230,000 users have flocked to social media platform Mastodon after Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter. Mastodon is a free software used for running self-hosted social networks - which on the surface looks similar to the way Twitter works.
Mastodon, which has been around for six years, says it now has over 655,000 users, reports the BBC. Mastodon works in a similar way to Twitter in that users post 'toots' which can be replied to, liked and reposted and you are are to follow the accounts of people you want to keep up to date with.
Being self-hosted means that Mastodon is not centrally controlled - there are different servers, each with different rules. When you join up you pick a server - although you are able to interact with users on other servers.
Servers are themed by country, city or interest. Ryan Wild, who runs MastodonApp.UK, told the BBC he had had more than 6,000 new joiners in 24 hours and had to pause registration.
Like Twitter you can search for users - although if they are on a different server you will need their full handle - and you can search for hashtags.
Each server has its own moderation rules, and some have none. There are no adverts.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey is working on his own new social media platform, called BlyeSky, which he says will be decentralised like Mastadon.
