Twitter has been in the news in recent times - and not for good reasons.
Elon Musk, the richest person in the world, took over the platform on October 27 and people have been unhappy with all the changes he has introduced, including paying for the blue tick verification.
With Twitter no longer their choice of social media, many frustrated users have been flocking to a relatively small social media network called Mastodon, which gained 230,000 in the last week alone.
Here's everything you need to know about Mastodon, including how to join and use it, as well as how it's different from Twitter.
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is not one platform but a collection of servers where users can sign up according to their interests and hobbies.
Created in 2016 by Eugen Rochko, the German software was developed with a goal of building a "user-friendly microblogging product that would not belong to any central authority".
Mastodon has been around for six years and had a user base of around 600,000 active accounts. Users don't have to be on your server for you to follow them.
How similar are Mastodon and Twitter?
Mastodon is quite similar to Twitter, with public posts being called 'toots' rather than tweets. You can either like these or boost them, which is similar to retweeting.
Posts on Mastodon are prioritised by the time they were shared and users can include hashtags, tagging and photo and video uploads similar to Twitter.
The one Mastodon feature that has many Twitter users unsettled is that mentioning someone in a DM on Mastodon automatically pulls them into the conversation.
How to join Mastodon
Setting up an account on Mastodon is easy and can be done in a few simple steps.
All you need to do is click the "Get Started" link on its website. New users will then be allowed to choose what servers they would like to join, based on their interests and hobbies, such as music, gaming or technology.
Finding people who have moved to the platform is easy as many Twitter users who have an account will include the link in their Twitter bio or link it to their page.
You can also find people who are moving to Mastodon by using the hashtag #TwitterMigration.
Mastodon is also available as an app and is free to download on Google Play and Apple Store.
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