Some claim this is a copy of Twitter, but in fact this social network goes far beyond that. I had the chance to break many of the prejudices I had with social media after interacting in the Fediverse and see for myself what it was all about.
Mastodon describes itself as a social network:
Decentralized
Each Mastodon server is a completely independent entity, able to interoperate with others to form one global social network.
Open Source
Mastodon is free and open-source software. We believe in your right to use, copy, study and change Mastodon as you see fit, and we benefit from contributions from the community.
Not for Sale
We respect your agency. Your feed is curated and created by you. We will never serve ads or push profiles for you to see. That means your data and your time are yours and yours alone.
Interoperable
Built on open web protocols, Mastodon can speak with any other platform that implements ActivityPub. With one account you get access to a whole universe of social apps of the fediverse.
Back in April, I witnessed a wave of people creating new accounts on various instances of Mastodon because of Elon Musk’s alleged Twitter purchase intent. A pleasant surprise was to see people reporting their first impressions, which I also share:
It is noticeable at first glance that there is not a timeline full of random posts and advertisements promoted through an algorithm;
There are no verified accounts, promoting equity between users;
It may be temporary, but I feel a more open and welcoming environment where we can share and be heard without judgment (of course this behavior may vary depending on the purpose of the instance you choose to participate in);
Bigger character limit, so we can share more meaningful and profound thoughts.
There is an instance for groups of people with different interests. For example, if you are interested in technology, you can join the fosstodon.org community, or mastodon.art for those interested in Art, or a multipurpose instance like the official mastodon.online. A more concise list of servers may be found at Mastodon's page.
Most importantly, you can communicate between instances regardless of where their account is hosted. Also, you can easily move your profile to a different server at any time without losing your previous contacts.
Lately, I’ve been in a movement to limit my access to Mastodon, so I can focus on my family, or things like reading and studying. Although I don’t toot much, my account is active and I try to catch up monthly on what’s going on there.
Follow me on the Fediverse: @andre@abf.li