Anybody to Mastodon after Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter? The timeline is as old as it is refreshing

1. Mastodon is not a copy of Twitter

1 tweet trumpet And retweet is a file Strengthen. Messages Strengthen Putting your own smart quote on top of it is out of the question. But that is not the main difference between Mastodon and Twitter.

New Twitter chief Elon Musk dreams of a big town square he runs. Mastodon’s model is completely opposite to this: the succession of different squares.

Whoever takes the first step on the mastodon may be confused. This has to do with the structure of the network: there is not a single company behind Mastodon. Instead, it consists of many small islands (the so-called cases) and they all have their own admin and rules (and sometimes a specific target group as well), but they are related to each other.

Anyone who signs up does so in such a case. there menus And the Overviews of these isolated islands. Security experts and art lovers: everyone has their own server. Most users go to Mastodon.social, the largest server. The disadvantage may be that there is no definite common interest, and the advantage is that you immediately connect with many people.

Moreover, no matter which state you choose, you can also connect with people from other states. Mastodon has three levels. The first, the house, consists of direct contacts. This can be compared to the living room. In Local you will find all others of the same state. Finally, Wereld also contains your contacts.

2. Mastodon makes you start over

Anyone who is familiar with Twitter and follows a lot of people there or has a lot of followers, will undoubtedly have to swallow. In Mastodon, you start over. Your Tweets or users cannot be transferred from one network to another. Rebuilding your network is the motto.

“It’s a transition,” says Waag, who is the center of a discussion on technology short explanation on his site. Create a presence on Mastodon first and take the time to entice your network to join. Many people will continue to use networking in tandem for now. For them, there is a special online tool through which messages automatically appear on both networks. For newcomers there are many brochures Available.

3. Mastodon suffers from growing pains

Martin den Braber, Dutch Mastodon Servant Administrator Mastodon.nl (5800 users), they noticed this weekend that it had suddenly gone fast. With delays as a result. Mastodon.social has also stumbled on many occasions, resulting in error messages. It was also not possible to upload photos and videos.

Den Braber started Mastodon.nl in 2017 and runs the network as a hobby. “With less than six thousand users, this is entirely possible, and it costs me a few dozen euros per month in server costs.” If mastodon continues to grow, things may change, says Dean Braber. “So it might be better if a public institution supports it.”

In the much larger Mastodon.social, the management is now with a foundation, but this official also had a hard time this weekend, Let him know on the net: “The past few days have taken a heavy toll on me.” He describes it as “nice to see the masses take your work seriously,” but now he’s working long hours that basically stress him out.

4. Mastodon has no ads

Den Braber and other officials selflessly make their contribution to Mastodon. There is no trading company behind the platform. Mastodon does not consciously rely on advertising, which means there is no incentive to facilitate hype or even misinformation, so there is more audience and ads sell better.

Mastodon’s timeline is as old-fashioned as it is refreshing: an overview of the timeline, without highlighting the likes. The algorithms of companies such as Twitter and Facebook are often criticized: participants have to do everything themselves. Another consequence is that the behavior of the same participants is not monitored via software codes. All of this means that donations are important to keep the platform up and running.

5. Mastodon moderation is the challenge

Mastodons do not escape rules and moderation. Each instance has its own rules. Den Braber is doing the review himself with another official. That’s still possible for now, but that too will be different with growth: “Moderation is really a big question mark.”

The future probably doesn’t lie with islands as big as Mastodon.social, but more islands will have to be created, Dean Braber philosophizes. “That’s the beauty too. If you don’t agree with the instance rules, you can just start your own. Like you might not want to rely on Google for your email address, but have your own server.” By the way, instances can completely block other instances. Den Braber mainly does this with servers that produce spam only.

The Mastodon.nl manager is happy with the flow, but realizes that only a part of it crashes every time. In the end, it’s a long-term project. Critical mass is far from there. And that’s good: it’s better to grow slowly.”