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1. Embed this notice
   FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 03:38:45 JST FediTips has moved!

   There are lots of interesting group accounts you can follow on here, they work like this:

   1. Follow the account to see discussion of the topic
   2. @ the account if you want to post to the group
   3. The account boosts anything @-ed to it, be careful when you @ them so that you don't spam the group (spammers tend to be reported and blocked)

   More info (including how to create groups) at:

   ➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-groups-on-the-fediverse/

   I've listed some active and friendly groups at:

   ➡️ https://fedi.directory/tag/fediverse-groups/

   1/2

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 03:41:37 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     Groups federate much more effectively than hashtags, so they are a useful alternative to hashtag following. Group posts reach all the group's followers no matter which server they are on. This makes them very useful on very new servers that haven't built up many connections yet.

     I haven't listed any example groups by @-ing as I don't want to spam any group's members. However, if you want to post to a group all you need to do is @ it.

     2/2

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 03:45:32 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Kevin Smokler

     @smokler

     If you read the article I linked to, it is in plain English.

     I'm trying to work within character limits so I can't repeat the article verbatim on here.

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Smokler (smokler@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 03:45:33 JST Kevin Smokler

     in reply to

     @feditips Try this in plain, human-centered English please. This clarifies nothing.

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Smokler (smokler@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 03:59:30 JST Kevin Smokler

     in reply to

     @feditips (2/2) "what account? What topic? Where?"

     v.

     Starting like so

     "Following groups centered around certain topics (gardening, Lion taming) on mastadon is an easy process. Here's how"

     1. Use the following tool to find groups that interest you

     Tool link"

     2. Enter your mastadon handle at which point the following will happen

     or alternatively

     3. If I group names comes though via your mastadon feed do this.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 03:59:30 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Kevin Smokler

     @smokler

     "Enter your mastadon handle at which point the following will happen"

     I'm not sure what you mean by this? You don't need to enter your handle anywhere.

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Smokler (smokler@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:02:32 JST Kevin Smokler

     in reply to

     @feditips I went to the article featuring the very nice collection of groups you linked to. I found a group I liked. I hit "join" at which point it asked for my mastadon handle which I entered at which poitn I had joined.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:02:32 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • FediFollows
     • Kevin Smokler

     @smokler

     Ah okay. There is an easier way, you can copy-paste the address into the search box on Mastodon. This will bring up the group's profile and you can just click "follow". (There are instructions for this on fedi.directory, in the link at the top saying "how to use this site".)

     I'd normally just do a long list of accounts to follow over on @FediFollows so that you don't have to do this. However, in this particular case it would spam all of the group members of all the groups

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Smokler (smokler@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:09:00 JST Kevin Smokler

     in reply to

     • Neon

     @geraineon I promise I am not trying to be a jerk to @feditips who has been nothing but patient with me. I am simply a little tired of the culture around the fediverse (which @feditips is not the mayor of or something) that perceives its mores to be elementary and logical and then neglects to follow basic rules of elucidation in explaining them.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:09:00 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Neon
     • Kevin Smokler

     @smokler @geraineon

     It's my main aim with my websites and accounts to be as clear as possible to non-technical people, so I really appreciate it if people let me know that they don't understand something.

     The character limit makes this difficult sometimes, but I'm trying my best 😅 Feedback always appreciated!

   • Embed this notice
     Kevin Smokler (smokler@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:09:01 JST Kevin Smokler

     in reply to

     • Neon

     @geraineon Sure does. Thank you. I won't ask you to explain federated servers in plain English because, I believe like water flowing uphill, its not actually scientifically possible.

   • Embed this notice
     Neon (geraineon@blahaj.zone)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:09:01 JST Neon

     in reply to

     • Kevin Smokler

     @smokler@mastodon.social You don't need to understand federation to do groups! But someday you might want to try to, because it is a pretty core to how fediverse works. Feditips is a great account who gives all these tips and compile suggested follow lists on a volunteer basis, so I do hope that you can be kinder in the way you communicate with them too. Have a good day

   • Embed this notice
     Neon (geraineon@blahaj.zone)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:09:02 JST Neon

     in reply to

     • Kevin Smokler

     @smokler@mastodon.social Groups are like mailing lists. You can join the mailing list by following the group (e.g., I can follow @/fantasy@/a.gup.pe - I added the slash so it doesn't spam the tag) for discussions about fantasy books/movies. Everything you post that tags this group will appear in the home timeline of everyone who follows this group. Of course, this means you will see all posts that tagged this group too. This works even if the poster is on a server that is not federated/connected to your server. You can explore what groups are available in the second link provided. I hope that helps @feditips@mstdn.social

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:24:47 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Radioactive Ken :confusedlucy:​:rebeccaangry:​

     @LevelUp

     Done!

     https://fedi.directory/language-lovers-guppe-group/

   • Embed this notice
     Radioactive Ken :confusedlucy:​:rebeccaangry:​ (levelup@corteximplant.com)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:24:48 JST Radioactive Ken :confusedlucy:​:rebeccaangry:​

     in reply to

     @feditips Hey Feditips, thank you for taking the time to kindly share this knowledge with us for FREE. I really enjoy your content and I'm always learning something new.

