Roll Up! Take Your First Steps Into... Mastodon!

[AgentPete]

Everyone is talking about Mastodon at the moment – the free and open-source alternative to Twitter.

Although at first glance it looks very similar to Twitter, it works in a very different way. Twitter is a highly-centralized system. Should you dare to tweet anything that offends whoever the boss happens to be - then you may find your presence on his platform is… limited. Or shadow-banned. Or something equally oubliette-ish.

That’s not possible with Mastodon, because it's a network of independently-run servers. There is no Mr. Big: therefore there’s no possibility of being banned from the platform. It’s not corporate-controlled social media – it’s user-controlled.

Mastodon has been around for seven years but has only recently seen a surge in growth and media attention.

Litopia has always been at the forefront of tech innovation (think about all the early podcasts we did) and so yes, we’ve just set up our own Mastodon server, which is now a constituent part of the 5000-strong network of Mastodon servers collectively known as the “fediverse”.

The hard part has already been done, i.e. setting it up.

Now it's over to you to experiment with! Will Mastodon overthrow Twitter - and could it become a valuable new way to discover authors and their works?

Sign up on Litopia's Mastodon server now and kick the tyres a bit!

​

 

[James Charles]

Type "litopia.me" in the search and tick the result. Here's what I get...

View attachment 15388

You're spot on! Thanks.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I found this Mastodon server. Looks great, but won't let me sign in because my account is not hosted on its server. Thoughts? Why would anyone create a subset of a social media site that is walled off?

MastodonBooks | m:books

We are 'the' book-dedicated space on Mastodon. If you are an avid reader, an author, a librarian, a bookstore, a publisher or just a nice person and you love books! Then, this is home

mastodonbooks.net

 

[Pamela Jo]

Wish I had an answer about TikTok, FB, or Insta. I'm not on any of these, so I can't offer a meaningful comparison. Funny place for a new Masto-mod to be, but here we are

Sorry Bloo, this wasn't what I meant. I went to the Mastodon site on my phone wanting to sign it. But then it says if you joined in a different group- you would not have an undividual account to sign in to. So then my Q is how to sign in to Litopia there? or do we set up an individual acct that links up to the one on Litopia?

 

[Pamela Jo]

I found this Mastodon server. Looks great, but won't let me sign in because my account is not hosted on its server. Thoughts? Why would anyone create a subset of a social media site that is walled off?

MastodonBooks | m:books

We are 'the' book-dedicated space on Mastodon. If you are an avid reader, an author, a librarian, a bookstore, a publisher or just a nice person and you love books! Then, this is home

mastodonbooks.net

I think this is related to my Q. Litopia is in a way walled off. So do we create individual accounts as well so we have access? That might be the solutiin for the longer term project thing....

 

[Bloo]

Well...I've signed in to several accounts. One of them is the MastodonBooks one Peyton shared.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Well...I've signed in to several accounts. One of them is the MastodonBooks one Peyton shared.

From the Litopia account? There is just a bit of info missing that makes this make sense. Some of us are whole picture learners. We need to understand the whole in the beginning rather than get it in pieces.

When I go to https://joinmastodon.org/ do I create an account again? Is it that Litopia is the server? Or defined as sponsor? If so how do I find Litopia when I sign in?
I mean I can apply to join groups, but that doesn't require me to find my account-you just apply and wait for confirmation.
I am interested that there are 7 furry groups and only 3 for books. Shouldn't Litopia be under books?

​

Servers​

The first step is deciding which server you’d like to make your account on. Every server is operated by an independent organization or individual and may differ in moderation policies.

so this is me accepted into an account-but it's asking me to set up a new account. So is this the MO. You have as many accounts as groups you join?

Welcome aboard, PJWexford!​ Here are some tips to get you started​

Your full handle​ @PJWexford@indieauthors.social​ This is what you would tell your friends so they can message or follow you from another server.

You can customise your profile by uploading a profile picture, changing your display name and more. You can opt-in to review new followers before they’re allowed to follow you. Setup profile​ Start posting! Even without followers, your public posts may be seen by others, for example on the local timeline or in hashtags. You may want to introduce yourself on the #introductions hashtag. Start posting​

 

[Jinn Nelson]

I've been looking into Mastadon over the weekend and I'm encouraged that it's a open-sourced software, not a single platform, owned by a nonprofit, and not ruled by algorithms. My favorite thing so far: no Like button. I applied for an account to check it out some more. We'll see how it goes.

I found the Mastodon help guide and this increasingly less-brief guide to Mastadon very helpful to understanding what it is and how it works.

