Hashtags do not replace groups.
No one moderates them. They’re easy to hijack and spam. And there’s simply no permanence to them.
Which is why, if you actually want to discuss something, it’s better to tag a group. For example, if you want to be part of an actual PC gaming community on the Fediverse, it’s better to tag @pcgaming@lemmy.ca than #pcgaming.
This needs to be common knowledge because people new to the Fediverse do not know about groups. Hell, I’d say people who have had Mastodon accounts for years still don’t know. And that’s a shame.
@atomicpoet @BenDoubleU I feel it’s worth pointing out in this context that from the perspective of a Masto server, this thread features several accounts with no avi, bio, follows or followers. I assume they’re the Lemmy accounts?
As a Twitter vet I’ve developed an aversion to engaging *at all* with newly-created accounts lacking properly fleshed-out profiles!
But it’s still cool there’s these options. Perhaps the integration will improve?
Having a Mastodon account means creating new habits. One of them is to check the originating server of an account. This is because that account may not be using Mastodon.
@ApostateEnglishman But you’re not a Twitter user anymore, so maybe it’s time to let that go. You’re part of something much bigger than Twitter-style micro-blogging. Lemmy users will usually have profiles (bios) – although not typically as extensive as Mastodon users – but following users or being followed doesn’t make any sense on Lemmy. The primary unit is the community (group) not the user.