Getting off Facebook: A practical guide to Mastodon

This is the first in a two-part series on leaving Facebook. Part Two covers setting up a Bluesky account.

Facebook has become harder to love. The algorithmic manipulation, the surveillance business model, the role it plays in spreading misinformation — many of us have been thinking about leaving for years. The problem is always the same: everyone we know is still there.

This guide is for people who want to leave Facebook — or at least reduce their dependence on it — and want to bring their communities with them. It focuses on Mastodon, one of the two leading alternatives to Facebook and Twitter. (The other, Bluesky, is covered in Part Two.)

Mastodon vs. Bluesky: Which One Is Right for You?

Before diving into setup, it helps to understand what makes these platforms different — and why you might want both.

Bluesky feels like Twitter rebuilt from scratch. It's fast-moving, algorithmically optional, and has attracted a large, politically engaged user base, particularly among progressives who left Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover. If you want to reach a broad audience quickly and are comfortable with a social media feed that resembles what you already know, Bluesky is the easier on-ramp.

Mastodon is something different. It's part of the "Fediverse" — a decentralized network of servers that talk to each other using open standards. There's no single company running it, no algorithm pushing content for engagement, and no venture capital looking for a return. It's slower, more intentional, and rewards a different kind of participation: thoughtful threads, genuine conversation, and community-building over follower counts.

For people migrating from Facebook specifically, Mastodon has a lot to offer. It's built around communities rather than viral moments. The culture values context and care. And the fact that no corporation owns it means you're not building your community on someone else's land — again.

The two platforms don't connect to each other, so you can use both. Many organizers do. But if you're going to invest seriously in one, read on — this guide will walk you through Mastodon from account creation to your first week.

Part One: Creating Your Account

Step 1: Go to mastodon.social

Visit https://mastodon.social and click "Create account."

You'll need to choose a username, provide an email address, and create a password.

On usernames: Your handle will be @username@mastodon.social. Choose something recognizable — ideally something that matches your handles on other platforms. You can't change it later without creating a new account.

Step 2: Verify Your Email

Check your inbox and click the confirmation link before doing anything else.

Step 3: Set Up Your Profile

Click your profile picture, then select Edit profile. The fields that matter most:

Display name — This can be different from your username and can include spaces or emoji. It's what people see in timelines.

Bio — Two to four sentences about who you are and what you post about. Set expectations clearly. Something like:

"Retired organizer in Los Angeles. Interested in community power, platform independence, and building resilient movements. Reader, writer, troublemaker."

Profile picture — Upload something clear and recognizable, even at small sizes. This is what people see in timelines and replies, so it matters more than your header image.

Header image — Optional, but it makes your profile feel complete. Mastodon uses a 3:1 ratio — 1500×500 pixels works well. A landscape photo, a simple pattern, or even a plain color all look fine. Don't stress about this when you're starting out; your profile picture is more important.

Step 4: Add Profile Metadata

Mastodon lets you add up to four custom fields that appear as a table on your profile. This is a great place for:

• Pronouns: she/her (or whatever applies)
• Location: [your city, state]
• Link: Your website or newsletter, if you have one

This keeps your bio text clean while still giving people the context they want.

Step 5: Privacy Settings to Consider

• Posting privacy: Default to "Public" so your posts appear in timelines and searches.
• Suggest account to others: Yes — this helps people find you.
• Require follow requests: Probably not, unless you want to vet everyone who follows you.

Part Two: One Account or Two?

If you're using Mastodon both personally and for organizing work, you'll face a choice: one account for everything, or separate accounts?

For most people: one personal account. Mastodon culture expects whole humans. Users here post about organizing, personal updates, books they're reading, and whatever else is on their mind — all from the same account. Your aunt can follow you and mute political hashtags if she wants; Mastodon makes that easy. Trying to maintain two personal accounts gets exhausting and splits your audience.

What does make sense is a separate organizational account for any group you lead or coordinate. An Indivisible chapter, a mutual aid network, a campaign — these need their own voice, separate from any individual. Organizational accounts should be:

• Strictly for announcements, events, and calls to action
• Accessible to multiple people in leadership (use a shared password manager)
• Clearly distinct from your personal voice and opinions

On your personal account, mention the org in your bio and boost their posts to amplify reach. That relationship — you as an individual connected to but distinct from the organization — is exactly how it should work.

The exception: Create a second personal account if you need a locked/private space for close friends and family separate from your public organizing presence. This is common for people with safety concerns or high-profile public roles.

