Chris Minnick - Mastodon For Dummies

Mastodon For Dummies

Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com

Copyright 2023 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2023930252

ISBN 978-1-394-19336-3 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-394-19338-7(ebk); ISBN 978-1-394-19337-0 (ebk)

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9

Welcome! Whether you're curious about Mastodon as an alternative to billionaire-owned corporate social media platforms or because you've noticed that many of your favorite people are joining Mastodon, this book is your friendly and easy-to-use step-by-step guide.

Maybe you're trying to decide whether to join Mastodon. Or maybe you've already joined Mastodon and are looking to get the most out of it. Or maybe you stumbled over some of the technical details of signing up on your first attempt but you're ready to give it another go. Whatever your reasons for wanting to learn more about Mastodon, we believe that you now hold in your hands (or on your screen) the easiest, friendliest, and most complete guide available!

For those of us (like Chris) who came to Mastodon because we had a sudden epiphany that we no longer liked Twitter, after spending way too much time on it, Mastodon feels like a breath of fresh air. But it's a different kind of fresh air like a sea breeze at a beach full of interesting people you want to talk to, rather than angry knuckleheads, salespeople, and snake-oil peddlers.

For those of us (like Michael) who came to Mastodon in its early days because of the cool technology and its potential to change the way the web works for the better, the sudden popularity and success of Mastodon is proof that social media doesn't need to be corporate owned and that online communities can form and become sustainable without profit motive.

Thank you for choosing us to be your guides as you take your first steps into the world of Mastodon.

This book is designed for people who are either new to Mastodon or have some experience but want to learn how to make better use of it. You'll discover, in plain English, the most important and useful things to know:

• Learning the history of Mastodon
• Understanding how Mastodon is different from and similar to Twitter
• Knowing what it means that Mastodon is distributed
• Signing up for a Mastodon account
• Learning how to log into the Mastodon mobile app and the website
• Customizing your Mastodon profile
• Configuring important preferences in Mastodon
• Getting a verified link on Mastodon
• Securing your Mastodon account
• Using Mastodon's three timelines
• Searching for and finding other users
• Following other users
• Using hashtags on Mastodon
• Viewing trending topics
• Blocking users and servers
• Getting followers
• Interacting with people and posts
• Using direct messages
• Understanding how moderation works
• Posting images and video
• Creating polls
• Doing business on Mastodon
• Making positive contributions as a business on Mastodon
• Setting up and running your own Mastodon website

As you read this book, keep the following in mind:

• The book can be read from beginning to end, but feel free to skip around if you like. If a topic interests you, start there. You can always return to previous chapters, if necessary.
• At some point, you'll get stuck, and something won't work as you expect. Do not fear! Many resources are available to help you, including Mastodon's documentation (at . Make sure to use the hashtag #mastodonFD!

In the book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If youre reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as its noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesnt exist. If youre reading this as an e-book, youve got it easy just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.