New user first experience

[nclm]

This issue is opened on account of this tweet, criticizing legitimately what a new user first sees on Mastodon: nothing.

The minimum thing to do could be:

• In an empty Home column, add a message along the lines of “You don’t follow anyone yet. Visit [the public timeline] or search for topics of your interest to get started and meet other users.”
• In an empty Notifications column, add a message along the lines of “You don’t have any notifications yet. Interact with others to start the conversation.”

Alternatively, if not too confusing, the Home column could be replaced by the Public timeline until the first follow, with a message at the top explaining the situation, like “Welcome around there. This is will be your own timeline once you start following other users. For now, here’s what people are talking about.”

That can be the first steps, and more elaborate and elegant new user flows can be thought about from here.

[mitchellurgero]

I wouldnt change the home column - but instead display the public timeline by default instead. This makes more sense.