 

[Pamela Jo]

I've been looking into Mastadon over the weekend and I'm encouraged that it's a open-sourced software, not a single platform, owned by a nonprofit, and not ruled by algorithms. My favorite thing so far: no Like button. I applied for an account to check it out some more. We'll see how it goes.

I found the Mastodon help guide and this increasingly less-brief guide to Mastadon very helpful to understanding what it is and how it works.

Thank you. MY ADD brain is always looking for instructions out of chaos.

 

[Pamela Jo]

This is sort of peripherally interesting. Buzzfeed had some of the best investigative journalism around. It just didnt have the brand for it.

“I Was Pretty Utopian”: With BuzzFeed News in the Grave, Ben Smith Reflects on Digital Media’s Convulsions

The Semafor cofounder gabs with VF about his new book, Traffic, a postmortem on the aughts media revolution of Nick Denton and Jonah Peretti. Plus: AI in newsrooms, Elon’s Twitter, and what he could’ve done differently at BuzzFeed.

www.vanityfair.com

 

[CarolMS]

We need a reason to use Mastodon. Otherwise, it's just another juvenile SM (Social Media not Sado-Masochism or Social Medea @Jonny) platform monetizing itself by sucking the one thing out of us we can never get back--our time. If using it will promote Litopia I am in. Otherwise, I am out. I do not need to log into it to get info already on Litopia. Thoughts?

I'm finally getting around to spending a little time thinking about the value of Mastodon and at this point I'm frankly not seeing much in it for me. The last thing I need is something else to suck my limited time and energy away. I agree with you completely, Peyton.

I have two Twitter accounts, both with very few followers because I have very little time for posting or finding people to follow. One account (@RockinLibLady) is more related to US politics and my thoughts on what's happening in America today and the other is related to my writing and under my pen name (@martta_karol). Some retweets have posted on the wrong account because somehow Twitter mixes the two up (I guess because I use the same computer for both, despite having created two separate accounts). Annoying. And now, also annoying, the news feeds are filled with irrelevant and/or just plain awful stuff. So I'll be getting out.

But I'm not sure about Mastodon. The only thing I'd want to do with it is use my pen name and do posts relevant to my writing, my novel-in-progress and related subjects, and other things that might help me over time develop a following of people who might be interested in my writing. I also see it as a way to develop relationships with other writers and also editors, agents and others involved with writing, particularly fiction. But are there enough such people on Mastodon to make it worthwhile? I don't know.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

I'm finally getting around to spending a little time thinking about the value of Mastodon and at this point I'm frankly not seeing much in it for me. The last thing I need is something else to suck my limited time and energy away. I agree with you completely, Peyton.

I have two Twitter accounts, both with very few followers because I have very little time for posting or finding people to follow. One account (@RockinLibLady) is more related to US politics and my thoughts on what's happening in America today and the other is related to my writing and under my pen name (@martta_karol). Some retweets have posted on the wrong account because somehow Twitter mixes the two up (I guess because I use the same computer for both, despite having created two separate accounts). Annoying. And now, also annoying, the news feeds are filled with irrelevant and/or just plain awful stuff. So I'll be getting out.

But I'm not sure about Mastodon. The only thing I'd want to do with it is use my pen name and do posts relevant to my writing, my novel-in-progress and related subjects, and other things that might help me over time develop a following of people who might be interested in my writing. I also see it as a way to develop relationships with other writers and also editors, agents and others involved with writing, particularly fiction. But are there enough such people on Mastodon to make it worthwhile? I don't know.

Like you, I have doubts. @AgentPete sees a future for us and for it

 

[CarolMS]

Like you, I have doubts. @AgentPete sees a future for us and for it

It'll be interesting to see how it unfolds over time. I'm looking forward to learning more from @AgentPete. He seems to be following it closely.

 

[Karen J]

I've signed up. Have no idea how it works. Haven't heard if been approved. LOL Kind of like trying to find an agent.

 

[Bloo]

I've signed up. Have no idea how it works. Haven't heard if been approved. LOL Kind of like trying to find an agent.

Hey, KJ...I can't see you in queue. What username did you use ?

 

[Karen J]

Hey, KJ...I can't see you in queue. What username did you use ?

Redhawk

 

[Bloo]

Redhawk

Hi, Red...

It looks like one of us added you yesterday. You should be all set.

 

[Karen J]

Hi, Red...

It looks like one of us added you yesterday. You should be all set.

