If you’re on Mastodon, Friendica and some other Fediverse platforms, you can follow hashtags. This means that posts with a particular tag will start appearing in your normal timeline alongside posts from people you follow.
For example, if you followed the hashtag #Gardening you would start to see posts about gardening appear in your timeline from people you aren’t following. This makes hashtag following a really useful way to discover new people to follow.
To follow a hashtag on Mastodon:
- Log in through your server’s website or using an app that supports hashtag following
- Search for the hashtag you want to follow, then click on the tag to see the results for that tag
- Click on the + icon or the Follow button in the top right corner of the hashtag results page to follow that hashtag. To unfollow it, click the same icon again.
- Posts using that tag will now show up in your home timeline even from people you aren’t following. They will be visible in the home timeline on the website and on the apps.
You can follow hashtags through your server’s website, or in the official iPhone/iPad app, or on third party Android apps Fedilab ⧉ and Tusky ⧉.
How do I check which hashtags I’m already following?
If you’re on the official iPhone/iPad app you can check your current follows by going to your profile page and clicking on the # icon at the top.
If you’re on your server’s website, go to your profile page, then click on the ︙ button and then Followed Hashtags.
Third party apps will have various interfaces for viewing your followed tags.