It’s been awhile since I wrote about Mastodon, the social network based on the federated ActivityPub protocol (the “fediverse”). Below are my current thoughts about the alternative to Twitter.
Sign-up and onboarding experience
Mastodon’s sign-up process has been a bit improved. After Musk bought Twitter, users fleeing to Mastodon got quickly turned off by how hard it was to sign up, starting with needing to choose an “instance” (server).
The maintainers of Mastodon’s official apps, official website, and largest server (mastodon.social) have since simplified things; new users looking to sign up are now directed to mastodon.social by default. However, some have complained about Mastodon’s maintainers centralizing users to a single large server. Never mind this is how Bluesky currently works, and one reason users of that social network feel it’s easy to use/sign up for. Also, searching “Mastodon” on Google shows that mastodon.social is the top search result; meanwhile, the “Join Mastodon” page is toward the bottom of the first page’s results.
Defaulting users to mastodon.social might make finding other users easier, though that’s still a sticking point for Mastodon, between the various servers and the smaller user base (versus other social networks). However, searching for and adding users across servers within Mastodon’s app has improved.
The general public doesn’t always have the strongest tech skills, and aren’t interested in learning new tech skills unless absolutely required. (Judging from the number of social media users I’ve seen who passive-aggressively threaten to block others suggesting or even mentioning words like “Linux”/”open source.”) Thus, ease of use does matter.
My Mastodon experience
I’ve been on Mastodon for the past several years, with my usage of it picking up heavily after Musk bought Twitter. It’s now one of two Twitter alternatives I use, the other being Bluesky.
One thing that’s helped improve Mastodon is the presence of Flipboard, who offer major news, sports, tech and entertainment feeds. This allows me to follow some of the media outlets I followed back on Twitter (such as ESPN or NBC). The “techie” aspects of Mastodon also have their good points; while some disparagingly call Mastodon “the Linux of social media,” at least my using Linux doesn’t stick out there.
I also like that I can edit blog posts in Mastodon, which is good for fixing typos, versus deleting and retyping the entire post. Mastodon also has features Bluesky is lacking or taking longer to add, such as polls.
Mastodon also feels calmer than Bluesky, though that might be from the smaller user base, as well as being less US-centric (given the current state of American politics). Like Bluesky, Mastodon doesn’t have algorithms, so everything’s chronological, plus my posts aren’t hidden or randomly not displayed for “reasons.”
The downsides of Mastodon
As I noted above, Mastodon isn’t as popular as other social networks, so its user base isn’t as large as others; even Bluesky’s eclipsed Mastodon in usage. Despite the improvements, it feels like Mastodon blew their biggest chance to attract users; the general public’s either sticking with Twitter (*sigh*), gone to Bluesky, or gone elsewhere (Threads, TikTok, Instagram, etc.). As such, while the tech crowd I followed went to Mastodon, the media crowd (including comics/animation accounts) went to Bluesky. Given the creative crowd, Bluesky can feel livelier or more fun in certain aspects than Mastodon.
While Mastodon feels less US-centric versus the major social networks, that also means some topics might not get as much attention as elsewhere; one example is American sports.
A lot of high-profile accounts (governments, celebrities, sports teams, etc.) still make Twitter their main or only social media home for any news/updates, despite Musk’s ownership leading to its current “Nazi bar” state. As such, Mastodon likely won’t have posts about local public transit delays, or whatever your favorite influencer is up to.
Some new users who tried Mastodon found the existing culture dull, too “techie,” or outright unfriendly. Complaints emerged about existing users scolding or harassing newcomers about: creators using their accounts for self-promotion (I ran into this a few times early on for promoting the blog); not using content warnings for certain types of content; discussion of issues about race, gender, etc. (especially people of color users); and so on.
Mastodon also doesn’t have a very large Black user base. During Mastodon’s initial burst of attention a few years ago, a number of new Black users didn’t find it welcoming (for the reasons listed above), and didn’t come back. The “#BlackMastodon” hashtag helps, but still, Bluesky and even Threads have likely drawn away most Black ex-Twitter users for good. Bluesky has a moderated feed/AT Protocol-based server aimed at Black users, “Blacksky.”
Alternatives to Mastodon
For Twitter alternatives, at this point the two main options that aren’t Mastodon are:
- Bluesky. See my previous posts about Bluesky.
- Threads. Meta owns Threads; as such, it inherits all of Facebook and Instagram’s flaws.
For other ActivityPub-based social networks, the most prominent one besides Mastodon is Pixelfed, an Instagram replacement that emphasizes photos. Unlike Mastodon, Pixelfed hasn’t had a “too hard to use” stigma slapped on it, but it doesn’t have the biggest user base, even compared to Mastodon.
Conclusion
I still find Mastodon useful and enjoyable. I like its post editing features, use of hashtags, the option for polls, and the underlying ActivityPub protocol. There’s also Mastodon’s nonprofit model, which I feel is much better than Bluesky’s still-unclear business model; it’s also in my opinion a better defense against private equity vampires or racist billionaires undermining it. Mastodon’s maintainers also aren’t based in the US (it’s developed by a Germany nonprofit), which might be an advantage for those trying to minimize Silicon Valley/American tech these days. It also helps I found some interesting users and accounts to follow. Finally, Mastodon’s my largest social network in terms of followers (though many of those likely have stopped using Mastodon).
Still, as I said above, Mastodon isn’t as big as the other social networks, and its existing culture/user base might turn off some prospective new users. And again, the comic/animation crowd I follow online have mostly gone to Bluesky. While signing up to use Mastodon is now easier, I don’t see it eclipsing Bluesky (let alone Twitter) anytime in the future. That said, its user base and maintainers aren’t worked up over Mastodon not being a “Twitter killer.”
Looking at the last six months of site statistics, out of the total traffic the blog gets from social media (which isn’t much), about 10% of it is from Mastodon, versus about 61% from Bluesky. Both, however, are still a lot more than Twitter (about 4%) or Threads (0.4%).
For those interesting in following me on Mastodon, here’s a link to my account.
Do any of you use Mastodon, or its ActivityPub based cousins like Pixelfed?
Image: The Join Mastodon page. (Mastodon / screenshot by author)
