Getting started on any social network takes a bit of ramp-up time, but joining Identi.ca is worth it! Here are seven steps to get you started quickly.

1. Fill out your profile - and don’t forget an avatar! Your profile is an excellent conversation jumpstart. Take a minute and complete it. You could copy and paste your profile from another site, or take the chance to refresh your bio and really make it shine.
2. Follow 50 new people. Click the Identi.ca logo in the upper-left to access to public timeline, which shows the latest messages from all users. Subscribe to the authors of the last 50 messages (so long as their message isn’t blatantly spam). You can always unsubscribe later, after your community has expanded.

   I’ve seen a number of experienced users from other services who pop over to Identi.ca, post one message, and then leave, complaining that it’s too quiet. Building a community requires effort. Once upon a time, you had five followers on that other network, too.

3. Track five terms. “Tracking” notifies you whenever a message is posted, regardless of whether or not you’re subscribed to that person. You can track using Instant Messaging or track using RSS.

   Tracking is a great way to find new friends and participate in interesting conversations.

   Five suggested terms to track:

   • Name of your city
   • Name of your favorite coffee shop
   • An author who writes about something you’re skilled at
   • The word “help”
   • The first word starting with the letter “K” that comes to mind
4. Turn on notifications. You can receive the Identi.ca stream via IM, SMS*, or RSS. This allows you to listen to the conversation in real-time.

   *Okay, it’s technically not SMS [yet], but most users won’t be able to tell the difference. Try it out and see!

5. Dent a lot! Messages on Identi.ca are called “dents.” Say whatever’s on your mind, as often as you can. The more content you create, the more opportunities you’ll create for people to engage you in conversation.
6. Reply a lot! In turn, make an extra effort in the beginning to reply to other people. Once or twice a day, take a peek at the public timeline and see if there’s a conversation you can contribute to. This will help the community grow in a meaningful way.
7. Follow me! I’m @marinamartin on Identi.ca and I’d love to be one of your first subscribers.

Still have questions? Ask in the comments!

Tracking allows you to listen to (and participate in) conversations that are relevant to your interests, no matter who is doing the talking.

You can track your name, your business, your dog’s breed, or your old high school. In “How to Get Started Using Identi.ca - Fast!” we suggested a few more terms to track.

Here’s how to start tracking:

1. Click “Search” at the top of the page and search for: your company name, your name, or a keyword related to the brand you’re monitoring. (Be sure to use either “People” or “Text” search as appropriate.)
2. Every search results page has an RSS feed attached. Add each one to your preferred RSS reader.

   (Hint: You can also add “/rss” right before the “?” in the URL of the search results. Your final RSS URL will look something like this: http://identi.ca/search/notice/rss?q=banana)

That’s it!

You can also track using IM.

Tracking allows you to listen to (and participate in) conversations that are relevant to your interests, no matter who is doing the talking.

You can track your name, your business, your dog’s breed, or your old high school. In “How to Get Started Using Identi.ca - Fast!” we suggested a few more terms to track.

Here’s how to start tracking using IM:

1. Sign into your preferred IM client and send the message “track [keyword]” to laconica@west.spy.net.
2. If you want to stop tracking a word, send “untrack [keyword]” to laconica@west.spy.net.
3. If you don’t remember everything you’re tracking, send “tracks” to laconica@west.spy.net.

That’s it!

You can also track using RSS.

UPDATE: Bwana (@bwana) put together this instructonal video on using Identispy.