What You Need To Know If You Want To Leave Twitter And Join Mastodon
Mastodon is a social media platform that is based on decentralized blogging where users can join multiple servers with different topics and get fed information that is most interesting or important to them.
Since the widely controversial takeover of Twitter by billionaire Elon Musk, Twitter users have been leaving the platform in droves. People seem to be leaving the social media platform and joining the upcoming Mastodon. Mastodon is what is referred to as a decentralized blogging platform.
There are similarities between Mastodon and Twitter, and there are noticeable differences as well. Like anything, it will take some getting used to and a little tinkering to figure out how to navigate the new platform. Similarly to Twitter, Mastodon users can follow other people, companies, and organizations, and users can favorite and boost posts from other people, which is just like retweeting, and people can post, which is called “toots” on the Mastodon platform.
Your experience on the social media platform is essentially in your own hands. You build your audience and are in control of what you see. The platform wants your newsfeed on Mastodon to be filled with things that matter to you.
Mastodon can be accessed through an app simply called Mastodon. Additionally, you can access the social media platform online at joinmastodon.org. Things can get slightly confusing as you join different servers, sort of like apps within the app, and each requires a quick sign-up.
On the Mastodon app, once downloaded, you will have the option to sign up or download. Once you click sign up, it tells you that Mastodon is made of users in different servers and prompts you to pick servers based on your personal interests and preferences. There is a search bar to type things in, but not many results pop up as the app is still gaining momentum.
Once you select a server to join, you will be moved to a page that lays out the basic rules for using Mastodon. There are five rules in total, and In other words, the rules say to be nice, treat others the way you want to be treated and do the right thing. After moving on from the rule page, you are prompted to set up your user name and give some basic info.
Mastodon allows you to put a picture, a display name, user name and asks for an email, and of course, you select a password. Once all that basic info is entered, you then need to verify your email. After your email is verified, you can then begin adding people to follow.
You can search for people or things and follow people from there who may have similar interests and, of course, people you know who are also using the app. Now, you can be on multiple servers within Mastodon. It is not one singular website but multiple.
You can move around different servers within Mastodon and also create your own. Each server has a separate but generally similar sign-up process. Individuals can run servers or servers can be run by companies.
As you begin to navigate the app more often, you will gain a better understanding and sense of fluidity. It takes a bit of practice and trial and error as there are different signs and registrations within the servers. Learning new things is fun, and Mastodon is a good alternative for those looking to leave Twitter.
