you can then scroll up to see what it was replying to.
 
Huntn said:
Maybe someone can inform me what an advantage of scrolling chat is? :)
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How much do you like screaming into the void? Twitter feels a lot like that at times because it's such a fire hose. It's not really built for the same sort of interaction that forums and the like are. Facebook is getting increasingly like Twitter with how much junk they shove into the feed and how random their algorithm gets.

I actually like Discord for smaller curated groups where it's more like a group chat, or I don't really care if I miss stuff because search exists (i.e. topic discords).
 
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