Hi Bloo,

Cool! Thanks for checking. Now I'll keep an eye out for the tutorials. lol

 

[Eva Ulian]

I've signed up. Have no idea how it works. Haven't heard if been approved. LOL Kind of like trying to find an agent.

I signed you in Karen as Redhawk- had no idea it was you. Anyway, I sent you a post.

 

[James Charles]

I'm so confused.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Try connecting with Cory Doctorow. That will lead to other connections. My account is connected to his, so you can jump in.

 

[Jake E]

Had a look.
Far too confusing for me.

 

[Eva Ulian]

Try connecting with Cory Doctorow. That will lead to other connections. My account is connected to his, so you can jump in.

Wow... step or two ahead of me. I'm still trying to find my feet on the Litopia site- not sure I'm ready to venture out yet. But I guess I will. Treading new pastures has always been tempting for me.

 

[CarolMS]

@Pamela Jo, I've just (a few minutes ago) started the process to join and am waiting for the email confirmation, but I did so by simply clicking on the litopia mastodon link that @AgentPete provided in his April 20 post about joining. I think that takes us directly to the sign up for the Litopia hosted page. Hopefully there is no need to wander all over trying to find it.

 

[CarolMS]

I must admit, I'm still not sure about Mastodon. I googled Mastodon theme options and saw a bunch that look very much alike, with the entire page 'feeling' similar despite the three columns, and it was hard to read as a result. I've been able to look at a couple of pages (the one about books Bloo mentioned and the author page Peyton connected with) and I didn't like the visual effect. I know there are some color alternatives, but the three columns are always too similar (at least of those I've seen so far). And the ability to customize one's own page with a branding photo--I use variations of the same photo background on all my social media, my blog (never updated these days, unfortunately), even business ards--seems limited, too, if it's just the small photo in the left column such as used on the books page. I searched a bunch of writing related hashtags and came up with almost nothing with any posts shown, so I don't know how much participation there is at this point by writers, editors, agents, etc., and so wonder about the usefulness of the site for productive networking. I'm sure that's a growing thing, though, and, after all, I would ultimately want to be able to figure out a way to do posts that might be of interest to potential readers for my novel-in-progress, assumig I get it published. I hope, I hope, I hope! Anyway, just some thoughts I thought I'd share about my admittedly naive efforts to get acquainted with Mastodon so far.

 

[Pamela Jo]

@Pamela Jo, I've just (a few minutes ago) started the process to join and am waiting for the email confirmation, but I did so by simply clicking on the litopia mastodon link that @AgentPete provided in his April 20 post about joining. I think that takes us directly to the sign up for the Litopia hosted page. Hopefully there is no need to wander all over trying to find it.

Absolutely correct Carol. The problem comes when you go to the Mastodon web page and have to either make a new account or find Litopia. You start anew.

 

[Peyton Stafford]

Absolutely correct Carol. The problem comes when you go to the Mastodon web page and have to either make a new account or find Litopia. You start anew.

That's the problem with it. It was built on the concept of having separate spaces for separate groups, rather than a universal space for everyone.

 

[CarolMS]

That's the problem with it. It was built on the concept of having separate spaces for separate groups, rather than a universal space for everyone.

@Peyton @Pamela Jo, I had thought that so and have been wondering if it means we must always start our participating by first going to the "home" of our so-called "instance" (such a weird word) and then from there doing further searches and connections. Is that it?

I haven't received a confirmation email yet anyway, so I can't do anything at all yet. What do I do about that?

 

[Bloo]

@Peyton @Pamela Jo, I had thought that so and have been wondering if it means we must always start our participating by first going to the "home" of our so-called "instance" (such a weird word) and then from there doing further searches and connections. Is that it?

I haven't received a confirmation email yet anyway, so I can't do anything at all yet. What do I do about that?

Hi, Carol...

I don't know about the e-mail. I approved your account manually, so you're in.

 

[Jake E]

Hi, Carol...

I don't know about the e-mail. I approved your account manually, so you're in.

It probably went in 'Spam'. Mine did

 

[Bloo]

It probably went in 'Spam'. Mine did

Thanks for that, Jake. Some confirmation e-mails wound up in spam. Always a good idea to check.

However, it looks like a few e-mails don't make it through. For example, I never got a confirmation. Agent Pete had to approve mine manually. That's what I do when someone here kvetches.

So if someone doesn't get a confirmation, do what Carol did and let us know. We can fix it

Otherwise, simply try logging in after a day or so. Even if you haven't gotten an approval, chances are one of us pulled a lever behind the scenes.