One of the expanding Twitter alternatives, Mastodon has a variety of new features and a fresh perspective.
Some users are not happy with Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and many are switching to Mastodon, a decentralized alternative. According to the open-source network’s CEO and principal developer Eugen Rochko, one million people have joined in the last few days. To be fair, Mastodon has experienced spikes like these before, including in May of this year when the Musk contract was first disclosed, as well as in 2017 and 2019 from users in India who were dissatisfied with Twitter’s stance.
Musk had made a fairly harsh joke making fun of Mastodon’s name before deleting it. Additionally, he tweeted that after the acquisition, Twitter usage is at an all-time high. The new Twitter Blue membership and verification restrictions have not yet been implemented for many locations, including India, thus it is unclear whether we will actually observe a change in Twitter users. Here is a brief explanation of how Mastodon functions in case you decide to sign up for it in the interim and want to learn more about it.
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is different from other social media platforms in that you don’t just sign up on a website or app, use the platform, and submit your text or media. It is a decentralized platform, unlike Twitter, that is powered by independent servers located all over the world rather than being managed or operated from a single headquarters.
Posts on Mastodon or user-specific data are not under the sole control of one entity. Instead, anyone may create their own Mastodon server and accept registrations because to its open source code. This contains servers designed for particular nations and regions or others for particular hobbies.
Each server may connect with the others, allowing users to follow toots (Mastodon’s equivalent of tweets) from all public servers, even if users opt not to leave their current server and join another one. Additionally free of advertisements, Mastodon offers additional features than websites like Twitter, such as spoiler tags.
How to sign up for Mastodon?
The Mastodon website lists a number of clients that you can use to access Mastodon on a desktop computer. However, using the platform through the native Android and iOS apps is the quickest and easiest way to sign up. Here is how to register.
When Mastodon has been downloaded and installed on your Android or iOS device, touch the “Get Started” button to go to the next page, where you can select a server to join.
You can pick one of the numerous servers listed below, or use the search bar to find one.
While registering, some servers may also display an error. This can be as a result of several users simultaneously signing up on the platform. You can always select a different server or give it another go later.
If you are aware of a server but cannot find it in search, there is a good possibility that it is either full, inactive, or dead. However, users can still follow other users from different public servers regardless of which ones they join, so don’t worry too much about this step of the process.
After agreeing to certain fundamental ground rules, you will be required to create a unique ID using information such your complete name, email address, and password in addition to a username that will be used on the site.
(Your chosen name)@ will serve as this username (your chosen server). You can then move forward by clicking “Next” and your account will soon be operational.
You can now look around the user interface, locate persons to follow, and add more details to your profile, such as a profile photo and a bio.
