FROM Elon Musk exercising control over Twittermost likely, you have come across at least one publication that talks about exodus of users to Mastodon. Of course, this is nothing new. Every time something happens that infuriates users of the birdie social network, this platform starts to be seen as an alternative.
But, what is a mastodon? How it works? How is it similar to Twitter and how is it different? These are some of the most frequently asked questions that come up around this service and we will answer them below.
The first thing to note is that while some of Mastodon’s features are identical – or at least very similar – to those of Twitter, its core is noticeably different. It’s because we’re talking about decentralized social network, of which servers are a key component. But we’ll get into that later.
First a little history
Mastodon was born in 2016 from the work of a German developer Evgeny Rochko, who today continues to work as the founder, CEO and sole employee of the project. “The social network that’s not for sale,” its website cover reads in a phrase that is both a show of pride in open source and a clear blow to Twitter. In fact, its creator recently explained that he started working on the idea because of his growing dissatisfaction with the Little Bird platform.
“I thought being able to express myself online with friends through short messages is very important to me, important to the whole world, and maybe it shouldn’t be in the hands of one corporation. In general, it was associated with a sense of distrust in the total control exercised by Twitter, ”he said in an interview with the publication. TIME.
From its humble beginnings, Mastodon has grown tremendously, although still a niche alternative. It is that while it is aesthetically very similar to Twitter, the differences are measured from the moment the account is created. This is not to say that registration is difficult, but it comes with additional complexity that perhaps not many are willing to accept.
As we said earlier, the key to Mastodon is its decentralized and back-end work. Today, the platform has thousands of servers dedicated to different topics, languages and locations. Those who wish can create their own. Everyone works independently, so cannot be censored or unsubscribed by the central figure. However, they all adhere to a code of conduct that sets out the basic principles aimed at preventing the spread of racist, homophobic content, etc.
Server selection: the first thing to do when arriving at Mastodon
Unlike Twitter, signing up for Mastodon isn’t as easy as entering your email address and creating a password. In addition to this, you have to choose which server you want to create your account on. As mentioned in the previous paragraphs, you have a large number of options to choose from. In fact, on this website, you can filter them by location (Europe, North America, South America, etc.) or by topic or interest (tech, music, games, food, activism, LGTBQ+, and more).
Please note that some servers are shared while others require you to apply and wait for acceptance through a manual selection process. In any case, once you’re inside, you’ll see that Mastodon’s interface shares a few similarities with Twitter.
The messages resemble tweets, although they are known as beeps and allow you to send up to 500 characters. You can reply to them, like them, share them or retweet them – actually retweet them – as well as add hashtags with a hash mark (#) or charm (@) to get other users to mention them. You can also see topics that are currently trending, such as those already known popular topics.
Also, just like on the platform now owned by Elon Musk, you can view other users’ profiles, follow them, or invite others to follow you. In this sense, both your own messages and the messages of other people you follow will be displayed on the main page of your account.
more timelines
Returning to the servers where you create your account is not an obstacle to finding other users or being found. Simply put: you can follow or be followed by people whose accounts have been created or hosted on servers another. But that’s not all. Since Mastodon’s operation is flexible, you can transfer your account to other existing servers or your own without losing subscribers or affecting other features.
Another interesting point to comment on Mastodon is that has three timelines. One of them is the main timeline, similar to Twitter, which shows your posts on the accounts that follow you. But you can also publish something locally; that is, so that only those who are registered on your own server can see it. Finally, you can share it as a federated story so that it can be seen by a wider audience.
Options for Advanced Users
Building your own Mastodon server can be ideal if you want to cut all ties to Twitter or any other centralized social network. However, it is even more complicated and seems like an alternative intended mainly for advanced users.
In any case, the platform has a very interesting documentation section that explains in detail how to do this. There, you’ll also find posts that explain in detail how each of its features work, from creating an account to developing a new client for mobile, desktop, or web.
Yes, Mastodon has a web version and native iOS and Android apps. However, since this is free software, anyone can “play” with the social network API and create your own client, free or paid.
The Mastodon and the Exodus That Never Comes
The name of the mastodon is loud every time the public threatens to leave twitter as a token of his disappointment with some measures. The arrival of Elon Musk in the bird’s net was no exception to the rule. And while it is true that many have decided to try this alternative, it still remains a niche one.
This is not a criticism, but a reality confirmed by statistics: today, Mastodon’s performance is negligible compared to Twitter’s. The decentralized platform has about 4.5 million accounts createdbut only a fraction of them are actually used.
In the last hours Evgeny Rochko himself commented: “Today we have reached 1,028,362 monthly active users across the entire network. [Hemos sumado] 1124 new Mastodon servers since October 27 and 489,003 new users. Wonderful”.
Impressive numbers, no doubt but that still keeps him away from the heavyweights of the sector. Will the appearance of Elon Musk on Twitter be the final push for his ascension? Or just another threat of exodus that never materializes?
Source: Hiper Textual
