Kat's Mastodon Quickstart for Twitter Users

#twitter #mastodon #tutorial

So you like Twitter, but you're curious about Mastodon? You've come to the right place. I'll make this real quick for you, and you can explore further from there, if you want to get more out of it. My setup is pretty straightforward and lets me post to both Twitter and Mastodon as needed, and maintain both communities easily.

Step 1: Get an Account

A defining feature of Mastodon is that you can make an account on many different servers, but those servers can talk to each other (aka "Federation"). Picking a server and signing up for it is the first step, but it can be daunting, with so many choices, so let's simplify:

You like Open Source: https://fosstodon.org
You're queer and you like tech: https://tech.lgbt
You want to see/post art: https://mastodon.art or https://artalley.social
You want the most reliable/biggest instance: https://mastodon.online/ (please avoid this one. You'll miss out on some aspects of Mastodon culture by just defaulting here).
You like Kat and/or want a chill place and a cute domain name: https://toot.cat
You want to take more time to make a more informed choice: https://joinmastodon.org

P.S. You can always move to a new account. Mastodon has a migration feature that leaves a "tombstone" behind and helps you move over to your new account. Don't sweat this choice too much!

Step 2: Link Mastodon ↔ Twitter

Go here and authenticate with both accounts. It's safe.
Go here and enable crossposting both ways (if that's what you want).
BONUS: Copy my advanced settings:
- Mastodon -> Twitter
- Twitter -> Mastodon

Step 3: Get a Mobile Client

Android: There's an Official App, or Tusky
iOS: There's an Official App, or Toot!
Windows/macOS/Linux: Sengi
Or, just use the web interface, which is pretty good! It also works as a Progressive Web App, so you can set it up as a "standalone" app!