I've been using Mastodon poorly.
I have a long-standing habit of "favouriting" something as a way of bookmarking it.
So I don't hit "favourite" as often as I should, to tell someone that I like what they've posted, because it clutters up my bookmarking.
But... Mastodon has a "bookmark" feature. It's right next to the "favourite" button.
So there's an easy change: I will hit "bookmark" when I want to bookmark something, and "favourite" to convey appreciation to the poster.