If you think back on the early days of Facebook and Twitter, what was great was that it was mostly content that you wanted to see or opted-in to see. You did this by following people or following hashtags.

Today?

Well, you’ve probably noticed that your X and Facebook feeds are filled with:

1. Ads
2. Content from people you didn’t actually choose to follow
3. Ads
4. Content that is indistinguishable from an ad
5. Ads
6. Content seemingly being pushed with some agenda
7. Ads
8. Elon
9. Ads
10. Updates from people you explicitly and actively chose to follow.

Why am I seeing this and how do I make it go away?

For example:

I’m not a Connor McGregor fan nor am I even interested in UFC in the slightest; why is this in my feed 🤷‍♂️?

This is at the top of my X feed:

If this experience with social media platforms resonates with you, then Mastodon is for you.

In many ways, Mastodon feels like rewinding the clock on social media back to the early days of Twitter and Facebook. On the consume side, that means that your home feed has no algorithm (this can be disorienting at first).

Pract