Read on Twitter
what is #mastodon and why should i care?
ok so recently i have been seeing growing frustrations by users of this platform concerning twitter's practices in terms of moderation and account bans, specifically relating to how trump's twitter got banned while n*zis are still roaming
ok so recently i have been seeing growing frustrations by users of this platform concerning twitter's practices in terms of moderation and account bans, specifically relating to how trump's twitter got banned while n*zis are still roaming
the seeming consensus seems to be something like "tw*tter is ass but there's nothing we can do", and the truth is, we as users can do very little on this platform to actually make it better. we are entirely at the hands of tw*tter as a company to make it a safe space
and evidently, that isn't happening. so, what's the alternative?
to be completely honest: currently, there is none. tw*tter's outreach in terms of microblogging platforms is unparralleled. i would be lying if i said "come to mastodon, it has everything!"
to be completely honest: currently, there is none. tw*tter's outreach in terms of microblogging platforms is unparralleled. i would be lying if i said "come to mastodon, it has everything!"
but that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least be looking at it. because mastodon has a ton of features that make life a lot easier for you as a user, at the cost of not being as straightforward as "go to twitter dot com and make account". let's take a look, shall we?
firstly, mastodon is open source. that means everything about the platform's source code is readily accessible and modifiable to those that wish to take a look. i myself have an interest in open source software but no idea what i'm doing. however, the possibility is there.
secondly, mastodon is federated. what does that mean, you might ask? good question!
it means that mastodon is not one centralized platform like tw*tter is but a bunch of federated instances that interact with each other. and herein lies the huge benefit that mastodon has.
it means that mastodon is not one centralized platform like tw*tter is but a bunch of federated instances that interact with each other. and herein lies the huge benefit that mastodon has.
normally, everyone within the fediverse can interact with people from other instances, as they can with people on the same instance as they are. however, if a particular instance proves to be problematic, the admin can choose not to allow communications with that instance.
this is actually a huge benefit for moderation as it allows the ability to actually create a safe space within your community while still being able to interact with people outside of it.
what's more, mastodon does have a powerful search functionality but it also has privacy in mind: you can only search for keywords through hashtags. this means that people will not be able to find your post unless you want them to. twitter used to have this too.
and even more, you can set privacy settings for specific posts. want something to only be visible to your followers, or people of your instance? it's one click of a button. there is also no "quote" feature, to protect people from getting harrassed by an entire follower base.
furthermore! mastodon allows posts to have content warnings by default. so if you're posting about a sensitive topic, or you just want to be considerate and not clog up other people's timeline with a thread like this, you can give it a headline. they can choose to see it, or not.
and one final thing that is just neat: there are four metadata fields in your profile which you can fill however you want. pronouns, dni, your website, interests. carrd just got a whole lot less useful.
the biggest downsides of mastodon, as far as i can see, is the lack of userbase and the entry hurdle. one of them is theoretically easy to solve but due to the nature of social networking dynamics, practically impossible to overcome. the other is a bit more technical.
let's start with the entry hurdle: mastodon can be a bit intimidating at first due to its federated nature. as already mentioned, it's not as straightforward as "go to http://joinmastodon.org and make an account", you have to join an instance.
there are many special interest instances and communities for everyone. however, the most popular general purpose instance is http://mastodon.social . if you don't want to think too hard, you can always make an account there.
migrating your account to another instance later on is relatively hassle-free, so you're not bound to one instance forever. i have had positive experiences with http://lgbt.io and i am currently on http://antinetzwerk.de . just to give you a starting point.
do keep in mind though that most instances are administrated by people (yes, just like you) in their spare time. there is no commercial incentive for them to keep them running. consider donating if you enjoy the community!
the second downside is probably gonna be the dealbreaker for most people: the self-reinforcing loop of "no one is on masto because no one is on masto" is strong. the community is lively, but if you're not willing to jump in a the deep end, you're gonna see tumbleweed all over
one suggestion i have is to join a smaller, interest-based community and interact with people on the home timeline, i.e. the people that are also on that instance. some more instance suggestions to get you started: http://is.nota.live and http://iamveryti.red
do keep in mind that these recs are tailored to my interests (the gays, ruining parties by bringing up politics). if you want to browse further, pay http://instances.social a visit!
but all in all, this doesn't solve the issue of "none of my friends are on masto/they don't use their account", to which i have no answer other than: be the link that breaks the chain. tw*tter is awful. let's get away from it.
find me on mastodon: https://antinetzwerk.de/@dxciBel
find me on mastodon: https://antinetzwerk.de/@dxciBel
