So you like Twitter, but you're curious about Mastodon? You've come to the right place. I'll make this real quick for you, and you can explore further from there, if you want to get more out of it. My setup is pretty straightforward and lets me post to both Twitter and Mastodon as needed, and maintain both communities easily.
Step 1: Get an Account
A defining feature of Mastodon is that you can make an account on many different servers, but those servers can talk to each other (aka "Federation"). Picking a server and signing up for it is the first step, but it can be daunting, with so many choices, so let's simplify:
- You like Open Source: https://fosstodon.org
- You're queer and you like tech: https://tech.lgbt
- You want to see/post art: https://mastodon.art or https://artalley.social
- You want the most reliable/biggest instance: https://mastodon.online/ (please avoid this one. You'll miss out on some aspects of Mastodon culture by just defaulting here).
- You like Kat and/or want a chill place and a cute domain name: https://toot.cat
- You want to take more time to make a more informed choice: https://joinmastodon.org
P.S. You can always move to a new account. Mastodon has a migration feature that leaves a "tombstone" behind and helps you move over to your new account. Don't sweat this choice too much!
Step 2: Link Mastodon ↔ Twitter
- Go here and authenticate with both accounts. It's safe.
- Go here and enable crossposting both ways (if that's what you want).
- BONUS: Copy my advanced settings:
Step 3: Get a Mobile Client
- Android: There's an Official App, or Tusky
- iOS: There's an Official App, or Toot!
- Windows/macOS/Linux: Sengi
- Or, just use the web interface, which is pretty good! It also works as a Progressive Web App, so you can set it up as a "standalone" app!
Step 4: Make Friends!
- Check out your instance's local and federated timelines for interesting stuff.
- Link this article on Twitter and get your friends to join.
- Follow me on Mastodon: zkat@toot.cat
- Send me a message by @-ing
@zkat@toot.cat hello world!
Step 5: Sh*tpost
Do the thing! Welcome to the Fediverse 💞
If you want a more in-depth guide, check out https://github.com/joyeusenoelle/GuideToMastodon