Are you seeing posts in your timeline from accounts you aren't following?
Don't worry, it's not an algorithm! You're probably just seeing posts which contain hashtags that you are following.
To check which hashtags you are following on Mastodon:
1. Go to your profile page
2. Depending on what app or interface you are using, click # at the top or click ... and then "Followed hashtags" (some apps may have other ways of doing this)
You can unfollow any tags you don't want to see.
Adrian Morales
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Adrian Morales • • •@adrianmorales
It should be just showing stuff you chose to be there, let me know if I can help make sense of it? 🙂
Fuse Views
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •I've seen a few toots (not many) that appear in my timeline, but they've NOT got any of my followed hashtags...
... nor have they been boosted by anyone I follow... nor anyone!
(Yes, I'm in the right part of the app...)
I just assumed that perhaps the original toot did have a hashtag, but it was later edited out of the toot.
If I see another, I'll screenshot (screenshoot?) it.
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Fuse Views • • •What are you using to access Mastodon? Is it a particular app or interface?
That sounds like a bug or a glitch, but it's difficult to know without a screenshot.
The edited hashtag theory is possible, but if so you should be able to check the previous versions of the post from its "edited" label.
Fuse Views
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •I actually juggle two apps, depending on what I'm doing.
Fedilab and Tusky.
I'm *pretty sure* I've only seen those "stray" toots in the app I use the most: Fedilab.
I'll keep an eye open and let you know!
(Those stray toots always stand out because I think, "Why TF is this in my timeline?")
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Fuse Views • • •If it happens again, as well as screenshotting it, might be worth checking if the same toot is in your home timeline when using both apps and your server's website.
If it's just on one app, then there may be a bug in that particular app which is somehow mixing up timelines.
If the same stray post is on multiple apps and the website, then there may be a bug in the software running on your server.
Fuse Views
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •As always, GREAT advice from @FediTips !
I'll definitely do that and keep you (and others) in the loop.
Thank you!
Sam*
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Sam* • • •It's possible that you followed the account when it was on another server, then it moved servers and decided to use a new name on the new server?
Another possibility is an accidental click or tap? There is no confirmation required for follows so people sometimes follow accounts accidentally when browsing.
Sam*
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Sam* • • •" and it were no accounts at all that were in the slightest way up my alley"
It doesn't have to be something you considered following, it can be totally without you noticing. There are usually "follow" buttons next to accounts in search results, so accidental taps while scrolling search results can cause accidental follows.
I'm not saying you have done this, I'm just saying it is worth checking if this is the cause. If this is the cause, the only way to fix it is to unfollow. 🙂
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •@geco_de
Could you give an example of a post like this, and check your hashtags to make sure?
Also check that you haven't accidentally followed an account, this is easy to do as there's no confirmation required.
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •I asked about this issue already several times here. But no solution so far. 😖
The accounts are different but usually all from the same instance.
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •@geco_de
That sounds like a bug if it's not any kind of follow or hashtag follow or boost.
Would be good to find out more! 👍
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Stay tuned. 😅
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Yesterday we talked about the toots that I see sometimes without following.
Here is a toot that I got in my timeline this morning:
feddit.org/post/9978925
Nearly all toots are about Cannabis. I follow the hashtag Cannabis, but this hashtag isn’t set here.
I don’t follow the user. But all toots that I see in my timeline without following are from the instance “feddit.org”.
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •@geco_de
Thanks for the followup 🙏
Are you following a Feddit group account? Do any of the accounts you follow end with "feddit.org"?
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •Try unfollowing the hashtag "cannabis" and see if the feddit posts about cannabis stop appearing in the future.
(It's possible that the feddit posts have got that particular hashtag within them, but in a form that Mastodon doesn't display. This used to happen with PeerTube videos too.)
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •OK, I will try it. I unfollowed Cannabis and all the other hashtags related to this topic. I'll keep an eye on it.
But if it's the way you describe it with hashtags not contained but in a form that mastodon doesn't display, it's still a bug, isn't it?
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •I've just tried searching for this post on mastodon.social which is running the latest experimental version of Mastodon. When the post is viewed there, it does have the "cannabis" hashtag.
