Users Quit Twitter And Join Mastodon, 5 Things To Know About New Online Platform

It's always interesting to see people going to all lengths to partake in every new social media space that surfaces from time to time. According to several reports floating online, several Twitter users are now moving on from the platform and joining another platform called Mastodon. The platform is free for usage and has open-source software that runs self-hosted social networking sites. Lately, in a surprising move, over 70 thousand users switched to Mastodon within a week of Elon Musk taking over Twitter.

With the microblogging platform Twitter going through massive changes recently, interest around Mastadon has peaked lately. Often called the 'Fediverse,' Mastodon is known to be a federated network. If you're thinking of trying your hand at Mastodon, here are five things to know about the platform.

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What is Mastodon Social Media Platform?

1. First, the Mastodon is a volunteer-run system that is free to use. It is a federated social network, often called the Fediverse. The platform is a collection of thousands of social networks linked by Mastodon technology. The basic usage is similar to that of Twitter. After you sign up, you can choose servers based on your preference and their rules. Each service is helmed by an independent volunteer and can draw its own rules and policies. Choosing a server will not directly mean that you can follow other Mastodon accounts on different servers. You will be able to change your servers as per your liking at any time. Notably, all the servers on the list have a strict policy against disturbing content, including sexism, racism, homophobia and transphobia. 

2. You could directly search for people you know on the platform on your particular server. Services like Twitter will allow you to log in to both your Mastodon and Twitter account to look for people you follow. However, you will only be able to find people, who have similarly logged into Twitodon.

3. The process of posing is similar to that of Twitter, but the posts will be called toots at the server instead of tweets. However, you will have the liberty to write as many as 500 characters for a post alongside additional features like click spoiler warnings for images and texts.

4. The control over who can see your posts lies with you which can be reduced to only those whom you mention in your post if you like it that way.

5. The platform boasts of a verification system that is available to everyone. The platform will recognise you to be an owner of the website you choose to link to your profile, hence providing your followers with a space to know you and trust you.