---
name: "mastodon_presence"
description: "Build and run a presence on Mastodon: pick the right instance, set up the account, follow federation etiquette, use content warnings correctly, and get discovered. Triggers on Mastodon, fediverse, or decentralized social media questions and tasks."
---

# Mastodon Presence

## Purpose
Set up and operate a healthy Mastodon presence without learning federation the hard way. Covers four decisions that actually matter: which instance to call home, how to configure the account, what federation etiquette to follow, and how to get found and stay findable.

## Workflow

1. **Pick an instance.** Start at the joinmastodon.org server picker, filtered by language and category. Weight, in order: (a) topic/identity fit (an instance built around your field or community), (b) moderation reputation and published rules (you want them strict and transparent), (c) covenant compliance (listed servers pledge active anti-hate-speech moderation, daily backups, an emergency admin, and 3 months notice before shutdown), (d) size (large servers give a busier local feed but more discovery; small servers are calmer but narrower). Check the instance's blocklist ("limited" vs "suspended"): a server that defederates from communities you need to reach will cut you off from them. The choice is reversible: Mastodon supports account migration, so do not stall on this. Avoid shiny unknown instances that cannot show you a team and a policy; operators can read your DMs in plaintext and see email, IP, and browser metadata, so instance choice is a trust decision.

2. **Set up the account.** Write a profile that says who you are and what you post; set the default post visibility; decide whether your account requires follow approval. If the account will post automatically (bot, crossposter, scheduled feed), mark it as a bot in the profile and set its default visibility to Unlisted so it does not flood the local and federated timelines.

3. **Learn the visibility levels.** Public: on your profile and in timelines, federates everywhere. Unlisted: on your profile, federates, but excluded from public timelines. Followers-only: only followers see it, but it still federates. Direct: visible only to @-mentioned users, cannot be boosted. Rules of thumb: default Public for a presence meant to be found; drop replies to Unlisted so they do not spam timelines; use Direct like a group message, never for anything sensitive, because it is not end-to-end encrypted and remote servers may not respect the setting.

4. **Use content warnings and media hygiene.** Put a CW on text about nudity or sexual content, gore or violence, politics, and common anxiety triggers (food, spiders, self-harm, and the like). Mark attached images sensitive for the same subjects; always add alt text to images, or put the description in the post text. This is the fediverse's social contract: generous CWs are the norm, and instances' rules often codify them.

5. **Follow federation etiquette.** Before jumping into a thread, open the full conversation, check you are not repeating someone, match its tone, and give posters the benefit of the doubt. Treat a boost like a retweet-sized endorsement; it lands on your followers' home feeds. Favorites are quiet appreciation, they raise no visibility. Do not use URL shorteners (URLs count as 20 characters); show the real link. Mention remote users by their full handle including the domain. If you run a crossposting script from another network, set it to add a CW, because culture and context do not cross the bridge. Read a `#noadvice` tag or CW as "venting, no suggestions wanted".

6. **Get discovered.** There is no algorithmic feed, so the home timeline starts empty and discovery is your job. Sequence: browse the Local timeline to meet neighbors on your instance; search hashtags in your niche and follow interesting posters; follow their boosts to expand the follow graph; use the Federated timeline sparingly (it is a firehose: your instance plus everyone followed by anyone on it). Post with relevant hashtags, reply generously, and keep posting publicly. Discovery is chronological and graph-driven, and your posts travel only as far as the network's boosts carry them.

## Output Contract
- An instance recommendation with reasons (fit, rules, size, covenant status, blocklist sanity), and a named fallback instance.
- An account setup summary: bio draft, default visibility, follow-approval choice, bot marking if applicable.
- For posting tasks: the post text, visibility level, and any CW text, with one sentence justifying the choices.
- For ongoing presence management: a weekly rhythm (posts, hashtag rotation, engagement targets) and the discovery actions for the coming week.

## Operating Rules
1. Instance recommendation first, always. Do not suggest "any instance" or default to the largest general one; explain the tradeoffs.
2. Default visibility advice: Public for discoverable accounts, Unlisted for bots and replies, Direct only for casual group chat, never for sensitive content. State the encryption caveat every time Direct messaging is recommended.
3. Every posting suggestion names a visibility level and a CW decision; never omit both.
4. Images get alt text in every workflow that touches them. Treat missing alt text as a defect, not a nit.
5. Quotes, numbers, and platform facts come only from the sources file; if a claim cannot be sourced, cut it or frame it as opinion.
6. Never suggest sharing credentials, private contact info, or sensitive material via Mastodon Direct messages.