Mastodon is a Twitter alternative that has been around for 6 years. How does the platform work? Is this a solid option against Twitter?
Twitter is now owned by Elon Musk: the platform is a completely new world, completely transforming, in particular, around monetization projects. These changes, coupled with the frequent and often chaotic antics of the American multibillionaire, have prompted some users to leave the web in search of a new home for their daily thoughts. But what could be an alternative to a platform like Twitter?
Mastodon, which has been around for about six years now, seems like a pretty popular choice. On the day Elon Musk took over, Mastodon registered 70,000 new users. At the time of this writing, the platform has about 655,000 active users.
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is an open source project started by Evgeny Rochko, who was a huge fan of Twitter before being deeply disappointed. Mastodon’s launch was partially funded through Patreon in 2016. The app began to gain popularity in 2017, thanks to those who sought to distance themselves from Twitter.
The network is in any case very interesting. As stated on his Twitter account, Mastodon “will never sell”and empowers its users. He has also been called leftist and “really less toxic”than his peers.
How it works?
To get started with Mastodon, you can download the app from the App Store or Google Play, or join the server in your browser.
Like Twitter, Mastodon has a news feed with posts (as opposed to tweets) that can be favorited or “promoted”(the equivalent of a retweet). Tutu can also be bookmarked, and users can be added to lists.
Unlike Twitter, content on Mastodon does not fall into a single common space. Mastodon is decentralized; the platform has a network of servers, “instances”. Users who register in the application must select a server, the choice is made through the main theme and language. There are categories – Technology, Music, Games, Art, etc. -. And the least we can say is that we find everything. From a server for kpop fans to an LGBTQIA+ tech community.
Some servers accept users immediately, others have a waiting list. The largest of these is mastodon.social, the “original Mastodon server”, which has about 126,000 active users at the time of this writing.
While Twitter has its own communities, Mastodon is taking it one step further, which may be a plus for users, but also a hurdle for longtime Twitter users. Each server is managed by an independent organization or individual.
Mastodon might be entitled to its heyday, but many users are sure to stay on Twitter, whether the network survives or disappears… To be continued!