After many months of negotiations, Elon Musk bought the social network Twitter on October 27. One of the first actions he has carried out has been the illegal dismissal of more than half of the workers of this social network, which has led to many complaints and a great stir on the platform. Many of these dismissals were key workers needed to implement the new functions that its CEO is announcing, and he has had to ask them to return to his team.
This, coupled with the removal of numerous accounts for their “commitment to freedom of expression” or the charging of verified user accounts , has angered many Twitter users who have started the #TwitterMigration movement to abandon this social network and use Mastodon instead.
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is a social network that was created in 2016 and has a very similar appearance to Twitter, although there are certain differences that we will see later. It has 660,000 users today , which is a huge increase compared to the 200,000 it had just a week ago.
Mastodon is a decentralized (meaning it is not owned by any korean numbers phone company) and open source social network where users write and share their posts, called toots . These toots can be shared, replied to, or supported. At first glance it may look the same as Twitter, but many people have come across Mastodon and don't understand how it works.
How to register on Mastodon?
The registration method is one of the main differences between Twitter and Mastodon. While on the social networks we all use, you just need to enter your email address to register, Mastodon works through servers and you have to choose one to join when you create your account.
How do Mastodon servers work?
As we've already said, Mastodon is an open social network, which means that it's made up of several subnetworks. So when you sign up you have to choose which server or community you want to belong to , and the name of this server will be added as an extension to your username. Anyone can create their own server, and the fact that you belong to one or the other doesn't mean that you won't be able to see other people's toots : you'll be able to share exclusive messages with your community and in turn create toots in a general feed that anyone can see.
Mastodon Features
Now that you know how to register on Mastodon to start using the trendy social network, let's look at some of its features so you can get to know it a little better:
You can edit the toots once published
This social network has no advertising
The limit for each toot is 500 characters.
You will be able to use emoticons customized by your server
Automatic deletion of posts
You will be governed by the rules implemented by the server you have chosen.
You have an extended notification bar
There are content warnings
Toots appear chronologically in the feed
Are you going to join Mastodon? Are you going to use it alongside Twitter to see how they differ? Let us know!