Brian

Exactly this, and the other benefit of hashtags (at least on some apps for Mastodon) is that you can mute them. So, if you’re following someone whose posts you enjoy, except their posts about #rugby, you can mute those posts and not see any of them. I find it a really great way to keep my feed as only those things I’d prefer to see.

I agree it’s definitely worth following hashtags liberally for things you’re interested in. Your feed should really open up with that.

But it’s also worth doing a longish #introduction post, adding hashtags of things you like and pinning that to your profile. You might already have done that but you can always do a fresh one. People will also boost introduction posts so that might get your profile out there more.

I have an introduction pinned on my profile if it helps: https://beige.party/@brian