ByMia Quagliarello

Algorithms do not rule the day in the fediverse. This is mostly great news! It means your experience is under your control. You’ll see the posts from the people you follow.

A downside is that it’s harder to discover cool new people you don’t already know. There aren’t leaderboards or algorithms suggesting accounts to follow. In the fediverse, it’s on you to find worthy people to fill up your feeds.

Luckily, there are curators who’ve already done or are doing that legwork for you. Use these resources as shortcuts to help make your fediverse experience as smart and relevant as can be.

Flipboard’s federated database

Flipboard has been federating its top creators, publishers, and curators since December 2023. We continue to hand-pick and syndicate our highest-quality publishers and Magazines into this ecosystem in measured steps. You can see who’s been added and follow anyone of interest via this database.

Fedi.Directory and other tools

Fedi.Directory is a human-curated selection of interesting accounts organized by vertical and language (mostly European ones for now). Click on “browse directory” or “Top 100 topics” to poke around. To follow an account, copy and paste its fediverse address into the search box in your Mastodon app or on your server’s site. Alternatively, if you have a fediverse extension installed on your web browser, you can just click “follow” on the account’s profile page.

Followgraph for Mastodon is another tool for discovery. It works by looking up all the people you follow on Mastodon and then seeing who they follow. Then, it sorts the results by the number of mutuals or by how popular the accounts are. Conveniently, there are also Follow buttons on this site, making it easier to take immediate action.

Curation-forward accounts

Follow accounts and hashtags that specialize in curating other fediverse accounts, including @FediFollows, @Curator@mastodon.art, @FlipboardMagazines and #FollowFriday.

In addition, Flipboard’s editorial desks, covering news, tech, culture, science, and art and photography, all share interesting profiles, Magazines and stories. These accounts not only bring high-quality curation to the fediverse, but they also regularly boost and share other voices worth a look.

Trending and fun hashtags

Just like on other social platforms, hashtags can be a gateway to discovering what’s trending within whatever you’re into. Pop into any of these feeds and you’ll find the main contributors to each topic. FediTags offers a helpful dashboard of all and trending daily hashtags. Some fun ones include #FollowFriday (spreading the love), #BelieveinFilm (analog photography buffs), #SilentSunday (serenity seekers), and #Caturday and #CatsofMastodon (felines, of course).

Make lists

When you find people or profiles who resonate, organize them into lists (if one big reverse chronology feed isn’t your jam). This way, you can dive into politics when in the mood and into recipes when you’re looking for cooking ideas.

On Mastodon, you can make a list by clicking on the three-dot menu on someone’s profile and selecting “Add or Remove from lists.” Learn more about building lists on Mastodon via this helpful post from Fedi.Tips.

In sum, it takes intention and effort to transition out of passive modes of social media consumption. By taking the time to hand-pick the people you follow, you’re co-creating an ecosystem that’s more likely to serve you — and society — in the long run.

Threads post from @thejagjit. It says: "Don't use social media less. Use it more intentionally. Follow people who inspire and motivate you. Engage with experts you can learn from. Create genuine, positive friendships. Just stop mindlessly scrolling, complaining, hating and engaging in negativity and bitterness."

— Mia Quagliarello, Head of Creator Community, is reading Fediverse & the Social Web