     I already knew about groups but this is my first time seeing your group list. Thank you for this!

     Could I kindly recommend @languagelovers[AT]a.gup.pe ? We are a group of language learners, linguists and language enthusiasts. :blobcathearthug:

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:26:32 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Franz Graf
     • anca

     @anca @hikingdude

     The repeater-accounts are mostly on two main servers, but the software is FOSS so people with the necessary sysadmin knowledge can start their own group servers if they want.

     Also, the posts remain on the servers of the people who post them, the group just shares them.

   • Embed this notice
     Franz Graf (hikingdude@mastodon.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:26:49 JST Franz Graf

     in reply to

     @feditips
     There are groups?!? 🤯🤯

   • Embed this notice
     anca (anca@allpeep.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:26:49 JST anca

     in reply to

     • Franz Graf

     @hikingdude @feditips Sort of! They are public-only and centralized on two servers.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:27:31 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • David Ciani
     • Franz Graf

     @david @hikingdude

     There's also https://chirp.social which is very similar but requires groups to have an admin who is registered on the group account's server.

   • Embed this notice
     David Ciani (david@mastodon.davidciani.com)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:27:46 JST David Ciani

     in reply to

     • Franz Graf

     @hikingdude @feditips yup, offered by https://a.gup.pe. Basically any @ at a.gup.pe is an open group anyone can join by following, and post to by mentioning. The the a.gup.pe instance relays all the messages.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:28:42 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • nellie-m
     • Kevin Smokler

     @nellie_m @smokler

     For help with hashtags on small servers, try using a Fedibuzz relay for the particular tags you want:

     https://relay.fedi.buzz/

   • Embed this notice
     nellie-m (nellie_m@autisticpri.de)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:29:03 JST nellie-m

     in reply to

     • Kevin Smokler

     @feditips @smokler

     as someone on a small self-hosted, single user instance, I’ve found groups to be absolutely indispensable to help with federation. Very much appreciated your tip back then. Hashtags don’t do that at all.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:30:31 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • anca

     @anca

     Yeah, these are nothing like Facebook Groups for example :)

   • Embed this notice
     anca (anca@allpeep.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:30:32 JST anca

     in reply to

     @feditips That's why I said "Sort of". These are not the "Groups" most people are thinking of. :)

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:54:05 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • 72mz

     @72mz

     Your instance is the same thing as the server you signed up on,. On here instances and servers are two words for the same thing.

     In your case that's mstdn.party.

     Group accounts are on special instances designed just to share posts, but the actual posts shared by a group are on whichever instance the poster signed up on.

   • Embed this notice
     72mz (72mz@mstdn.party)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:54:06 JST 72mz

     in reply to

     @feditips
     I'm confused. Are instances within groups or vice versa? I'm enjoying mastodon and joined the first instance I came across, but there are lots of nuances I still don't get.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:57:20 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • anca

     @anca

     They're very similar to old style email discussion lists, they basically just repeated anything sent to the list to their subscribers.

     I don't know if many people remember these nowadays though.

   • Embed this notice
     anca (anca@allpeep.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 04:57:32 JST anca

     in reply to

     @feditips They're more like some type of public Google Group.

     I need to play with them a little more to really grok how they can be useful.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Wednesday, 12-Jul-2023 05:11:07 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • 72mz

     @72mz

     By the way, if you ever want to check which instance an account is on, have a look at its profile page. The instance is the last part of their account address. More info at https://fedi.tips/whats-my-accounts-address-how-do-i-follow-other-peoples-addresses-how-can-people-follow-my-address/

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 04:51:11 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • _ohcoco_
     • Neon

     @geraineon @_ohcoco_

     If you go to the group's account profile, you will see its entire feed going back to the moment that the first person on your server followed that group.

     Also, if the group is running on Chirp.social software, there is a complete feed on the group's chirp.social page.

     The groups are technically just ordinary accounts which automatically boost what is sent to them. You will see all their boosts on their profile page.

   • Embed this notice
     _ohcoco_ (_ohcoco_@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 04:51:12 JST _ohcoco_

     in reply to

     • Neon
     • Kevin Smokler

     @geraineon
     So...is there a way to see the feed, or...I don't even know what words to say here, but someplace you can go to see the discussion of the whole group? Like a home page?
     @feditips @smokler

   • Embed this notice
     Neon (geraineon@blahaj.zone)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 04:51:12 JST Neon

     in reply to

     • _ohcoco_

     @_ohcoco_@mastodon.social as far as I know, you can't see historical posts shared by the group account. It's more like an email list... if you follow the group, then future posts by anyone that tags the group will appear on your home timeline, do correct me if I'm wrong, @feditips@mstdn.social!

