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. This is a potentially very useful feature, but it isn’t very well known so most people don’t use it.
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 these notes. They are stored on your server and aren’t sent elsewhere.
Why would I want to do this?
Notes 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.
For example 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.
Many people use it to keep track of why they might have muted or blocked someone.
Another example: I use notes a lot on FediFollows ⧉, FediVideo ⧉ and FediGarden ⧉ to keep track of which accounts or servers I’ve featured and when. This helps me 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).