Mastodon is being dubbed a Twitter alternative and is becoming increasingly popular with regular social media users and celebrities alike, however, not everyone is sure how the site works, who to follow or which server to join.
Following Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, users are increasingly transferring from the bird app to the elephant app – Mastodon.
Having first opened its virtual doors in 2016, the app has spent the past six years developing its user experience. At the end of 2021 Mastodon reported it had more than 2.7m total users.
HOW DOES MASTODON WORK?
Mastodon is a microblogging site, much like Twitter. However, it has a few key differences – you Toot instead of Tweet, to name just one.
The main difference though is that each user is required to join a specific server, and their Local Timeline will display only posts from people in this server.
You can access posts from other servers if you wish on the Federated Timeline. It shows a vast range of posts from multiple servers.
Users can also still communicate with people on other servers. Similar to how an Outlook email address can communicate with a Yahoo address, but the two users will have different content on their timelines.
The idea behind the servers is that each server, or Instance as they are sometimes referred to, will be it’s own community, comprising users with shared interests.
HICH IS THE BEST SERVER TO JOIN ON MASTODON?
The answer to the question of the best server to join on Mastodon is subjective. It depends on the preferences, views and interests of the individual user.
As per Mastodon’s Quick Start Guide, servers range from specific topics such as video games, art, queer life, coding or many more. While more broad servers like the Mastodon Social server will better reflect the Twitter experience.
Across the 19 available languages, there are 100 servers in total, 42 of which are broader, more general servers. Each server has its own set of rules and its own administration team.
When signing up to Mastodon, think of it as signing up for a specific community, rather than a social media site. In order to join another server, you will either have to leave your current one or make a secondary account.
WHO SHOULD I FOLLOW AND WHICH CELEBRITIES ARE ON MASTODON?
Thankfully, each server displays how many users it has, if it helps you on who to follow on Mastodon. The app also provides a list of suggested people to follow. These suggestions, however, are not limited to users who you share a server with.
If you are wishing to replicate your Twitter following list, a recommended tip is to search the #TwitterMigration tag on either Twitter or Mastodon, to see who is talking about making the move.
So far, a rather random assortment of celebrities has moved over to Mastodon. This week has seen the likes of DC CEO James Gunn, climate activist Greta Thunberg and Dragon’s Den co-host Deborah Meaden all join the site. A trio that would certainly make for an interesting dinner party!
Last week, Mastodon boasted that they had gained more than 70,000 new members in less than a day.
