This is the first in a series of tutorials with a focus on new users who do not know how to start using Diaspora. In this first tutorial we will focus on signing up and joining the Diaspora network.
Finding a pod
Opposed to other social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, we cannot give you a specific link and say: sign up here. Diaspora is different to those sites as it is a decentralised social network. You will have to decide which Diaspora provider you want to sign up to. We call these providers Diaspora pods.
There are two ways to find a pod to sign up to:
- If you get invited to Diaspora by a friend, the invitation will be for the Diaspora pod where he or she has signed up. You can either trust your friends and simply follow the link in the mail, or you could ask them about their experience with the pod first.
- If you do not have an invitation or want to pick a pod yourself, have a look at Pod Uptime. This website offers an overview of various pods and ranks them based on stability and latest code.
Another option is to host your own pod. However, this requires a lot of technical know-how and should not be considered too lightly, or at least not at this point.
Registration
Once you have found yourself a pod, go find the sign up link! It should be right there on the homepage of the pod. Optionally you could click “log in” and register from the login menu.
When you click the sign-up link you will be presented with a page on which you need to fill in a username, e-mailadress and password. Think twice when choosing your username as you will get an address based on the username you choose. This “address” is called a Diaspora ID and looks like an e-mail address (e.g. username@podyouchose.abc). You can share your ID with friends so they can find you on Diaspora, much like how you give people your e-mailadres.
Finish registration by filling in the email and password fields and click continue to create and access your brand new account.
You should now be presented with a “Getting Started” page, featuring 5 steps. The following steps are not obligated but they massively help you to get in contact with other people.
- Fill out your profile, using the “edit profile” button.
- Connect to other social networks. This lets you posts messages to your other social networks and allows you to easily find your Facebook friends on Diaspora.
- Add some people, to spice things up a little.
- Follow your interests, by searching for #hashtags and clicking the “Follow #tag” button on the hashtag show page.
- Connect to Cubbi.es, because it is a lot of fun.
Once you are done with these steps, you are all set to start using Diaspora!
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