Fediquette: A Community Etiquette Guide

The social web—also known as the fediverse—is full of passionate people who care deeply about improving accessibility and respecting consent. This guide to our cultural norms will help you navigate various aspects of community life on the social web, from setting up your account to interacting with others.

If this guide seems like a lot, remember this: Just try to be considerate and kind.

Your public profile

• Fill out your bio
  • Use the bio field on your profile to tell others what your account is about, whether it's your work, hobbies, or interests. Use hashtags and tag other relevant accounts (with their permission). Many people in the fediverse are privacy-minded; they want to build trust before striking up a conversation or accepting a follow request. You can also feature hashtags on your account, which will help people find you more easily.
• Be mindful of emoji use
  • Please know that it can be difficult for people who use screen readers to interact with accounts that have lots of emojis in their display name. The screen reader says each emoji out loud, and some emojis have very long names. One emoji is usually accessible.
• Profile picture and background
  • Your avatar and banner image can be a great way to add personality to your profile. There are restrictions to the kinds of imagery you can use outlined in our Community Standards. Please know that many visually impaired members of the community don’t use profile images or banners. If you see a profile that lacks an avatar and banner image, don’t immediately assume it's a spam account. Have a look at their bio to learn what they're all about.
• Verify your account
  • If you run your own website, you can add it to your profile page. Linking your website to your Mastodon account in an important way to help people know it's really you or your organisation. Learn how to verify your account.
• Fill out your extra fields
  • You can also add a link tree or feature important information about yourself by filling out the Extra fields on your profile. These can be more websites, your pronouns, or anything you want!

Creating posts and threads

• Language
  • The Mastodon software has a built-in translation feature. Make sure you set your posts to the correct language so others can read your posts, even if they speak a different language.
• Visibility
  • You can set the level of visibility for each post you make. Who can view, boost, and quote you depends on your visibility choice, so make sure you set it correctly.
• Hashtags
  • Use relevant hashtags to help people find your posts more easily. Hashtags are one of the primary ways people discover posts and accounts they're interested in.

Accessibility practices

• Content warnings
  • If your post deals with sensitive topics or includes spoilers for a TV show, you can use a content warning to give people a heads-up about what they're in for. We recommend using content warnings freely, as people find them helpful for navigating their feeds across a wide range of topics. You don’t know how people are feeling on the other side—using content warnings often shows consideration.
• Alt text
  • If your post has an image or video, we strongly recommend you use alt text. This will help people who are blind, less sighted, or with poor internet connections to experience your image too. Many people will not interact or share posts that are missing alt text.

Replies to others

• Stay respectful and relevant
  • Make sure your reply is courteous and on-topic. Embrace kindness and take a positive tone in your reply. Remember there's another human being on the other side.
• Be open to new ideas and try to leave room for disagreement
  • Everyone is different, and you won't always agree on everything. Take into consideration that cultural differences exist – what might be rude to one person is completely acceptable for another, so be ready to adapt.
• Think about what you are contributing
  • Is it really adding to the conversation, or could your reply be taken as unsolicited advice or excessive criticism? Consider the profile of the original poster—are they an expert in the field they’re talking about?

Dealing with difficult behaviour

• Report hateful or harmful behaviour
  • If you see someone doing something that is hateful or harmful, you should report it using your social web application's reporting feature. Moderators have a lot of experience dealing with this kind of account and content.
• Block and mute freely
  • Sometimes you may experience behaviour you don't like, but that does not violate our rules. In that case, we recommend you ignore, block, or mute the account and move on.
• Keep debates and disagreements civil
  • For a healthy exchange of ideas and proper conversation to happen, it's helpful if there's a mutual agreement to be open, cordial, and trustworthy. If the other party doesn’t reciprocate, you don’t need to carry the burden of the interaction. Sometimes provoking others is their goal. Keep that in mind and act accordingly.