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Mastodon #Mastodon
The arrival of Elon Musk at the head of Twitter worries the media planet. And many users are now turning to Mastodon, a promising, more open and, above all, decentralized social network.
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What is Mastodon?
Founded in 2016 by Eugen Rochko, Mastodon uses all the codes of Twitter. “Intriguingly, one of the reasons I started getting into the decentralized social media space in 2016, which eventually led me to create Mastodon, was rumors that Twitter, the platform form that I had been using daily for years at that time, could be sold to another controversial billionaire,” its creator said last April as Elon Musk’s takeover looked increasingly serious.
Mastodon works on the same principle as Twitter by allowing each of its users to post messages (toots instead of tweets) embellished with videos, images, Gifs or Internet links. You can also “like” messages, republish them (boost) or chat privately with members. However, Mastodon differs from Twitter in several aspects. First of all, there is no advertising, which changes a bit. There is no ambition to generate money from user data. Second, Mastodon is an open source system. This means that anyone can take ownership of the code and modify it.
One principle that leads to another: Mastodon is based on decentralized servers. It therefore belongs to everyone and no one at the same time. Above all, Mastodon cannot be controlled by a single person, unlike Twitter where, according to his wishes, Elon Musk can decide to remove a function or modify the way the social network works. Mastodon is thus based on an architecture composed of multiple servers (called Instances) but which interact with each other.
Finally, on Mastodon, the the toots are not limited to 280 characters but to 500. Mastodon has more than 655,000 active users today compared to the 436 million of Twitter according to figures recorded in March 2022. Nevertheless, Mastodon is experiencing increased growth lately.
How to join Mastodon?
Tired of Twitter or disagreeing with the new practices introduced by Elon Musk, such as the Twitter Blue subscription service, and you want to turn to another social network? Here’s how to register on Mastodon.
Any more questions about Mastodon? Check out our forum!