Unlike Twitter, Mastodon seems to rely much more on stable hashtags for discovery. That’s probably because there’s no “the algorithm” like on Twitter. So with Mastodon you very well can subscribe to hashtags and expect them to get reused over time.

Twitter-style seems to make sense if you’re a public figure or an organization. As a private individual it doesn’t make as much sense unless all you want to do is follow the people/orgs you’re interested in. I tend to use the Lemmy/Reddit model way more.

is the purpose just to shout your opinions into the void?

I don’t know if that is its purpose, but that is how it is used.

Hashtags serve several different functions on Twitter. I’m not sure how similar Mastadon is in this respect, but here’s some of the purposes:

Areas of interest
So if you support a particular sports team, or like a particular TV show, or whatever, you can search for (and use) hashtags around that topic to find discussion and to make your thoughts more likely to be seen by those interested. These hashtags are likely to remain relevant over a long period of time, since their subject is a permanent, ongoing thing.

Trending news/issues
When something notable is happening in the world, hashtags are a good way of related information. This could be a sports event, or a breaking news story or whatever. These hashtags are usually going to be relevant only for a limited period of time, but they’re useful for in-the-moment info/discussion.

Jokes/Messages/Emphasis
This is like an ultracompressed and more focused version of the above. So if someone posts something they think, and uses a hashtag (which changes the text colour and thus draws the eye), it can be simply to highlight that message, a bit like using bold or italics. This is only likely to be relevant to the individuals involved in the conversation, although followers may get something from it too. They’re usually intended for one-off use, not for long or even medium term grouping of ideals or information - although their use can also be part of a wider trend.

See, for example, instances of people adding #OKBoomer onto a tweet - it’s adding tone of voice and attitude to the main tweet, but it also ties into a wider trend of similar messages relating to intergenerational conflict or disagreement. It can also be used in an ironic way, referring to the more earnest usage of the tag, in order to make a humorous, or self-deprecating point.

Overall hashtags can be very versatile and useful. And even fun.

#ThankYouForComingToMyTEDTalk

Microblogging is for following individuals and for general public sentiment vs forums which are for following specific topics and communities

I’ve actually found some good artists posting good stuff on Twitter.

Too bad I wanna quit Twitter, hope to find them on Mastodon.

PS: I know it’s X, but fuck Elon Musk.

The only use I’ve ever had for Twitter was THE public place to post notices on the internet. Bands, comedians and other touring performers could post concert dates, etc.

The end of that Sparah commercial from Virgin Mobile “I’m so confused” “That right there? That’s a tweet. Tweet that shit!” is mostly what actually happened though, which is why I didn’t have a Twitter account for long.

I have not noticed hashtags I follow changing much at all. Can you give an example of this?

I followed artists, comedians, reporters etc. Micoblogging is just shouting into the void and folks shouting back.

The twitter format is a pub/sub format, it’s not really about group discussions. It’s for if you are a creator or business and want people who care about your output to be able to follow your announcements. E.g streamers who want to announce when they’re about to go live, artists who want to post their content (though personally I wish they’d do that on art gallery sites), game devs who want to give news to fans, etc etc.

Yeah you follow people. Whats confusing?