#introduction

[lawyersgunsnmoney@mstdn.social]

@LitteRatty Welcome aboard! It sometimes takes a few days to get acclimated. As your instance admin sugggested, following Fedi-Tips will help (certainly helped me). There is no algorithm here so you choose the subject matter by searching and following hashtags like #fineart #painting #photography People here are generally very nice and helpful, so enjoy!

[susannedoering@zirk.us]

@LitteRatty Welcome. I love books and I think we cannot have too many artists in the #Fediverse . You already got good advice, I'll just confirm that you should use and follow hashtags in order to find people you want to talk to or whose postings you want to read.
#fediart

[tuckerm@saltylike.us]

@LitteRatty Always happy to follow a new artist. Your paintings look amazing, too! What are you reading right now?

[thelastofhisname@beige.party]

@LitteRatty Welcome aboard! As others have probably told you, there is no algorithm here in the fediverse. Instead, we the users are the algorithm. Boosting others' posts increases visibility. Liking a post by clicking the star icon lets the poster know their post resonated with you somehow.

I recommend following the Introduction hashtag, and looking through the Federated feed to find users to follow as well.

I hope you find your time here fulfilling!

[drjlecter@beige.party]

@LitteRatty Hello and welcome to the Fediverse! I agree with what others have already suggested. Mastodon is a bit more work because there is no algorithm who pushes posts according to your interests here, so hashtags are the way to go. Your introduction post already reached a lot of people. As an artist there's many active ones you can check, follow and use, like # art, MastoArt, FediArt and as a book lover you got # bookstodon or # books of course.
You also have the chance to curate your own timeline by muting words or users or just the boosts of users.
I hope you find interesting people to follow and maybe even befriend in the coming days or weeks

[bno@mindly.social]

@LitteRatty welcome! Don't be afraid to talk to folks here. Everyone I've talked to have been really nice. Hope you enjoy your stay

[sonjas@mastodon.art]

@LitteRatty Hello and welcome!

[ravensrod@mstdn.social]

@LitteRatty

[mothninja@beige.party]

@LitteRatty hello and welcome! Lots of good advice in the thread! Following hashtags around subjects that interest you is a good way to find your people - # art # books # AmReading # history # bookstodon, and so on. Follow lots of tags and people to start with to populate your feed, you can always unfollow later. A top tip is to follow the marvellous @lisamelton, who will fill your timeline with a vast range of boosts. Hope you enjoy it here!

[bookhouse@mas.to]

@LitteRatty

[dasgrueneblatt@wien.rocks]

@LitteRatty You could try following hashtags for your interests. Over time, that will find you the people and accounts you're interested in.

#book, books, writer, author, writersLife, authorsLife, writingCommunity, fiction, historicalFiction, art, painting, oilPrinting, contemporaryArt, reading, readingList, etc pp, you get it. There's so much art!

[shaulaevans@zirk.us]

@LitteRatty This can be a great place. I hope it's a good home for you.

[dalehagglund@hachyderm.io]

@LitteRatty Welcome to the fediverse.

It is a bit confusing at first, especially when you're used to "the algorithm" directing things (some good and some bad) your way. I see you've already got some suggestions about hashtags to start with, so I won't try to add to that, but they can be a good way to find individuals to follow.

I don't know if you'd be comfortable posting art here, but I'd be very interested in seeing some of your work.

Again, welcome, and best wishes here in the fediverse.

[thegiddystitcher@sunny.garden]

@LitteRatty Welcome! Honestly don't worry about it, post what you want to post and chat when and if you want to chat. Most platforms punish you for not being active enough, but there's no such issue on here so just take your time

Lots of us love to see others making art, and as a big reader you've obviously picked a good server there, I'm sure you'll feel at home in no time!

[yonggan@iceshrimp.de]

@LitteRatty oh wow. cool that you found your way to the fediverse!

may i share you some links for some ressources that may help you:

fedi.wiki/
fedi.tips/
joinfediverse.wiki/Main_Page

Have fun! ​​

[oblomov@sociale.network]

hello @LitteRatty and welcome. The main difference vs the corporate platforms is that here you don't get force-fed content, so you have to go look for it. Browse your instance local and federated timelines to find interesting account to follow, search for hashtags relevant to your interests (and use hashtags yourself to be more discoverable). https://fedi.tips has a lot of useful tips especially for newcomers.

[oblomov@sociale.network]

@LitteRatty you may also want to look into installing the StreetPass extension for your browser: it's a thingie that lets you know when a web page has metadata that declares an associated Mastodon / Fediverse profile and keeps a list of all the profiles discovered like this, it's another way to find interesting accounts here

[okolobos@sociale.network]

@LitteRatty

Bine ai venit!
Welcome
Bienvenu

Your local instance @bookstodon.com
seems good for books

P.S. Am văzut că unele dintre tablourile tale au ca decor regiunea Sibiului.
Am vizitat-o, inclusiv Păltinișul, cu mulți ani în urmă.
Am o amintire foarte frumoasă despre ea.

[zenbeater@beige.party]

@LitteRatty

Welcome! You'll figure it out in time, worry not. I suggest following @FediTips

Also worth noting is that many here appreciate accessible ALT texts on images:
https://www.perkins.org/resource/how-write-alt-text-and-image-descriptions-visually-impaired/

[maker_of_things@cupoftea.social]

@LitteRatty
In addition to the advice given, I'd say follow people who interact with you, and then interact with them.
See who else they interact with and see if you want to follow them too.

When you are following a larger number of people, you can start to drop the ones that have no real interest to you, if you want.

The main thing is to interact. People will follow you back if the interactions are good and of interest to them. It is much more like socialising at a party.