Christa Hartsock hartsick

A guide for friends considering Mastodon

A lot of my friends have recently been considering leaving Twitter for other networks, and many are considering Mastodon. There are many guides floating about that can tell you about Mastodon and the Fediverse, which is really exciting! It can be overwhelming to sort through them all, though, and honestly I haven't read them since I know my way around.

So, this is the blog version of me sitting down with a friend explaining what I know about Mastodon and how I'd recommend approaching setting up an account there for the first time and getting oriented.

What's in this:

What is the Fediverse / Mastodon?
Why would I want to join?
Where do I start?

Keybase proof

I hereby claim:

I am hartsick on github.
I am hartsick (https://keybase.io/hartsick) on keybase.
I have a public key whose fingerprint is BDEC DF04 3008 D52D 3E0F D0C1 63AD 1686 6E76 C583

To claim this, I am signing this object:

Keybase proof

I hereby claim:

I am hartsick on github.
I am hartsick (https://keybase.io/hartsick) on keybase.
I have a public key whose fingerprint is BDEC DF04 3008 D52D 3E0F D0C1 63AD 1686 6E76 C583

To claim this, I am signing this object:

	#!/usr/bin/env bash

	# Set term to 256color mode, if 256color is not supported, colors won't work properly
	if [[ $COLORTERM = gnome-* && $TERM = xterm ]] && infocmp gnome-256color >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	export TERM=gnome-256color
	elif infocmp xterm-256color >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	export TERM=xterm-256color
	fi

	# Detect whether a rebbot is required

	#!/usr/bin/env bash

	# Set term to 256color mode, if 256color is not supported, colors won't work properly
	if [[ $COLORTERM = gnome-* && $TERM = xterm ]] && infocmp gnome-256color >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	export TERM=gnome-256color
	elif infocmp xterm-256color >/dev/null 2>&1; then
	export TERM=xterm-256color
	fi

	# Detect whether a rebbot is required

	API documentation

	Open to all

	POST /session
	logs user into session

	params:
	{
	'session': {