Following hashtags can create a personalized feed of content for users to enjoy, but what is the best way to follow hashtags on the Mastodon app? Without hashtags, users potentially lose out on content that could be relevant to their interests. While it is easy to search for hashtags, users just want an easy way to see relevant content without searching for it.
Mastodon is software comprised of numerous decentralized servers known as the 'Fediverse.' Some servers are public, meaning anyone can see posts, while others are private. All servers have their own rules and regulations, and this is what draws users to the social network. With the influx of users leaving Twitter to begin anew on Mastodon, developers have become bogged down with feature requests. One of the most heavily asked-for features is the ability to follow hashtags. Much like Twitter's ability to follow hashtags to curate the best timeline experience. As users ask, Mastodon developers provide.
The ability to follow hashtags on Mastodon is a relatively new feature. It also hasn't been implemented in every client or even the native app just yet. To follow, start from the browser and head to the search bar. Next, type in the desired hashtag, for example, #DoctorWhoDay. Users can also find trending tags under the Explore tab or in users' posts. Select the hashtag, and Mastodon will pull all the available posts containing the keyword. When activated, an icon of a person will appear to the right of the hashtag. Select the icon to follow and deselect the icon to unfollow. This new feature is off to a great start but still needs some work.
Why Mastodon Hashtags Don't Work
Unlike other social media platforms, Mastodon works in decentralized servers. So a person will have a dedicated home server but can still see posts from outside users as long as the server is public. Because of this, there are a lot of questions about how hashtags should work. For example, one server may not allow posts from other servers. In that case, hashtags may only show posts from the user's server. Additionally, the federated timeline that isn't moderated heavily by a server will only show posts from people followed by others on the active server. Sounds confusing? It is, which is why the requested feature was thrown on the back burner until now.
Because of Mastodon's federated web of servers, developers may need more time to nail down the best action to execute the hashtags across all servers. Mastodon.social and Mastodon.online have both implemented the new feature. Even though hashtags were heavily requested, they may have even been unnecessary. Trends show that hashtags are growing out of favor and being replaced by more specific searches. For example, 'the best tourist spots in Hawaii' instead of #HawaiiTourism. How Mastodon will proceed with the hashtag rollout is hard to tell. Hopefully, the kinks will work themselves out and not flop as some might expect. In the meantime, there are many other features to enjoy across Mastodon's servers.
Sources: Mastodon / Github