A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the open source Twitter alternative

A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the open source Twitter alternative

Unless when you’re actually in the know about nascent platforms, you most likely didn’t know what Mastodon was until Elon Musk purchased Twitter and renamed it X. In the preliminary aftermath of the acquisition, as customers fretted over what path Twitter would take, hundreds of thousands of customers hopped over to Mastodon, a fellow microblogging web site. As time went on, customers would also attempt out Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads app — however because Mastodon was based in 2016, it had years to develop its personal identification as more than just an alternate Twitter.

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon was based in 2016 by German software developer Eugen Rochko. Unlike Twitter, Facebook, Reddit or any other well-liked social media web site, Mastodon is a nonprofit, which means that, ideally, its purpose is to profit the public, reasonably than shareholders.

Mastodon would possibly seem like a Twitter clone at first look, however the underlying system behind the microblogging platform is much more advanced. The service is decentralized (no, not in a blockchain manner), describing itself as a “federated network which operates in a similar way to email.”

When you first create your account, you select a server — comparable to the way you select to open an e mail account on Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo or wherever — which generates your profile’s tackle. So, for instance, when you join Mastodon by way of the local weather justice server, then your tackle might be @[your username]@climatejustice.social. But irrespective of which server you enroll with, it is possible for you to to talk with customers from any other server, just like how Gmail customers e mail Hotmail customers and vice versa. However, some servers might need blocked other servers (maybe if it’s an unsavory group), which might imply you may’t talk with anybody from the blocked server.

The Mastodon lingo

Mastodon customers typically refer to particular person communities as “instances” or servers. These Mastodon servers could be run by people, teams or organizations that each have their very own algorithm concerning how customers can enroll, in addition to their very own moderation insurance policies. Some servers let anybody be a part of, while others are invite-only or require approval by an admin. For instance, a server for skilled scientists asks candidates to embody a hyperlink to their research to show that they’re, certainly, professionals.

Choosing which server to register your account with might sound traumatic, nevertheless it’s doable to transfer your account later, so don’t fear. Plus, you may observe people no matter which server they’re on.

You could also hear Mastodon described as a part of the “Fediverse,” or an interconnected internet of varied social media companies. You understand how having a Twitter account doesn’t imply you should use that account on Instagram? Through the Fediverse, your single Mastodon account also grants you entry to other decentralized social networks, if that pursuits you.

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You could ocassionally see Mastodon’s equal of tweets being referred to as “toots,” however this is fading out of favor (since it’s sort of foolish!). Many people are just calling them “posts” these days, however “toot” is often discovered referenced in older third-party shoppers.

Mastodon helps plenty of Twitter conventions like replies, retweets, favorites, bookmarks and hashtags. For a while, Mastodon made an intentional selection not to make a quote tweet-like feature, since it might encourage dogpiling criticism, however the platform relented and rolled out that feature in 2025.

In addition, Mastodon lists work barely in a different way from Twitter as you may only add people to a listing when you’re already following them. And Direct messages on Mastodon are just @username posts, not non-public messages coming to a DM inbox — just keep in mind to change the visibility settings in order for you that message to keep between the two of you.

Image Credits: Fediverse (opens in a new window)Image Credits:Fediverse (opens in a new window)

What does it imply that Mastodon is open source?

Anyone can obtain, modify and set up Mastodon on their very own server — plus, the builders of the platform don’t personal the copyright.

That doesn’t imply that you may seize Mastodon’s code without acknowledging the source, though. Former President Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, initially launched with Mastodon code and handed it off as if it had been unique software. Mastodon didn’t take kindly to that.

How do you create a Mastodon account?

When you arrive on the Mastodon web site, you may click on a button called “create account,” which directs you to a web page itemizing servers to select from. You can filter these by numerous elements, like area, language, subject, sign-up speed and more. There, discover a server that piques your curiosity and be a part of — if it’s a server that requires you to be accepted, you would possibly want to wait a bit. From there, you may start discovering people to observe, no matter whether or not they’re registered by way of your same server.

In effort to decrease confusion on new customers choosing a server, Mastodon made modifications amid the “Twitter exodus” so that it might simpler to create an account. Now, whenever you go to enroll, it would give a straightforward choice to create an account on mastodon.social instead of selecting a server.

How do you determine which Mastodon server to be a part of?

Mastodon’s web site has helpful assets — nevertheless it’s still a bit overwhelming and difficult to discover a dwelling base that aligns along with your pursuits. Ask mates who’re already on Mastodon if they’ve solutions! Or just be a part of someplace random, because you may always change your server affiliation later when you get into the swing of issues.

Can you speak to people on other Mastodon servers moreover your personal?

Yes, you may observe people outdoors of your local server and reply to their posts. However, whenever you need to observe somebody on a different server, you will have to enter their username in the search box in your server to discover them first, then observe them. You can’t just go to their profile and click on the observe button as you’d on Twitter.

What’s the distinction between the Home, Local and Federated timelines?

Your Home timeline reveals you posts from people that you observe, comparable to Twitter. The Local timeline reveals posts from all customers in your server, while the Federated timeline reveals you all public posts from customers that people in your server observe. (Hint: You can activate “Slow Mode” in Preferences –> Appearance to conceal timeline updates behind a click on if issues are coming at you too fast!)

