If you’re browsing a profile on Mastodon’s website or web app or some app store apps, you might see an option that says “Click to add note” or something similar. It’s often overlooked, but is a potentially very useful feature.
What does Notes do?
The Notes feature lets you add private notes to anyone’s profile. Just click on it and type, it will save your notes automatically.
Who can see these notes?
Only you can see your notes. They are stored on your server and aren’t sent elsewhere.
How do I save a note? There’s no save button!
Just click somewhere outside the note, it should automatically save it.
Why would I want to use notes?
Mastodon’s Notes feature can be useful when dealing with large numbers of people on the Fediverse, where you want to instantly see info about how they relate to you or how you relate to them:
- Many people use it to keep track of why they might have muted or blocked someone.
- If you’re working with a group of people on a collaborative project and you want to keep track of who is doing what, you can add their role to your notes on their profile.
- If someone’s profile description is incomplete or absent, you can add important info to your notes about them.
- Speaking personally, the author of Fedi.Tips uses notes a lot on FediFollows ⧉, FediVideo ⧉ and FediGarden ⧉ to keep track of which accounts or servers have been featured and when. This helps avoid featuring the same accounts too often.
What happens to notes if the person transfers their account to another server?
If the person you wrote notes about migrates their account to another server, your notes will automatically appear on the profile of their new account (along with a message saying that they were transferred from the old account).
What if I transfer my account to another server? Do my notes about other people come over to my new server?
No, unfortunately not. There’s currently no way to export and import notes you’ve made about other people, so you would have to manually copy notes over to your account on your new server.