Some Twitter users are looking for alternatives following Elon Musk’s takeover
(Picture: Brian Lawless / PA)Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, some users are considering quitting and moving to another social-media app— Mastodon.
It seems that Twitter is rattled. With Mastodon growing fast in the aftermath of Elon Musk’s chaotic takeover, users are reporting that links to pages on Mastodon are being blocked on the site and the company’s official account has also been banned. It’s not clear if these are permanent or temporary restrictions.
Despite launching six years ago, Mastodon has been fairly unknown compared to mainstream social-media platforms. But recently, its user numbers have grown massively, with the social-media network now estimating that it has more than 655,000 followers as of November.
So what is Mastodon, and could it really be an alternative to Twitter?
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is a decentralised social-media network made up of different interconnected servers.
Unlike social-media platforms like Twitter or Facebook, it is not owned or controlled by one single person or company.
Instead, each of the servers has a moderator, which is usually a person, company, or organisation.
The servers are centred around location or interest, so users can join a server based on where they live or a topic they are interested in.
Once a new user has joined a server, the server’s name will be a part of their username and posts from other members on their server will make up their feed.
However, users can follow members from other servers, too.
Mastodon users can post messages to their followers and other members on their server.
Each server is run differently. For example, they have different moderation rules, so some servers may see more hateful content than others. Additionally, some server moderators ask their members for donations, as they are not paid by Mastodon.
Andrew Williams wrote for the Evening Standard that Mastodon “is going to feel a lot less busy than Twitter; it is less of a place to pick up social-media clout than it is to connect with people who have similar interests.”
Has Twitter banned Mastodon?
On December 16, Mastodon’s official account was suspended by Twitter, seemingly as part of the same restrictions that banned journalists from tweeting about the movements of Elon Musk’s private jet. The @JoinMastodon account had promoted Jack Sweeney’s Mastodon profile, after he and his @ElonJet plane tracking accounts were kicked off Twitter.
Beyond this, however, Twitter has also taken to preventing its users posting certain Mastodon links. Links to Mastodon accounts in profiles are being labelled “malware” - something there is no evidence for whatsoever.
Additionally, some Mastodon links in regular tweets - including those to the popular ‘social’ channel - are being blocked, too. “We can’t complete this request because this link has been identified by Twitter or our partners as being potentially harmful,” a message reads.
Confusingly, not all Mastodon links are being blocked at the time of writing, and Twitter has not sought to clarify the reasoning behind the censorship.
