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Science & Tech
Greg Evans
Nov 07, 2022
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The backlash to Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter and what that might mean for the future of the website has prompted people to search for alternatives.
Given Twitter's popularity, people are keen to find something very similar to it and the one website gaining the most attention right now is Mastodon and it's easy to see why.
Aside from a few differences, Mastodon's interface is almost identical to Twitter's but with everything from retweets (or retwoots), likes and bookmarks being there. it also has an edit button! Oh...and you can verify yourself for free.
The biggest difference is that Mastodon is not controlled by a single entity and is all run-off separate servers generally revolving around one particular topic, which you have to join in order to sign up for Mastodon.
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As it is obviously a much smaller website and network it doesn't have the range of topics or interests that Twitter does but you are allowed to create your own server if you wish. That being said you aren't limited to just that one server and can interact with everyone else on site.
However, given the simplicity of Twitter, people are finding the signup process for Mastodon much harder to navigate leading to some pretty funny memes which are ironically being shared on Twitter, the one place that people want to leave.
\u201cPeople be like \u201cjoin Mastodon\u201d.\n\nMastodon:\u201d— Dave Flynn (@Dave Flynn) 1667640466
\u201c"mastodon is really fun if you know how to use it"\u201d— Bobby Lewis (@Bobby Lewis) 1667662048
\u201cOk, I\u2019ve joined #Mastodon but also this\u201d— Sin\u00e9ad Crowley (@Sin\u00e9ad Crowley) 1667601456
\u201cthinking mastodon will replace twitter in any meaningful way has big \u201cyear of linux on the desktop\u201d energy\u201d— dan seifert (@dan seifert) 1667592671
\u201cMe 5 minutes ago: Sure, I'll sign up on Mastodon \n\nMe 5 seconds ago:\u201d— Julie Lynn @bellafortunate@mastodon.online \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b (@Julie Lynn @bellafortunate@mastodon.online \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b) 1667535197
\u201c\u2018Where we going, dad?\u2019\n\u2018Mastodon\u2019\u201d— Tom Reagan\u2019s Hat (@Tom Reagan\u2019s Hat) 1667597710
\u201cImagine posting \u201cnight water hits different\u201d on Mastodon and getting two updoots and one retoot. Get real. You\u2019re not going anywhere.\u201d— willy \ud83c\udf1c\ud83d\udca7 (@willy \ud83c\udf1c\ud83d\udca7) 1667657220
\u201cI mean we could all pivot to Mastodon, Instagram etc. but what about RuneScape. Neopets? We\u2019re not thinking big enough\u201d— Sophia Smith Galer (@Sophia Smith Galer) 1667653016
\u201cWhat logging on to Mastodon feels like.\u201d— James O'Malley (@James O'Malley) 1667657775
\u201cWhen someone explains how Mastodon works\u201d— Casey Stegman (@Casey Stegman) 1667663743
\u201cI just want someone else to do all the hard work necessary to make Mastodon easy for me. I\u2019ll pay $8 a month for it. \ud83d\ude00\u201d— Prof Paul Bernal (@Prof Paul Bernal) 1667657978
\u201c"If you're unhappy with Twitter, try Mastodon."\n\n[Me trying to use Mastodon]\u201d— Amanda (@Amanda) 1667672756
There are also quite a few Power Rangers jokes.
\u201cOverwhelmed by all these new social media sites. Mastodon, Discord, Triceratops, Saber-Toothed Tiger, Tyrannosaurus\u2026\u201d— The Volatile Mermaid (@The Volatile Mermaid) 1667676988
\u201cI will download Mastodon only if we all collectively agree to shout \u201cMastodon!\u201d like the black Power Ranger every time we open the app\u201d— Patrick Willems (@Patrick Willems) 1667664112
\u201cMy brain every time someone mentions \u201cMastodon\u201d\u201d— Morgan Jeffery (@Morgan Jeffery) 1667645858
Mastodon was launched in 2016 and according to CNN has more than 655,000 active users a month. In addition, a reported 230,000 new users joined the site the day Elon Musk completed his takeover of Twitter on October 27th.
Whether Mastodon will become popular enough to replace Twitter remains to be seen but it definitely has some advantages over the bluebird app so dive right in if you can figure out how to join...
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