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:00:12 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • podkaynelives for ⛄🎁
     • Hyphlosion

     @Hyphlosion @podkaynelives

     You don't have to be on a particular instance/server to join a group. The groups work across all the servers :)

     Just follow the group's account to start receiving messages from the group, and mention the group's address in a post to take part in the discussion.

     If you put this address into your search box on Mastodon it will make the group's profile appear. Just click follow to follow it.

     @ longcovid @ a.gup.pe

     (remove the spaces first though)

   • Embed this notice
     podkaynelives for ⛄🎁 (podkaynelives@universeodon.com)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:00:16 JST podkaynelives for ⛄🎁

     in reply to

     @feditips Thanks as always for these tips, just signed up for some groups.

     Hey #disabled, #MECFS, and #LongCovid folks: there are groups for us! Go to https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-groups-on-the-fediverse/ and https://fedi.directory/tag/fediverse-groups/ for more info!

   • Embed this notice
     Hyphlosion (hyphlosion@donphan.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:00:16 JST Hyphlosion

     in reply to

     • podkaynelives for ⛄🎁

     @podkaynelives @feditips Which instance have you found that’s a good #longcovid support group? Asking for a friend.

     #LongCovidSucks

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:01:40 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • weakly catlike intelligence

     @cathodion

     If you do a report on Mastodon, you can send it to both your own server and the server of the post author. The report that goes to the author's server is anonymous.

     It's an option that is presented during reporting a post.

   • Embed this notice
     weakly catlike intelligence (cathodion@mastodon.sdf.org)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:01:41 JST weakly catlike intelligence

     in reply to

     @feditips that reminds me: how does reporting work when you report a post from a different server? does the report go to my server’s admins or the post authors’?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:03:26 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Alexandra

     @berangere444

     Hashtags are passive filters for all the content that your server has noticed (if you're interested, there's a list of what servers notice at https://fedi.tips/which-posts-and-accounts-can-i-see-from-my-server/).

     Groups are actively pushing all of their content to all the people who follow the group, no matter which server they are on.

     So, they seem similar on the surface in how they work, but underneath the surface groups are a lot better at distributing posts.

   • Embed this notice
     Alexandra (berangere444@archaeo.social)'s status on Thursday, 13-Jul-2023 05:03:27 JST Alexandra

     in reply to

     @feditips do you mean I do not see all the content if I follow the hashtags ? that explains a lot. especially why the european archaeology days were so quiet on mastodon (all I could see in the hashtag list were my own posts...)

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Thursday, 20-Jul-2023 06:00:36 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     What do you mean by disappeared?

     If you were following the group it should still be there?

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Thursday, 20-Jul-2023 06:00:37 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     I tried this out with a Guppe group a while ago, but I went back a few days later and it had disappeared. I'm assuming they do that after a particular period of inactivity - about idea how long that is? I can't find any info on that.

     The group I had in mind would get bursts of activity every month or so and quiet in between, rather than sustained activity every day. Is there a better option for that sort of situation?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 03:32:06 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     I wonder if it was blocked by your server? That's what happens to mentions if an account is blocked.

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 03:32:08 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     I mean the group stopped existing. The mentions of the group in existing posts stopped being links and turned into plain text.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:17:56 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     That group still exists:

     https://a.gup.pe/u/mtbos

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:18:12 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     Can a group be deleted by someone? The Guppe group mentioned in this post seems to no longer exist either: https://mathstodon.xyz/@ColinTheMathmo/109395514020842411

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:18:20 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     Is that something that might happen automatically? I don't know why anyone would block it on purpose. It was barely used.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:18:31 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     I don't know!

     I've not heard of groups being shut down as such, they usually just end up disused if they aren't popular.

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:43:14 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     It works for me, does it work for you?

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:43:18 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     Hmm, so I wonder why the mention isn't a link. Will this one work, I wonder: @mtbos ?

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:44:24 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     I'm not sure!

     I wonder if it was a transient bug of some kind? I've sometimes noticed mentions not resolving themselves recently, wonder if it's something that needs fixing 🤔

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 21-Jul-2023 04:44:38 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     Indeed it does. Why might old mentions have changed? Any ideas?
     @mtbos

   • Embed this notice
     FediTips has moved! (feditips@mstdn.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Aug-2023 02:11:55 JST FediTips has moved!

     in reply to

     • Tommaths (he/him)

     @TeaKayB

     It rendered fine in the post you just made, so whatever is causing it is intermittent?

     Have you asked your server admin about this?

   • Embed this notice
     Tommaths (he/him) (teakayb@mathstodon.xyz)'s status on Friday, 04-Aug-2023 02:11:56 JST Tommaths (he/him)

     in reply to

     @feditips
     It's happened again: @museumed is no longer rendered as a link in this post: https://mathstodon.xyz/@TeaKayB/110785751529210683

     I haven't seen this happening with anything but Guppe groups. It wouldn't surprise me if they expired after a while without use, but I can't see anything that suggests that's what happens...