Before algorithms we all used hashtags. Hashtags were very important to Twitter in the before times. That’s how you find topics on mastodon. I have columns set with specific hashtag sets so I can quickly glance at toots about horror movies, birds, retrogaming, etc…
You can also follow hashtags directly in your home feed just like Twitter topics.
It’s really not a difficult thing at all, but people are so addicted to Twitter they always give a halfassed attempt at switching before throwing up their hands.
The biggest issue is normies are stupid. That’s basically the gist.