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Hey new people! 👋
A guide to some Fediverse terms:
Toot = Post (named after the Mastodon mascot, in theory)
Favourite = Like (there's a separate Bookmark function if you really want to keep track of posts)
Boost = Re-Tweet, shares a post with your followers
Instance = Server = The site you signed up on, each server is independent
Birdsite = Hellsite = Twitter
Fediverse = This place you're on right now, reading this. Mastodon is one kind of server on here, but there are many other types.
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p.s. CW = Content Warning, where the content of a post is hidden underneath a descriptive warning that you can click on to reveal the post.
This can be used for anything where people might be interested but they might not want to read it right now, for example something controversial or stressful or something spoiler-filled. Different people have different ideas of when their use is appropriate.
You can set CWs to always open automatically in your settings if you don't like seeing them.
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Ahh I guess there are competitors for the title then... 😁
Talon Sky
@feditips I thought Tumblr was the hellsite 😅
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It has never really been called that for some reason (shrug)
Jona 🐳
@feditips Re-Toot, surely
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People still use the term, whatever Eugen decides to do with the software.
Emelia 👸🏻
@feditips a post on mastodon hasn't been called a "toot" for a long time now..
Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦
@feditips @thisismissem I, for one, will continue use that term, because to me it's a term of endearment.
Toot! :toot:
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Seen a lot of new people recently, so thought would be a good idea to get them up to speed on weird words they've seen.
Looks like Reddit's implosion and various other factors have contributed.
MrClon
@feditips new wave of migration?
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HBomberguy suggested it originally, yes.
Alan
@feditips Toot actually comes from Tommy Tallarico HBomberguy who promised to contribute to the mastodon patreon for life if that change was made.
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You can use both terms, I'm just mentioning "toot" because it's more difficult to understand if you're new here :)
Officially it's not used on the current Mastodon software, but it's been used for years and is part of the culture here so it's still used frequently.
Axel Rauschmayer
@feditips “Toot” seems to be on its way out though(?) At least in the Mastodon UI. Personally, I welcome that, I have always called them “posts”.
Jarulf
@feditips maybe just add a note that Toot is an older / legacy / deprecated term?
Oh, and thanks for everything you do to help everyone.
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No, it's just one type. There are dozens of different server types on the Fediverse, but they talk to each other seamlessly with a common standard so you may not be aware of this when you interact with people.
For example @Iancylkowski is a Pixelfed account and isn't running Mastodon software at all, but you can follow it from Mastodon and interact with its posts.
Tony
@feditips On that last point, isn't Mastodon really the software that's used to facilitate communication on the fediverse?
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It's not deprecated if people continue to use it. The software is not the culture.
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@therionofthebeast @WaterBrick @thisismissem
Post is fine too!
But "post" doesn't need any explanation, whereas "toot" may surprise new people.
therionofthebeast
@WaterBrick @thisismissem @feditips Is simply “post” unacceptable?
WaterBrick
@thisismissem @feditips What is it called then? "Post on Mastodon" doesn't quite roll off the tongue.
Tracy Hall
@feditips
I call them "Consent Wrappers" - it's not that the content is "bad" and needs a "warning"...
...it's affirmative consent to view the content.
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You can rename and customise the software, for example my account is on mstdn.social where the buttons are pride flags.
jnpegay, emphasis on the “gay”
Sibshops
@feditips I wish they would rename favorite to like.
Jarulf
@feditips well, true enough. Some other description then.
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The software deprecated the button label, but people are not software. People still talk about toots because that's what they were called on here for many years, and it's a fun little quirk :)
Jorge Candeias
@feditips Hang on. Folks tell me the toot thing was to be deprecated. Some folks are embarrassed with the kiddy connotations, apparently. My instance replaced the "toot" button with a "publish" button, although my mobile app still uses toot. What gives?
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Yeah, but he's just talking about the software.
I'm talking about the culture, about what people say on here. Lots of people talk about toots.
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I think if something is used for years in tech, it can take on a life of its own just as a cultural thing?
A lot of people still talk about phones being "off the hook" for example, but phones haven't had hooks since the 1930s.
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Yeah, exactly!
Quenby
@video_manager @feditips I really like this and it's how I use them too. Just giving a heads up for what to expect.
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I have one spare character in the post :/
If it's okay I'll leave it for the moment. I'm sure people will get that post is another word for it :)
Jarulf
@5ciFiGirl @feditips which is what I meant 😃
Sci-Fi Girl
Maybe just mention that it's one of the terms? 🤷♀️
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Ahaa... thanks for that, could well be explanation! I thought it was just Reddit, but some newbies had nothing to do with Reddit.
Artemis
@feditips @MrClon I signed up in November when I expected Twitter to implode. Then it didn’t. I continued using Twitter and didn’t log in to Mastodon. I got email warning me my account would be closed if I didn’t log on. So I did. Then I got another email saying I hadn’t logged in since November and my account would be closed. So I logged in again. This time I’m trying to make really sure it knows I logged in.
I suspect there are many of us hitting that 7 month mark and getting similar emails.
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I'm not sure what you mean?
Boost shares posts with your followers, and it also makes the post appear higher in the trending posts list.
Jarrett Smith
@feditips isn’t the protocol to boost more than like too?
Jarulf
@feditips @5ciFiGirl ha, I didn't even consider the character limit. It is probably pretty clear, after all.
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It's one kind of server.
Wuzzy
@feditips Mastodon is not a server.
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Yeah, boosts are what make a post be more widely seen because there's no algorithm on here.
Favourites are mainly to just let the person know you liked their post.
Jarrett Smith
@feditips I saw on another instance that they recommending boosting instead of favoriting to help promote others content. I feel like I see more boosts than favs myself. But I do both anyway lol
Grace :AuLife:
@feditips what’s the classification name to group Mastodon, Akkoma, Pixelfed, Calckey and the likes of it?
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Yeah, the only group those all belong in is Fediverse server types?
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