Mastodon Goes Mainstream
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Twitter users jump to Mastodon - but what is it?
The social network says it now has over 655,000 users - with over 230,000 having joined in the last week.
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Mastodon: All You Need To Know About Platform Emerging As Twitter's Alternative
These servers are themed according to location, city or interest - like UK, social, technology etc - according to the BBC. However, users can interact with freely with others.
It works similar to Twitter, which means that users can tag other users, share media and even follow other accounts. Independent servers is the only distinguishing feature between the two microblogging platforms.
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Half a million users move to decentralized alternative Mastodon following Elon Musk Twitter grab
Amid uncertainty and criticism following Elon Musk’s takeover of social media giant Twitter, nearly half a million users have flocked to Mastodon, a decentralized alternative.
Mastodon, created by the German-based non-profit Mastodon gGmbH in 2016, is an open-source network of thousands of servers that act as individual social media platforms.
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A few alternatives if you’re quitting Twitter because of the musky virtual smell
It’s a version of Twitter. Instead of joining a platform, you join a server run by an organisation, individual, or group of individuals. The “decentralised social network” consists of different “communities” and is “built with a focus on privacy and safety”, allowing users to decide who they want to share their posts with and offer content warnings. There is a chronological timeline, custom emojis and a 500-character limit.
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Krugman unveils account on Twitter alternative
“I have no idea what will replace Twitter if and when that happens. But I’m doing what I can to retain an alternative social media foothold,” Krugman added.
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“Mainstream” media, such as CNN and BBC, mention Mastodon as Elon Musk drives users (and advertisers) away in droves. Bonus: Facebook was also a fever dream that traded as a valuable stock.
CNN failed to mention that while Twitter has more “users”, many millions of them are just spammers, bots, advertising accounts, and dormant accounts, some of which haven’t been logged into in years.
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What is Mastodon? Twitter users are switching social network
Decentralised, free-to-all microblogging sites are not new. Mastodon was created in 2016 by Eugen Rochko after he shared a gripe similar to that made by Mr Musk: corporations that own a social media platform take independent business-driven decisions that have an effect on users, who have no say in the matter most of the time.
The welcome note on the desktop version of the site says: "Your home feed should be filled with what matters to you most, not what a corporation thinks you should see. Radically different social media, back in the hands of the people."
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Twitter users are switching to Mastodon: What is this social network?
Mastodon is an open-source microblogging alternative to Twitter. Rather than a centralised platform, Mastodon consists of independent, user-managed servers. Users are based on one server but can interact freely with others.
Decentralised in nature, Mastodon was launched by Eugen Rochko, a once-avid and later disillusioned user of Twitter. Rochko was supported by Patreon in the launch of Mastodon in 2016.
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My Prediction For Twitter
As for my take on things, I will just say that Elon miscalculated a number of things in his handling of the transition. I think he thought his actions would be better received. But he fired a lot of people, all at once, so he should have anticipated the blowback.
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Should We Pay For Open Source Software?
As the world is processing the Twitter deal the open source project Mastodon is gaining a lot of traction. The instance that I am on, fosstodon, is run by a small team and is fully funded by donations.
Now this may sound somewhat strange; as the twitterverse is blowing up about $8/month for a blue checkmark I would argue that the $8 is better spent supporting open source projects. As developers, security people, and users we rely on a lot of free time and effort from open source contributors.