So, before I get settled, does it really make a difference which instance your account is based in? Like, would I get more out of the general Mastodon experience outside of mastodon.local in a different one? Do people jump ship between instances often?
Also, I have an iPhone and am using Tootdon. Does anyone have a preference for other apps?
@introvertgay Well, the goal of the whole project is to get as spread out as possible, and thus make sure that we're not very dependent on one or two central servers. The user experience is all the same though, no matter where your account is located. We're all friends none the less.
@introvertgay I like Amaroq for my iphone but I've never tried another app so I'm probably biased.
about instances.. there are some special, smaller ones, really cozy.. I have a second account on metalhead.club. I really like it there and the second account also comes in handy when witches.town happens to be down. (it happened only once)
I love witches.town too. the admins and moderators are really great and they put in a lot of effort to make it a fantastic instance.
so having one account on a bigger instance, even on mastodon.social, and a second one on a smaller one is what I would do!
@distelfliege good to know. Thanks! I might do that, or make this my secondary and choose another one for my primary once I pick one.
@introvertgay I also had in mind the different rules instances have. you can find one that matches your needs.
one of my accounts is on a more open instance, the other one is on an instance that's more strictly moderated, it also blocks other instances where they don't stop harrassment, for example.
the first instance I was on went down so I lost my first mastodon account. that was before you could export your data!
@distelfliege yes, true. Rules matter.
@introvertgay Different instances have different local and federated timelines.
mastodon.social has a weird local tl because it's so general-purpose.
m.s is also not very transparent with what instanced it blocks or silences.
@introvertgay I spent a long time on mastodon.social (cf. @zigg)
I eventually moved here and ended up talking mostly to the same people, but enjoying the different style as well as a unique local timeline (which I don't personally use all that often.)
Your experience whereever you are will be similar, so get comfortable where you are, and if you want to move, you can export your follows (but not followers!) and move once you've gotten a feel for who's where and what instance you might like best.
@introvertgay FWIW, I said you can't import followers, but in my experience just about everyone I wanted to follow me again did so when the follow import ran and they saw me following them from my new home. 😊
@zigg @introvertgay I'd also add that if you do move, you can edit your old profile to redirect users to your new one. It will look something like this and makes life a lot easier for people who want to follow you. https://mastodon.social/@stolas
@introvertgay I like the Amaroq app a lot, it’s more lightweight than Tootdon. However currently it isn’t updated that often and thus some functionalities like lists, integration into the iOS share sheet, ... are missing.
@julianruf I will try it out too. Thanks!
You can create accounts on as many instances as you want, keeping in mind that managing them might end up being a pain. On Android Tusky lets you switch between accounts fairly easily.
Some instances might not be federated (like counter.social).
Some instances might have different posting standards and may not federate with mastodon.social, check out https://instances.social .
The local timeline reflects the users of that instance. It's like choosing a neighborhood.
@introvertgay Not really. You can follow and talk with anyone from almost any instance from here. Sure, if you find an instance based on your interests you may want to move there to get a better local timeline and that's also fine.