I've attached a screenshot to show this.
I think your server is running an older version of Mastodon. When your server updates to the latest version, perhaps this will cause the hashtags to appear?
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •So that’s why it’s shown to me then. Fair enough. But should my clients show it to me as well? Usually I can see that a post is presented by a hashtag.
So the question is: Where the hell is the failure? 🤯
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •@geco_de
I'm guessing it is to do with Feddit being a non-Mastodon instance, so it perhaps presents hashtags in a slightly different way.
I'm not a dev so I'm not sure how the Mastodon API passes on information about non-Mastodon posts to apps, but perhaps those apps need some bug fixes to display tags in posts from Lemmy instances correctly?
Maybe @pachli and @IceCubesApp could comment?
Pachli
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •@geco_de @IceCubesApp
This is a Mastodon bug. I've just reported it as github.com/mastodon/mastodon/i…
`tags` property contains hashtags that are not in `content` · Issue #34319 · mastodon/mastodon
GitHubFedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Pachli • • •Pachli
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •@geco_de Without feedback from @MastodonEngineering it's not clear what the proper fix is.
This might be a documentation bug, and clients are supposed to display all hashtags even if they are not in the content of the post.
Or, it might be a software bug, and Mastodon is supposed to remove additional hashtags provided by other software (e.g., Lemmy) if the hashtag doesn't appear in the content of the post.
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Pachli • • •@pachli @geco_de @MastodonEngineering
These cross-platform bugs tend to be the trickiest to report as it's sometimes unclear which platform has the problem. Thanks for attempting, hope it bears fruit.
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •In addition I just checked if I follow the group "(at)cannabis(at)feddit.org". But I don't.
How can I find out if I follow any groups. Or how can I see which groups I follow?
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •@geco_de
They will look like normal accounts in your follow list, but will have a "group" label on their profile when viewed through your server's website.
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺 • • •@geco_de
By the way, if this is being caused by hashtags then it may not be you who is following the group. If just one person on your server is following the group, then you will see group posts which have hashtags that you are following.
Jörg 🇩🇪🇬🇧🇪🇺
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Toni
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Allan
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •1. I thought that instance was universally fedi-blocked.
2. The posts from those accounts that I see don't even have that hashtag!
Allan
Als Antwort auf Allan • • •Here's one right near the top of the hashtag (22 min old): fsebugoutzone.org/objects/77a7…
イリエ
2025-03-28 20:47:24
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Allan • • •@crapaud
You would need to ask your instance admin about this, they are the only ones who control defederation on your instance.
Hey @stux have you blocked fsebugoutzone.org ?
טליה (לשון את) 🎗️
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf טליה (לשון את) 🎗️ • • •@yuvalne
There is for boosts (it says "boosted by") and a lot of people have suggested it should be there for followed hashtags too.
According to an issue raised about this, it's not as simple to do as one might expect:
github.com/mastodon/mastodon/i…
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •p.s. If a post is inexplicably in your timeline and it isn't a followed hashtag or a boost, please check the post's profile to see if you are following it.
The way account search results are presented on Mastodon means it's very easy to accidentally click on "follow" while just scrolling the results. There is no confirmation message for this, it just quietly adds it to your follows.
You may be following accounts that you don't remember following because it happened by accident while scrolling.
JamesTDG
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf JamesTDG • • •Agreed, I've just added this as a suggestion on the Mastodon Github:
github.com/mastodon/mastodon/i…
Option for requiring confirmation before following an account · Issue #34314 · mastodon/mastodon
GitHubK
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf K • • •@k_purpose
Ah yeah, that is another thing that's pretty easy to do 😳
Michael Ormsby
Als Antwort auf Fedi.Tips • • •The converse of this tip is the thing I like most about Mastodon… I almost never have to wonder why I’m seeing items in my timeline. It’s transparent and a nice place.
Thank you to the creators and administrators of Mastodon for enabling this civilized and delightful alternative to commercial social media.
Fedi.Tips
Als Antwort auf Michael Ormsby • • •@michaelormsby
It gives control over timelines to the user, which is where it should be 🙂