Hashtags do not replace groups.
No one moderates them. They’re easy to hijack and spam. And there’s simply no permanence to them.
Which is why, if you actually want to discuss something, it’s better to tag a group. For example, if you want to be part of an actual PC gaming community on the Fediverse, it’s better to tag @pcgaming@lemmy.ca than #pcgaming.
This needs to be common knowledge because people new to the Fediverse do not know about groups. Hell, I’d say people who have had Mastodon accounts for years still don’t know. And that’s a shame.
@fediverse@lemmy.world
As an instance owner and moderator: that’s a horrible way to look at things. Just throwing the onus onto someone else is irresponsible.
I’m an instance owner too (see atomicpoet.org and akkomane.social). Speaking as an instance owner, it’s our fundamental job to moderate.
It’s not “throwing the onus onto someone else.” The onus has always been on us.
@atomicpoet @BenDoubleU I feel it’s worth pointing out in this context that from the perspective of a Masto server, this thread features several accounts with no avi, bio, follows or followers. I assume they’re the Lemmy accounts?
As a Twitter vet I’ve developed an aversion to engaging *at all* with newly-created accounts lacking properly fleshed-out profiles!
But it’s still cool there’s these options. Perhaps the integration will improve?
@ApostateEnglishman But you’re not a Twitter user anymore, so maybe it’s time to let that go. You’re part of something much bigger than Twitter-style micro-blogging. Lemmy users will usually have profiles (bios) – although not typically as extensive as Mastodon users – but following users or being followed doesn’t make any sense on Lemmy. The primary unit is the community (group) not the user.
@breakfastmtn Thanks. So far I’ve tried Friendica, Misskey and Hubzilla, as well as three different Mastodon servers. So I do understand that Masto is not the whole fedi.
It’s just that so far as I was concerned, “Lemmy” is a dead rock star who had a penchant for Nazi memorabilia.
I’d never heard of it as a fedi service until Chris’ post, yesterday! 🤷♂️
@ApostateEnglishman You should check it out. Lemmy’s great! Interoperability is terrific but I think the way information and discussion are displayed in Lemmy* is superior for deeper dives and being “in” a discussion. Not at all a knock on Mastodon, which is perfect for what it is. They’re just trying to be different things that have different strengths 😀
Having a Mastodon account means creating new habits. One of them is to check the originating server of an account. This is because that account may not be using Mastodon.