Mastodon is very confusing

By Dennis Long, 1 May, 2023

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

One thing I noticed about the Mona for Mastodon client is some options appear missing if you haven't purchased it. This is going off the LivingBlinbfully tutorial. So I would recommend purchasing Mona first. What I find confusing is how to search for example I can't find the living blindfully profile to follow. I also can't find David Goldfield who I know is on there. Maybe it is just me but I think this is why Mastodon hasn't been widely adopted.

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Comments

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I like the customization of Mona. When you can't figure out how to properly search for something or someone I understand why a lot of people have stayed on Twitter. Mastodon needs to work and be easier to use. I would love to know where I'm going wrong.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I'm just searching by name. The problem is there are so many instances its impossible to know what one they are using.

By Gar on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

In Mona, you don't have to include the instance name in a search to find results. However, you do have to specify that you're looking for a user. In my case, I hit return, then I am presented with a new screen that allows me to select hashtags, users or posts.
I hope this helps.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

example david goldfield I tried with and without spaces and no results.

By KE8UPE on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

Hi,
I love the app & don’t find the app or Mastodon itself confusing.

By Gar on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

Hi,
After you type his name into the search field, do you just hit return, or do you select search users?
For me, it apparently works either way, I'm able to find him with Mona.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I haven't paid for mona I do search for users. I wonder if this is why I'm having issues.

By Gar on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

As much as I hate the idea, you could be right. I would yell at the developers about it.

By mich on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I agree it is really hard to use. qwitter still works if you are wanting to use that for twitter.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it is hard to use. If they make it easier to use it has potential. I purchased Mona just to support the developer but I understand why companies haven't went to it. so yes I would like to see more companies get on it I understand why they haven't.

By Gar on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

You can always try to get in touch with the developers on Mastodon :-)

By KE8UPE on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

Hi,
Let me see if I can assist you.
To send a message to the developers of Mona, do the following:
One. Perform a two finger double tap, to bring up the compose screen.
Two. Type the information in my subject line, then type your actual message.
3. The send button will be in the upper right corner.
Four. Double tap it.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I'm not sure it is a mona issue so much as a mastodon issue. If I search for someone it says no results and I know they are on there. I was searching for David goldfield I know he is on there and the tech vi feed is on there again it finds nothing even when I put @ and make it all one word.

By Gar on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I have searched for the same individual both with Mona and on Tweesecake and can find him easily. You said you're running the free version, yeah?
As you yourself noted the free version lacks features. Unfortunately, working search may be one of them.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

I paided for mona so I'm not sure it is a mona issue. How did you do the search? Maybe it is user error.

By Holger Fiallo on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

When I used it I like it because I could use it in my pc and iPhone without using something else. I try the other to complicated and hard to use. Not using anything else. I heard of Bluesky suppose to be like twitter. Had not check it out yet.

By Unregistered User (not verified) on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

It's the same format as an email address with an extra @ at the start. Typing a username without an instance is like typing an email without a domain name. If they don't tell you their instance, ask them for it. Even if Mona can do it without an instance, that leaves the name ambiguous since the same name can exist on multiple instances.

By Tanya Harrison on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

Hi Dennis, I empathize with your frustration about searching for people on Mastodon. It's definitely not easy, I've heard a fair amount of sighted people vent their frustration too. If you don't know what instance a person belongs to, it's really hard to know where to start. The first day I signed up to Mastodon I was searching for Jonathan, and as he was on the same instance as me he was easy to find at the time. I had no joy with anyone else though, so I went through some of Jonathan's boosts and found a couple of people I wanted to follow. If you have already found a couple of people, reading through their follower list may help. When it comes to searching for people, the order in which you type their handle is important, as Jonathan explained to me, before my comments on depression in episode 218. I agree with you, being able to search for someone without knowing their instance would be a helpful feature. For now, I guess that is one of the cons of going to a platform that is run by many people, rather than ruled by one money-hungry so and so.

By Dennis Long on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

Don't give up I read they are working on those improvements.

By MuseumShuffle on Friday, May 26, 2023 - 06:23

What I've found is "less is more" when searching for people on Mastodon. You don't really need to know what instance a person is on in many cases. For example, I tried this on the web client and with Ivory and "Ice Cubes" on iOS. I searched for "davidgo" and the second result is David Goldfield on @rcsocial.net.