What is Mastodon’s moderation coverage?

Individual server admins set their very own moderation insurance policies, so you need to read the coverage on the server you select to guarantee it matches up along with your values.

What are the drawbacks of Mastodon in comparison with Twitter/X?

Mastodon’s consumer base is a fraction of a proportion of the dimension of Twitter’s consumer base. It’s also far less intuitive to navigate, since it hasn’t been designed for an enormous global viewers like Twitter. That may change in time as more builders be a part of the project in the wake of the Twitter takeover.

What are the advantages of Mastodon in contrast with Twitter/X?

Well, for one factor, Mastodon is just not owned by Elon Musk… however, it’s going to be tough in the near-term for Mastodon to replicate the same “watercooler of the world” vibe that Twitter was outlined by. Some customers would possibly choose Mastodon to X, though, because it’s more customizable by nature. Unlike X, particular person communities have different content pointers, which offer a wide range of different consumer experiences. And while the consumer base on Mastodon is smaller, this can lead to more private and direct conversations, at occasions, in contrast with tweeting into the void, so to communicate.

Is Mastodon safer than Twitter?

Mastodon is what you make of it. Due to its decentralized nature, in case you are searching for a more managed on-line experience, you may be a part of a server with stricter guardrails against harassment. Some Mastodon options are also constructed with mitigating harassment in thoughts. For instance, you may only search by hashtag, not by phrases that seem in a toot. So in order for you your publish to be discoverable, you may tag it — when you’d reasonably restrict the viewers, nobody can discover your tweet about the Red Sox by merely looking out “red sox” when you haven’t tagged it.

However, a text-based search can floor the posts you’ve written, favorited, boosted or have been talked about in, which could be useful.

Can I publish pictures and video?

As famous above, Mastodon helps many Twitter conventions, however its assist for media is more restricted. Where Twitter helps a wide range of media and other data appended to tweets, including its audio-only social “Spaces,” plus images, video, GIFs, polls, exact location and experimental “Status” tags, Mastodon merely helps pictures, movies, audio and polls.

You can add up to 4 pictures to a publish, up to eight megabytes in dimension. Video and audio could be any size, however with a file dimension restrict of 40 megabytes.

Can I publish privately to mates?

Mastodon presents the ability to set your publish’s privateness at the time of writing. Posts could be set to be public to be seen by all; unlisted to make them public however opted out of discovery options; only seen to your followers; or only seen to those customers you’ve talked about.

Can I get verified on Mastodon?

No. There’s no common verification system like on Twitter. Some servers could vet their consumer sign-ups and you’ll self-verify, in a manner, by including hyperlinks to your Mastodon profile that have a particular attribute (rel=”me”) so as to show you’re who you say you’re.

Some servers are having enjoyable with the concept of verification in a less-than-official trend. For instance, the mstdn.social server helps you to add blue-and-white checkmarks and other emoji to your show title when you’d like, which make you look verified, even though these don’t imply something. (Sort of like Twitter’s new verification system! But without spending a dime!)

Image Credits: @stux@mstdn.social (opens in a new window)Image Credits:mastodon.social/@stux (opens in a new window)

Is Mastodon right here to keep?

As of summer season 2025, Mastodon has under a million month-to-month lively customers, and round 10 million registered customers — this is to say, Mastodon is far smaller than X which had an estimated 132 million daily lively customers. Still, not all social networks are created equal, and also you would possibly discover that you like tooting about TTRPGs in a devoted server, as opposed to tweeting right into a realm of insanity. Or, you would possibly discover that this decentralized system is complicated, and also you’ll just experience out the Muskening on X, or swap to Bluesky, Threads, or one thing else completely. Choose your personal adventure!

I’m undecided I need to go away X. Can I cross-post from X to Mastodon?

Yes, this is feasible by the use of third-party instruments. These require you to authorize your account with Twitter and Mastodon and arrange parameters. We’ve had success with Moa Party, which permits you to get particular as to which tweets or retweets are cross-posted. But other instruments can be found, including Mastodon Twitter Crossposter, which is also out there right here on GitHub.

Can I discover my Twitter mates on Mastodon?

Yes, this is also doable with third-party instruments. We’ve seen many Mastodon customers attempting out instruments like Fedifinder, Twitodon and Debirdify, for instance.

Does Mastodon work with Bluesky and Threads?

It’s a no for Bluesky — not except Bluesky chooses to undertake the ActivityPub protocol Mastodon makes use of. But Bluesky is just not planning to combine with ActivityPub, having determined to build its personal networking protocol. There is some skepticism among the developer and open source community about whether or not or not Bluesky’s determination to go its personal manner is basically about its personal protocol’s benefits or if it’s more about producing a spec it may finally management.

There are many present protocols for decentralizing discourse, including ActivityPub, SSB, Matrix, & RSS. Each of these are profitable in their very own proper, however none of them totally met the targets we had for a network that allows global long-term public conversations at scale.

— Bluesky (@bluesky) April 6, 2022

Threads, however, helps ActivityPub. Users on Threads can select to share their posts with other Activity Pub servers, including Mastodon.

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