Twitter gets bought, and a new social network comes popping up. But what is Mastodon really about, you ask?

According to their site, they’re meant to be a social channel for the people, and not one to be taken over and meant for profit. But don’t all social channels start out that way?

In the meantime, there is some intrigue, especially for those flocking from Twitter to the new Mastodon. But what are the perks and why is it worth trying out?

Here are a few things to know: 

What can you do: Users can post, follow, like and repost. This includes the sharing of multi-media.

What is the main difference: According to economic times, “it’s a federation of independently operated, interconnected servers. Mastodon servers are based on open-source software developed by German nonprofit Mastodon gGmbH.” But what does that mean? Economic times summarized it as “each server is governed by rules set by the people who operate it. If you think of the fediverse as a university, each Mastodon server is like a dorm.” You can move through dorms, switch dorms, or leave completely. It’s up to you to determine which fits your behavior and preferences, and it’s up to the university who controls the dorm to police it (especially for trolls and harassment). 

What brands exist there? So far I’ve seen many publications taking a stand within the “dorms” and I’ve followed a few myself to get news from them within the new platform. Right now I’m in discovery mode and still seeing what I like and dislike of the channel. What I’ve noticed quickly is that it’s quite new and not many of the folks I typically interact with are easy to find – maybe because of the “dorm” atmosphere and figuring out which server to join. This may get easier with time as people may advertise where to go to find them, which will probably shortly be followed by influencers and fees.

The today: Right now, anyone can set up a server. But if that server disappears so could your content within it. There is a lot of experimentation and learning going on right now. But think about it this way, isn’t that always the case with a new social channel? And isn’t there always risk?

The question is, are you willing to dive in and check it out for yourself?

image source: mastodon