Twitter users are shifting to Mastodon; here’s everything you need to know
Here’s everything you need to know about Mastodon, which is touted to be a credible alternative to Twitter:
Published Date - 8 November 2022, 01:35 PM
Hyderabad: Not everyone is happy with Elon Musk taking over Twitter. Some users have also quit the platform. And among them is supermodel Gigi Hadid who called the platform a “cesspool of hate and bigotry”.
Well, Twitter’s loss has to be someone’s gain. And that someone may be German software developer Eugen Rochko who runs the open-source micro-blogging platform, Mastodon.
Change in management, employee lay-offs followed by calling them back, $8 for blue tick, and what seems like Musk’s volatile nature – these can be some of the reasons that Twitterati are jumping ship to Mastodon which announced crossing one million users in the past few weeks.
Here’s everything you need to know about Mastodon, which is touted to be a credible alternative to Twitter:
What is Mastodon and how different is it from Twitter?
Mastodon is more than just signing up to a social media platform. It gives users access to the app’s code and lets them create their own servers aka communities.
It is a decentralised platform and not operated by a single company from a single headquarters like Twitter. One can create a server for specific regions or specific hobbies, and people can join in and drop out.
Also, people can migrate to other servers by making changes in the setting section and all your data also gets transferred.
How to sign up?
The app is available both on Google Play Store and Apple. Once downloaded, click on ‘Get Started’ and follow the prompts. It will ask for your email ID to create your account and use it to verify your identity.
You will also have to choose the server you would like to be a part of. You can search for specific servers as per your interest. If your chosen server shows an error, it is probably because it is either full or many people are currently joining it. You can try it after some time.
Users will be asked to agree to some basic ground rules and then you will have to create your unique ID along with a username that will be used on the platform.
The username will be (your chosen name)@(your chosen server). Click on ‘Next’ to proceed and you’ll soon have your account up and running.
You can now find other users you want to follow, upload a profile picture and edit your profile. Users can follow and communicate with other users from other public servers irrespective of which ones they join.
How to use it?
To begin with, go to the edit button and start typing out your post. Mastodon has a limit of 5,000 characters per post.
Here, tweets are called toots. A retweet is reblogged and like is favourite. As of now, there are no ads on the platform. Although it is free to use, some platforms ask for donations.