Twitter has been taken hostage and is being systematically destroyed by it’s new owner. It may survive, it may not.

Mastodon is a similar social platform – it looks and works very much like Twitter as an end user – but has some business and structural differences and advantages.

The community of Dylan Twitter users is forming a shadow community (set of inter-related follows) on Mastodon in order to have a way to stay in touch should Twitter actually die or become uninhabitable (for some social or political reason).

Now it’s just like Twitter. You need to find and follow the people you want to follow.

For Dylan people, the simplest thing is to visit our profile, click on the list of accounts we’re following (it’s all Dylan folks) and follow them.

 

 

 

Here’s a list of some top Dylan accounts:

• coming soon

Getting a Mastodon account up is essentially the same as signing up for anything else.

Choosing A Server

The one potentially confusing thing is that unlike Twitter, Mastodon has many servers so you have to pick which server your account will be one.

Think of like a bank branch (not a perfect analogy but best I’ve got): You’re opening a Bank of America account but you have to choose to go open it at the Branch on Broadway or the Branch of Main street. They’re different locations, have different hours, and different managers. Most of your account issues will be determined by Bank of America, but some minor issues will be based on the branch. Mastodon servers are like that.

Generally, unless something strange happens, it doesn’t matter. You can go read all about the difference between Mastodon servers if you’d like. We’ve chosen one we’re comfortable with, and are recommending you use that one, but if you’re concerned or curious please go learn more about it.

Impact Of Your Server

There are two functional reasons the server you choose matters.

First, it’s part of your address. On Mastodon your address is your handle + your server. So our Mastodon address is @fmc_dylan.mastondon.online. The ‘.mastodon.online’ part is our server.

The second reason the server matters is servers have rules, and servers may ban users from others servers (so if there is a Fox News server for example, your server may disallow users/traffic from that server.) Broadly, don’t worry about this. We’ve chosen the ‘.mastodon.online’ server without a ton of research because it’s run by one of the Mastodon founders.

If you use our invite link, you’ll be on that server too. It’s fine.

Create Your Account

Ready?

1. CLICK THIS LINK
2. Complete the signup process
   1. Choose a Handle (the @name you used on twitter or a new one)
   2. Give them an email
   3. Make/save a good password
3. They will then send a link to your email. Click that to sign in.
4. In order to sign in, you have to find the server that holds your account.
   1. If you’re following these instructions your server is ‘mastodon.online’ – so enter that in the search box, and when the Mastodon.Online server shows up, click it and then click ‘Next’.
   2. Now enter your username and password.
5. Once you’re in, click Preferences on the right side (desktop) then click Profile and edit customize your profile with a Bio, Header, Avatar, etc. Save.
6. You made it.
7. See details on finding/following people elsewhere on this page.

Your Account Name

Your full account is @handle.server.name – you have to share all of that with people for them to find you. Just like your email has a name and an account, so does your Mastodon (except the @ is at the front and not in the middle).

If you just give someone your @handle they may or may not be able to find you. (Because someone else can use your same @handle on a different server. New place, new problems.)