Thread by @flodebarre

The release notes of the latest Twitter update do not bode well for the future of the platform.

I am choosing #Mastodon as a backup plan, and not Substack or Instagram, because I wasn't on Twitter to preach, but for discussions.
#TwitterMigration

A few tips to join Mastodon 🧵

1️⃣ Use fedifinder.glitch.me to find the Mastodon accounts of people you follow and are followed by on Twitter. It scans their bios for mentions of Mastodon accounts.

You will also see on which servers people are, which is useful to chose one.

2️⃣ Directly go to the server of your choice to sign up, or look for one on joinmastodon.org/servers or on the Mastodon app.

Don't overthink this server choice, it matters less than you may fear: you can follow people across servers. You won't be stuck in a silo.

3️⃣ Once sign-up is successful, take the time to fill in details such as your name, profile picture, bio, links (which can be verified ✅).
Write an introductory post with the #introduction hashtag.

In other words, don't start following people as the equivalent of a Twitter egg!

4️⃣ Go to Preferences, Import and Export, Import, and upload the csv file of account names that you downloaded on step 1️⃣. And voilà!, you are already following a lot of familiar faces, probably across servers, i.e. out of your "silo".

5️⃣ Add your full Mastodon account (@handle@instance) to your Twitter bio, so that others can find you like you did in step 1️⃣.

6️⃣ There are a few differences between Mastodon and Twitter, notably post visibility and how DMs look like. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself by reading tips like blog.djnavarro.net/posts/2022-11-…

7️⃣ Consider chipping in to help run the server you have joined.

You are now ready to take flight if things turn bad here -- or to start interacting on Mastodon right now, because why not!
#TwitterMigration

Admittedly, setting up an account on Mastodon may sound daunting...! But it's worth the effort.

And importantly, Mastodon is anything but siloed: you can follow / be followed by people on other servers ⏬

mastodon.ie/@Ciaraioch/109…

https://twitter.com/flodebarre/status/1589258075378429953?s=20&t=ptg080WjEjtOaW1CTkofOw

1⃣bis: if your antivirus software (Norton it seems) is unhappy with the first link, try pruvisto.org/debirdify/ instead!