Explained | Can Mastodon be the new Twitter

The story so far: Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk’s plans for the social media app have raised a series of concerns about paid verified accounts, increased spread of misinformation, and advertising on the platform.

Twitter users who are worried that Musk’s free speech ideals will lead to more online abuse are also leaving the platform. As they search for alternatives to Twitter, one social media platform stands out. This is Mastodon, which claims to be the “largest decentralized social network on the Internet.”

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Founded by developer Eugen Rochko, Mastodon was released in 2016. The social media platform’s main appeal was that it was decentralised, open source, and represented a vision of what its founder wanted Twitter to be. Rather than being controlled by a CEO or a centralised moderation team, Mastodon users pick “servers” which host their data and let them access the same platform.

Servers are organised by general or specific topics, including “LGBTQ+,” “Activism,” and even “Furry.” Some are open to join while others require users to get on a waitlist. Anyone can submit a server for consideration, in the ambit of Mastodon’s rules. The platform is ad-free and has its timeline arranged in chronological order, rather than relying on an algorithm like Twitter did.

“It’s decentralized and open-source, it can’t be sold and won’t go bankrupt. It respects your privacy and gives control over the network to the people. It’s a product on top of a protocol, the way Twitter should have been,” Mastodon tweeted on October 28, the day when the court ordered Musk to close the Twitter deal.

While Twitter’s theme revolves around birds, Mastodon has chosen the furry elephant-like mammal that became extinct around 10,000 years back, as its mascot.

Mastodon users can send “toots” that can be up to 500 characters in length. Users have their own handles and they can share media, re-share toots, favourite them, and bookmark them. Servers have their own administrator.