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When you're posting hashtags that contain multiple words, it's a good idea to capitalise the first letter of each word. This helps blind people who use screen reader software to know what the hashtag actually says.

For example #DogsOfMastodon is much easier for screen reader users than #dogsofmastodon, even though they're technically the same tag.

This kind of capitalisation is usually known as "CamelCase". CamelCase doesn't just help blind people, it also makes hashtags clearer for sighted people too!

Using CamelCase won't affect your post's visibility (because searches ignore capitalisation) but it will improve the post's accessibility, so you'll get more people reading it.

Thank you to @martyn for raising this topic 👍

#FediTips #Fediverse #MastoTips #Accessibility #A11y

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So, how to make friends with a squirrel?
Step 1: be good friends with local chipmunks!

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On 9 May 1950 Robert Schuman set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable. This proposal is considered to be the beginning of what is now the #EU. 1/2

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How Should We Approach Triage in the Crisis?

By Catherine Kavanagh The current crisis of care in nursing homes is explained by some as simply an exercise in triage, necessary because there are not enough resources to go around, and it is alarming how many people simply shrug it off as inevitable. However, before capitulating completely to the law of the jungle, it […] ionainstitute.ie/how-should-we

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👋 Hello new followers!

✨ We are an ethical alternative to Instagram!

▶️ Find an instance to join here fedidb.org/software/pixelfed #pixelfed

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16. Write something about yourself in your profile and add a picture. You don't have to use a real name or photo, call yourself whatever you want and use any picture you want.

17. Write an introductory post about yourself and give it the hashtag #Introductions, so that people can say hello to you

18. Make sure you use hashtags in public posts so they can be discovered more easily. Most searches on Mastodon depend on hashtags.

19. Posts on Mastodon are also known as "toots" (because that's the noise an elephant makes, and the Mastodon is an ancient ancestor of the elephant 🐘 ), while retweets here are "boosts".

20. Another good beginner's guide is @noelle's "Increasingly Less-Brief Guide to Mastodon" at github.com/joyeusenoelle/Guide

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11. Mastodon instances and Mastodon servers are the same thing. It doesn't matter which word you use.

12. Don't worry too much about which server you choose, you can always move your account later (see here for details mstdn.social/@feditips/1079394).

13. You can even set up your own Mastodon server if you like. You don't need any tech skills if you use a managed hosting service like masto.host or federation.spacebear.ee, who do all of the techy stuff for you.

14. You can find apps to use at joinmastodon.org/apps. You do not have to use the official apps, if you don't want to! There are lots of great unofficial apps which actually have more features than the official ones. You can see the unofficial apps on joinmastodon.org/apps by scrolling down to the "third party apps" section.

15. Servers listed on joinmastodon.org/communities have all signed up to a covenant (joinmastodon.org/covenant) which promises responsible moderation and reliable service.

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@FediFollows

8. If you're blind or partially sighted, there's a guide specifically for screen reader users at starshipchangeling.net/mastodo

9. There is no overall owner of Mastodon, it's a collection of thousands of independent servers each with their own owner and set of rules.

10. There are no venture capitalists or cryptocurrencies or tokens or coins or web3 or NFTs or anything like that on Mastodon. Servers are entirely owned and paid for by their admins, and they rely on donations to keep going. Please be nice to them, they're doing you a favour by building this lovely corner of the internet.

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New people, welcome to Mastodon and the Fediverse!

Here's how to get started:

1. Find some people to follow over on @FediFollows, and through Trunk (communitywiki.org/trunk)

2. Find out your Mastodon/Fediverse address so you can share it with friends (mstdn.social/@feditips/1072482)

3. Invite people to join you on here by telling them to go to joinmastodon.org and click on "Get Started". It doesn't matter if they join a different server because the servers talk to each other (here's a bit more of an explanation mstdn.social/@feditips/1070214)

4. Find out what the Fediverse is (mstdn.social/@feditips/1070440)

5. Find out why Mastodon being on so many different servers/instances is a really good thing (mstdn.social/@feditips/1070837)

6. If you see anything nasty, you can report it to your friendly server admin (mstdn.social/@feditips/1065401)

7. You can (sort of) verify your account if you own a website (mstdn.social/@feditips/1062741)

If you have any questions, @ me or DM me!

#MastoTips #FediTips #Mastodon

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Did you know there are centralized alternatives to the #Fediverse?

They are great!
Instead of being developed by volunteers for the community they are developed for millionaires with the sole purpose of getting them more money and influence over the "users".

They contain ads and algorithms, so you don't have to decide, what you want to see, but you get to see what makes you addicted, so you view more ads, buy more stuff and thereby support the capitalist system that we all love.

Instead of anonymity you get to enter your phone number and other form of identification, which totally helps against hate speech, right?

I could go on with advantages, but I think it's best you check them out for yourselves.

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Mastodon is part of the Fediverse.

The Fediverse is a collection of alternative social networks which are connected together through a common technical standard called ActivityPub.

People on the Fediverse can follow, comment, like or message each other seamlessly.

For example, the account @craftykat is on a video platform called PeerTube, but you can follow them, watch the videos, give them a like and comment on them without leaving Mastodon. Try it yourself!

Another example you can try interacting with is @Picturavis, which is on a photo platform called PixelFed.

When you use Mastodon, a lot of the accounts you talk to are actually not on Mastodon!

It can take a bit of time to get your head round this, because centralised social networks like Twitter or Facebook deliberately stifle interoperability.

The Fedi is different, no one owns it so there's no restriction on what people do with it. The ordinary user is all that matters on the Fedi 💪

#FediTips #Fediverse #MastoTips

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