Mastodon Lists: Uses, Creation, Rename, Delete and More

Mastodon Lists

Mastodon is open-source software that allows you to establish your own social networking site, also called instances or servers. Mastodon lists let you sort out your following list in particular headings and groups. So that you can get posts in your customized feed. There is more to this. In this article, we will learn how to create these Mastodon lists as well as their uses.

Mastodon was launched back in 2016. However, it saw an acceleration in its traffic since the start of changes at Twitter. People who left Twitter for one or the other reason find Mastodon easy as it has many features and tools similar to Twitter.

If you are a Twitter user who is recently moved to Mastodon or who is thinking to leave Twitter and join Mastodon, then Path of EX has tailored many Mastodon how-to guides for you. I have covered things you may need to learn about Mastodon lists.

What are Mastodon Lists?

Mastodon lists is a customization tool that can be applied to group the people you follow on the site as per your choices. It makes your feed interesting. There are many Mastodon timelines that can be clicked to view different accounts and posts shared. You can view people, and posts of the accounts you follow on your home timeline. However, if you follow a huge number of accounts on Mastodon, your home timeline may not give you a customized view, rather it won’t.

Mastodon Lists

Say, for example, you follow 1000 accounts and they are of different artists or celebrities. It would be hard for you to see posts shared by them mingling with each other. If you follow 10 comedians, 50 actors, 100 news anchors, and 20 politicians, you may get tired of navigating to a genre between them.

Here come the “Mastodon Lists” to play their role. You can group these accounts under a fitting head or title. So, next time if you want to watch comedians’ posts, you will head to lists and tap on Comedy or Jokes (whatever you have named), and if you want to watch some political comedy, you may hit on the list of politicians.

So, that is about what the Mastodon lists are. Let’s explore how to create them.

How to Create Mastodon Lists?

Mastodon Lists

Mastodon lists can be created and viewed on both smartphone browsers and desktops. But you cannot use them on the official Mastodon mobile application (some third-party apps have this feature also). Mastodon on a mobile browser is fun. You can switch from the app to the browser in no time. If you switched from your own post, you won’t be even asked to log in.

Follow these steps to switch from the Mastodon app to your logged-in account on your mobile browser and how to create Mastodon lists from it.

How to Create Mastodon Lists on Smartphones?

First thing first, remember to hit the “Open in Browser” option on your Mastodon app from your own status, post, or toot (whatever you call it). It will keep you logged in on the browser. Let’s get started:

Step 1: Open the Mastodon app on your smartphone.

Step 2: Tap on your avatar in the bottom right corner.

Step 3: Go to a post of yours, and tap on ••• (three horizontal dots) at the top right corner of the post.

Step 4: Tap on the “Open in browser” option.

Step 5: Tap on the lists icon between the bookmark icon and the cog icon on the right side compose column.

Mastodon Lists

Step 6: Type in the name you want to call a group in the text field given near the Add list button.

Step 7: Now, tap Add list.

Step 8: Now tap on the list name you have just created.

Mastodon Lists

Step 9: Tap on the settings icon on the top right side of the window, under the Publish icon.

Step 10: To add members to your lists, tap on the Edit list option.

Step 11: Search the name(s) you follow, by tapping the magnifying glass icon.

Step 12: Tap on the + plus icon next to the name to get them enlisted in the group.

Mastodon Lists

That is how to create a Mastodon List on a smartphone and how to add members to it. Let us head to the Web version.

How to Create Mastodon Lists on The Web?

It is the same procedure with a little difference in icon locations. Follow these steps to get Mastodon lists created.

Step 1: Log in to your account on the Mastodon server from your computer browser.

Step 2: Tap on the Lists option under the Bookmarks option on the right side compose column.

Mastodon Lists

Step 3: Type in the name you want to call a group in the New list title field given at the top of the main page portion.

Step 4: Now, tap the Add list button.

Mastodon Lists

Step 5: Now tap on the list name you have just created.

Mastodon Lists

Step 6: Tap on the settings icon on the top right corner of the main page next to your list name.

Mastodon Lists

Step 7: To add members to your lists, tap on the Edit list option.

Mastodon Lists

Step 8: Search the name(s) you follow over the grey text that reads “Search among people you follow” and hit Enter/Return.

Step 9: Tap on the + plus icon next to the name to get them enlisted in the group.

Mastodon Lists

Done. You have successfully learned to create the Mastodon Lists.

How to Use Mastodon Lists?

Mastodon lists is a timeline that works according to the group(s) you have created on it. To access it go to the Lists on the right compose column. Now tap on the list you want to view statuses of.

Mastodon Lists

The Mastodon lists timeline will show only those posts of the people you have added that they publish after the creation of your lists. Their old post won’t be displayed there. These lists will not show you posts on a shared page. You need to open each list separately to view its content.

How to Rename or Delete Mastodon Lists?

Renaming as well as deleting the Mastodon Lists is easy. However, you cannot delete all lists at a time. Here is how to rename or delete Mastofon Lists:

Renaming Mastodon Lists

Step 1: Click on the Lists Icon on the right compose column on the Mastodon web.

Step 2: Click on the name of the list you want to rename.

Step 3: Tap the Settings icon.

Step 4: Tap the Edit list option.

Step 5: Now, type in the name you want to keep.

Step 6: Tap on the ✓ (check mark) icon to complete the renaming process.

Mastodon Lists

Deleting Mastodon Lists

Step 1: Click on the Lists Icon on the right compose column on the Mastodon web.

Step 2: Click on the name of the list you want to delete.

Step 3: Tap the Settings icon.

Step 4: Tap the Delete list option.

Step 5: Hit the Delete button to confirm.

Mastodon Lists

My Review on Twitter Lists Vs. Mastodon Lists

As we see, Mastodon is famous among the people who are part of the recent Twitter exodus. With many similar features to Twitter, microblogging, mentions, retweets (boosts on Mastodon), likes (stars on Mastodon), and more, Mastodon has still many tools that aren’t there on Twitter and vice versa.

Mastodon Lists

The Mastodon Lists are quite similar to those on Twitter. However, on Twitter, you can add any handle whether it is on your Followers list or the following list, or nowhere. On Mastodon, you cannot add any person to the Mastodon lists except those whom you follow. This is the thing I want to be changed on Mastodon.

We should be able to add any handle without following them. This way we could have more benefits of the feature. Otherwise, it does not make any huge difference whether we use it or not.

Wrapping Up

Mastodon Lists is another feature that resembles Twitter, though there are some limitations. I hope this article will help you understand what the Mastodon Lists feature is, and how it works. If it has helped you, share the article with your friends and family. For more Mastodon-related queries, guides and fixes, keep visiting Path of EX.

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