Created ago six years, network social Mastodon has been in the news since Elon Musk took over Twitter. On November 7, the creator of this social network, Evgeny Rochko, indicated that the network social passed the mark of one million monthly active users. And from October 27 to November 7, 2022, Mastodon added nearly 500,000 new active users. Often described as version open source and decentralized from Twitter, Mastodon can be a safe haven for all those who flee the web social Elon Musk or those who want to have more control over their experience.
What are the differences in terms of functionality?
When it was created in 2016, Mastodon was very inspired by Twitter. And even today, if you’re used to using a small blue bird, you won’t have a problem with a prehistoric elephant (Mastodon logo). Indeed, the basic mechanics are the same. You can follow other users, share messages, comment, react with a star, post photos or video, use hashtags and mentions, or use a search engine. Screenshot on mastodon.socialserver run by network creator social. © Eugen Rochko On the other hand, Mastodon is now more generous when it comes to characters. Messages can be up to 500 characters long. On the other hand, the network with a small prehistoric elephant offers several news feeds, in addition to the “Overview” tab: public local and wired public global (more on that later), as well as a feed of subscribed accounts. Otherwise, it’s also worth noting that Mastodon is against ranking algorithms. Thus, the posts in the feeds are arranged in chronological order, and it is up to you to filter these posts in order to end up with a feed that matches your sensitivity and your preferences. For example, you can create a filter that blocks the entire server (we’ll get to that later). So in terms of functionality, Mastodon is a bit like Twitter from a few years ago, without spaces or newsletters (or NFTs). On the other hand, the network social supports audio formats, allowing you to publish podcasts.
Centralized vs. decentralized
The main difference between Twitter and Mastodon is that the former is centralized while the latter second it’s a network social decentralized. But what does this mean? Twitter is controlled by a company and all data, the entire network, is centralized by that company on its servers. When it comes to the mastodon, things are different. Indeed, Mastodon is open source software offered by a non-profit organization that any developer (or non-developer) can use to create son own network social. For example, a mastodon.social, a server run by the CEO of the NGO, has only 152,000 active users out of a million claimed for the entire network. Communities, cities, businesses, or even individuals can create their own Mastodon servers. Moreover, when creating an account, the first step is to select a server. And the NGO site offers a directory of servers classified by topic. You can join a game server, a general or regional server, or a dedicated activity server. Catalog of Mastodon servers. © Mastodon Each server has its own moderation rules. But they communicate with each other. For example, if you are on a mastodon server.social, administered by Evgeny Rochko, you will be able to follow and interact with another user on another server. No problem. On the other hand, interest in the right choice son server is that the local newsfeed (discussed above) will contain messages from users on that server. So if you gamer, it is better to use a game server. But you can also choose your server based on linguistic criteria. As for the news feed global, this displays messages from all over the web. And, of course, there’s the main feed, which displays messages from the accounts you follow in chronological order.
Operation inspired by emails
This complexity is the beauty of this web social. But it can also be an obstacle to son Adoption public Wider. Otherwise, it should be noted that on Twitter, usernames are simple. For example, Elon Musk is @elonmusk. On Mastodon, when chatting with someone on a different server, usernames are as long as email addresses. For example, Evgeny Rochko has @Gargron@mastodon.social. The second part allows you to find out which server the account is on. © Eugen Rochko The decentralized operation of Mastodon is also comparable to email. Technology does not belong to anyone. But whether you’re using Gmail, Outlook, or email hosted on your own server, you’ll be able to send emails to all email users.
Twitter vs. Mastodon: business model
When it comes to revenue, Twitter makes money via Advertising. The platform also offers version payment. From son besides, the mastodon is free. And, like other NGOs, the organization behind this network runs on donations. However, since Mastodon is decentralized, this server does not pay bills for other servers.
