When I first started using Mastodon, Lists didn’t quite work the way I hoped. That is, I don’t recall having the ability to export and import lists. Exports yes, imports, NO. I honestly don’t remember if that was universally true across all Mastodon instances I was on, or maybe I missed it, but I do recall one thing. I had gone to record a video about List management in Mastodon, and being totally bummed out I couldn’t import. As a result, I switched to monitoring hashtags I’d searched on.

Fortunately, that has changed (or my perception has). I’m now able to export lists and import them. This is wonderful since it allows me to update lists in a CSV file (via a spreadsheet program).

The main difference between lists and hashtags? You can add a person to a list and if they are consistent about what they post, you get to see them again and again. I don’t know about you, but I often forget to add hashtags to my own posts. In this way, you get to see everything they’ve added.

You can find my lists in this CSV (comma-separated values) documents and adapt it for your own use. Be sure to MERGE, not overwrite, if you have extensive lists of your own. Or, download your lists, then merge them in a spreadsheet program or CSV editor.

Questions Answered

So, I had a few questions after playing around with Lists. Special thanks to @marqle@mastodonapp.uk and @Jackthelad@mstdn.games for their assistance in verifying the answers!

The questions included included the following (and the answer appears beneath each):

1) I have to follow someone to add them to a Mastodon List, but once I do, I can set it so they only appear when I view the List? 

The answer to this question appears to be, “Yes, it should be that way.”

2) Can I unfollow them but still see them in List? 

No. If you stop following them, they are removed from the list. If you remove them from the list, you are still following them.

3) If I import a list with people I don’t follow, will I automatically follow them after import or will they exist in list only?

Yes, when you import a list with people you do NOT follow, they are followed upon import of the list.