Thread by @evan_greer

Okay despite being a tech policy "expert" I am actually not very tech savvy. I was pretty confused when I first started getting myself set up on #mastodon, but i figured it out pretty quickly (with some help from friends!) and you can too. Here's the steps I took if helpful🧵

First, our brains our so trained to think of social media in a centralized way, so some of the terminology around #Mastodon can feel a little confusing. But really it's pretty simple. Think of it like email. Choose an address on a provider (server) you trust, or host your own

I kind of agonized a bit over choosing a server. I thought about hosting my own on a domain that I own like evangreer.org (this gives you the most independence and control, and means you aren't relying on someone else's server or trusting some admin with your DMs)

I'm planning to eventually set up my own instance and use that, but for now I ended up joining mastodon.online, a server set up by some of the developers that created #mastodon. You can see a list of mastodon servers here: joinmastodon.org/servers

Here's the thing: it doesn't really matter that much. Pick one of the more popular servers, or host your own, and get going. You can change to a different server (and thus change your "username" and take your followers with you) later. So don't stress about it too much.

Once you join a server and create an account, you can set up your profile. Pretty easy to copy over more or less whatever you have in your Twitter bio. You can download the iOS or desktop app or just use it in the browser, like Twitter

Okay, now you're set up but ... you're just shouting into the void, right?

Fortunately, some helpful folks have made tools that make it easy to find your Twitter followers in the #fediverse (the network of #mastodon servers.)

I used these two:

#Debirdify -- pruvisto.org/debirdify/

#Fedifinder -- fedifinder.glitch.me

They both pretty much work the same way. Authorize with Twitter, they find your followers who have fediverse addresses in their bio, pinned tweet, etc.

Here's the clutch thing that I almost missed cuz ADD and skimming the instructions:

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE LIST AS A CSV AND THEN UPLOAD IT TO MASTODON, AUTOMATICALLY FOLLOWING PEOPLE YOU FOLLOW ON TWITTER

Gamechanging.

Then you go back to your #mastodon account (I did it in the browser), and upload the CSV to automatically follow all those accounts (thus alerting them you're on Mastodon so they can follow you back)

Make sure it's on "merge" instead of "overwrite."

Boom! Now change your Twitter display name to tell ppl yr on #mastodon, do a pinned tweet with your mastodon address (which will look something like this @[e-mail]) and link to yourself (usually servername dot whatever slash @ username) mastodon.online/@evangreer

I know lots of other folks have done threads like this / there are great guides out there, but figured I'd share my personal experience. Feel free to hmu if you wanna chat about it or have questions and I'll try to respond.

I've said this elsewhere, but just to say it again: #mastodon is not a utopia! The admin running the server you're on has just as much control over your account as Elon Musk has over your account here on Twitter. In some cases even more!

One specific thing is that means DMs aren't really private on #mastodon, so just keep that in mind. (Fortunately, most servers have a prominent warning for users so they know this, which is great!) And also DMs on twitter still aren't encrypted, more here: makedmssafe.com

But yeah, it's pretty rad that so many people are looking for alternatives to Twitter and other larger more centralized platforms. I'm excited to check out the #fediverse. Also closely watching cool projects like @bluesky and @matrixdotorg. Heck let's make lotsa signal groups too

I'm not currently planning to leave Twitter. I'm always of the mind that activists need to use every tool available to us. But i'm also seeing this as a wake-up call moment. A reminder we just CANNOT depend on large for-profit platforms to organize, build audiences, etc

I wrote about the bigger picture of all this here if you're interested! time.com/6228045/elon-m…