How To Post On Mastodon?

Are you a new Mastodon user excited to start tooting? Do you want to know how to post on Mastodon? We have made a complete guide to help you to post on Mastodon.

Mastodon is relatively new to joining the race of networking, where other social networking giants are already leading. However, Mastodon has proven to be a monster rookie that is out to take the world by a storm. With its unique approach to an online open-source micro-blogging, which is decentralized with a user managed server, it has gained the interests of the social networking crowd, reaching 1 million monthly users on November 6,2022.

1.Write your post and add emojis, mentions and hashtags to it.

2.Attach images, videos and audio files.

3.Conduct polls.

4.Publish post.

5.Select Language.

6.Add content warning.

Mastodon is considered to be the best alternative to Twitter. If you are an active Twitter user looking for a change in social networking stance, Mastodon could be just for you. You can toot in Mastodon like you tweet in Twitter. If you want to post on Mastodon, you can

How To Post On Mastodon?

Mastodon is a user-friendly app that uses icons and buttons that are standard and easy to understand by the users. If you are a regular user in one or more of the social networking sites apps, you will be able to navigate easily and post on Mastodon without any guidance.

However, if you are new to the social networking circle and are about to start the journey from Mastodon, then this post will guide you to post on Mastodon with all the information that you might need.

Let’s toot on Mastodon.

Step 1. Write Your Post

Before you toot, think about the context on what you want to post on Mastodon. Once you decide on the content, click on ‘What’s in your mind’ box to enter the text. Your post can be up to 500 characters long. This is much larger than Twitter’s 140-character limit. However, Mastodon users have found ways to make longer posts with the help of a larger server.

Once you have entered the text, click on Publish to post on Mastodon.

You can add various features to your toot like,

Emojis

You can select from the list of the custom emojis saved in Mastodon and use it in your post.

Mentions

You can mention a particular Mastodon user in your post by typing @exampleusername in your post to mention them.

Hashtags

You can add hashtags to your post, to help users who are looking for similar posts to find it. #howtopostonmastodon, any user who is searching for ‘How to post on Mastodon’ will be able to see your article with the help of your hashtag.

Step 2. Attach Files

You can attach files to support the content of your post on Mastodon. You can add pictures, gifs, video or audio files to further enhance your post on Mastodon.

Images

You can add images (PNG, JPG, GIF) up to 8MB. All images will be downscaled to 1.6 megapixels. You can attach 4 images.

Animated GIF

You can upload MP4 and WebM, without audio, which is converted into soundless MP4s.

Videos

You can add videos up to 40MB (MP4, M4V, MOV, WebM).

Audio

You can attach audio files up to 40MB (MP3, M4V, WAV, FLAC, OPUS, AAC, M4A, 3GP)

Edit Files

You can make changes to your post on Mastodon, by clicking the Edit option, near the attachment icon. You can add a description of you attached files by entering a brief introduction or an explanation of your post, for the visually impaired to understand. Also set the focal point for the preview thumbnail.

Step 3. Conduct Polls

You can conduct a poll for all your friends and followers to participate. Just click on the graph icon at the bottom of the post to start a poll.

1.You can conduct polls which have up to 4 choices.

2.Click on “Add a choice” to add another option to your poll.

3.Mastodon is set to conduct single choice polls by default. You can change it to multiple-choice by clicking on the radio button.

4.Set the time to expire – Polls can be set to expire in 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, 3 days or 7 days.

Select the time depending on the number of friends you have and the scope of your poll.

Step 4. Publish Post

Click on the Globe icon to select your audience. Before you post on Mastodon, choose the scope of your toot. Who do you want to see the toot?

Public

Mastodon is set to publish the post to the public by default. Every Mastodon user will be able to view your post on Mastodon. It will appear in the app’s public timelines and all your followers will see the post in their home feed.

Unlisted 

This is similar to making a Public post, but unlisted posts will not appear in the public timelines in Mastodon.

Follower only 

Only the Mastodon users who follow you will be able to view the post. They will be able to view your post on Mastodon in their home feed.

Direct 

You can directly send the post on Mastodon to a selected few users, who you can directly choose. Only the selected users will be able to view you post on Mastodon.

Step 5. Select Language

You can select the language of your post, so that it is easily accessible for all users who understand the language of your post. Mastodon has an amazing collection of languages, which will be very useful for users who prefer to communicate in their native language. You can select the language of your post, so that it can be filtered by Mastodon and reach the target audience.

Step 6. Content Warning

One of the unique features that is easily available in Mastodon is to turn on the content warning. If your post has a sensitive content, you can describe the nature of the content, giving the user the choice to look at the content, if they want to.

If you turn on the sensitive content warning, your post including the images or the video will be blurred out, with a ‘Sensitive content’ message. The users will be able to read the nature of the post, before deciding to view the post.

Wrap Up

Mastodon offers its users a unique platform to stay connected. It operates on a decentralized basis, with the users at the center. We are going to witness the rise of Mastodon, and say that we are proud Mastodon users, who supported the group from the beginning. Let us all post on Mastodon with the help of this article.

Frequently Asked Questions