If you created your account a long time ago, you may be seeing Mastodon's advanced web interface (multiple columns). That interface has not been the default for years now. You can control which one you see from Preferences.

@Gargron Isn't that the only way to 'follow' hashtags though? Or am I missing something?

@mykd @Gargron you can also follow a hashtag using it's RSS feed in an RSS reader, but that's obviously quite functionally different.

@rysiek @Gargron Hmm, so Feedly might be a good Fediverse client 🤔

@mykd @Gargron yup. I follow quite a few hashtags this way.

@rysiek @Gargron @mykd can you clarify how to do that please? I can only see Twitter, Reddit and Newsletters up the top.

@moonlightsiesta @Gargron @mykd find a hashtag you want to follow via RSS, say #solarpunk, click on it to reach the page for it on your instance. For me it's:
https://mastodon.technology/tags/solarpunk

Now add .rss at the end:
https://mastodon.technology/tags/solarpunk.rss

Boom, RSS feed for #solarpunk as seen from mastodon.technology!

@rysiek @Gargron @mykd omg I just did it. That’s so simple but such a brilliant idea, ty. I’ve been wondering what rss was for for years. I did it with particular people I follow under a specific topic. That way I can have my Covid Careful ppl together ❤️ . It’s a shame we can’t follow people on twitter that way - you could have their posts show up on a feed and not have to sort through the mess. @trendless lookie!

@moonlightsiesta

I wonder if it's because I set the description of my server (zeroes.ca) to "COVID careful Twitter refugees ♥️"

😁

@trendless it was what we were discussing on Twitter - how to keep our Covid ppl together regardless of the platform. I wanted to see if it was possible to do it. And it looks like we can - we just don’t have that functionality in Twitter. I loved the “Covid Careful” label in that discussion.

I agree 100%. I hope people will be willing to make a change. In light of all the moderation/labeling issues over there, even prior to Musk's offer (and if it does eventually fall through), it's time to look for alternatives. We need a community we can moderate ourselves, together, based on our shared values and priorities. I'm absolutely astounded at how well the general fediverse ethos seems to dovetail with #COVIDcautious, tbh.