Writing this to be a pinned post. A note about #Hashtags - in principle I have always hated them. On Twitter I found them when used generally (as opposed to specific ones for specific projects, which are a good use of them) to be obnoxious attempts at generating attention. BUT here on #fediverse they are the only way to make anything remotely searchable. So I will be trying to use them more often because I wish things were more searchable here.
I do find it funny that Mastodon decided that the least organically social aspect of social media would be the focus of how things operate in their attempt to things be more of an organically social experience, though I get why. Don't always agree, but I get why. Still, different tools need to be used differently and for now at least, #hashtags are needed for being able to see conversations more broadly than the people you follow.
Also keep in mind that hashtags are a good way for people to filter their feeds.
For example, when I write about US topics I include appropriate hashtags so folks from around the world who aren't interested in that can filter them out.
