Mastodon
Mastodon is a microblogging platform and one of the Fediverse's replacement for Twitter.
Official
Website: joinmastodon
Instances: mastodon.social
mastodon.online
List of instances: joinmastodon/communities
Forum: discourse joinmastodon
What does Mastodon feel like?
Mastodon is a lot like Twitter.
You can write short messages, add pictures, videos, audo, image/video/audio descriptions, content warnings and polls.
You can @ other people on the Fediverse in your posts and send private messages.
You can use hashtags and find posts based on hashtags.
What are some advantages over Twitter?
With Mastodon you can post longer posts - usually 500 characters, though some instances have even larger character limits.
There is no algorithm deciding what you get to see and what not, but the feed is chronological and only based on who you follow, who you mute and who you block.
If you have a lot of followers on Twitter expect to have a narrower reach on Mastodon, but the people who follow you are usually more happy to interact with you in a meaningful way.
| Mastodon | ||
|---|---|---|
| character limit | 280 | 500 |
| feed | algorithmic | chronological |
| reach | far | familiar |
What are some limitations?
With all the advantages, like Twitter, Mastodon still has some limitations.
Some things that are fixed and the admins can't change for their instances:
- character limit (500)
- poll options (4)
- profile fields (4)
- max number of pinned posts (5)
Other limitations:
- you can't follow hashtags
- you can't edit your posts (only delete and redraft them)
What are Mastodon forks and why use them?
A fork is a derivative software. So Mastodon forks are software based on Mastodon.
They look and feel mostly like Mastodon, but some have some extra features that e.g. address some of the limitations mentioned above.
Ecko
Main artilce: What is Ecko?
Ecko is a Mastodon fork that has a lot of cool features.
Admins can change the limits on post characters, poll options & profile fields.
So on an Ecko instance you might e.g. have a 5000 character limit for posts and can create polls with 10 options.
Furthermore local posts are possible. Meaning posts only other users of the same instance can see. This might strengthen the community spirit.
Further Reading
Mastodon - the advanced page on Mastodon
External Links
Guides
What is Mastodon (video)
Getting started with Mastodon
Guide to Mastodon
Mastodon: Friendly Microblogging