Part Three: Making Your First Post

Once your profile is set up, write a simple introduction post. Mastodon culture uses the #Introduction hashtag for this, and it's one of the most-watched tags on the platform — a genuine way for new people to get discovered.

Something like:

"New to Mastodon. Still figuring out the culture here, but looking forward to conversations about organizing, community power, and building outside surveillance platforms. Based in Los Angeles. #Introduction"

Don't overthink it. First posts are low-stakes.

Part Four: Finding People and Building Your Timeline

Your timeline will be quiet at first. That's normal and expected. Here's how to build it up:

Follow hashtags — this is one of Mastodon's best features, and it actually works. To follow a hashtag, click on it in any post, then hit the Follow button. A few to start with:

• #Organizing — community and political organizing
• #MutualAid — mutual aid networks and resources
• #CivicEngagement — civic participation and democracy
• #FediTips — tips for navigating Mastodon culture
• #Introduction — find new people who are just arriving
• #[your city] or #[your state] — local connections

Search for people you already know — journalists, activists, and writers you followed on Twitter or Facebook often have Mastodon accounts. Search their names or handles.

Reply to people — engagement on Mastodon is built through conversation, not virality. If someone posts something interesting, respond thoughtfully.

Part Five: Learning Mastodon Culture

Mastodon has a distinct culture. Coming in aware of it will save you some stumbles.

Things that work here:

• Thoughtful posts with context and nuance
• Using hashtags (they're genuinely useful for discovery)
• Adding alt text to images (widely expected)
• Using content warnings (labeled "CW") for politics, heavy news, or anything that might catch someone off guard — label them clearly, like "US Politics" or "Trump administration"
• Replying to people and having actual conversations

Things that don't land well:

• Engagement bait ("Boost this if you agree!")
• Cross-posting automatically from Twitter or Facebook (people can tell, and it signals you're not really here)
• Announcing "I'm leaving Facebook!" before you've actually built anything here
• Expecting Twitter-style rapid follower growth

Part Six: Your First Week

Keep it light. Here's a simple framework:

Day 1: Make your introduction post. Follow 10–15 hashtags. Follow a few people whose work you know.

Days 2–7: Post two or three things — a link to something interesting, a short thought, a reaction to something in the news. Reply to a few people. See what the culture feels like.

Don't do yet: Announce your Facebook departure. Import all your Twitter or Bluesky follows at once. Stress about engagement numbers.

You're in what might be called "parallel play" mode — low pressure, just learning. Your Mastodon conversations won't appear in your Facebook history; this is its own space. Give it room to develop.

A Note on Migration Strategy

No one moves their social world overnight. A realistic timeline looks something like this:

Months 1–3: Set up your account, learn the culture, post lightly, build a small following. Stay on Facebook in parallel.

Months 4–9: Begin inviting your Facebook contacts to find you on Mastodon. Start cross-posting major announcements manually. Observe which communities form where.

Months 9–15: Shift more of your organizing energy to Mastodon. Reduce Facebook activity. Evaluate what's working.

Month 15+: You'll know whether Mastodon is your primary platform, a secondary one, or part of a multi-platform strategy. You don't need to decide that now.

The goal isn't to delete Facebook tomorrow. It's to build something outside their walls so that when you're ready to leave — or if Facebook makes the decision for you — you have somewhere to go, and your community is there waiting.

Sharing Your Mastodon Handle

Your full Mastodon address includes both your username and your server:

@yourusername@mastodon.social

Always share the full address — not just @yourusername. Because Mastodon runs on thousands of different servers, the server name is part of how people find you. Your profile is also accessible as a direct link:

https://mastodon.social/@yourusername

Use this link in email signatures, on Facebook while you're still there, in newsletters, and anywhere else you want people to find you.

Go Deeper

Mastodon has a learning curve, and this guide only covers the essentials. These resources will take you further:

• Fedi.Tips — An unofficial, human-written guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse. The best single resource for understanding the culture and unwritten rules.
• An Increasingly Less-Brief Guide to Mastodon — A thorough community-written guide covering the philosophy and mechanics of the platform in plain language. Good for when you're ready to go beyond the basics.
• Mastodon Quick Start Guide — The official guide from the Mastodon team. Covers account setup, hashtag strategy, and settings worth revisiting after your first week.
• joinmastodon.org — The official Mastodon home page. Most useful when you start inviting others to join — it helps people find the right server for their interests.

Part Two of this series will cover creating a Bluesky account — how it differs from Mastodon, when to use each, and how to manage both during your Facebook migration.