Twitter alternative Mastodon is booming. Since Elon Musk (51) came to power on rival Twitter, the number of users of the news service with the elephant logo has almost increased. quintuple.
More than 2 million people actively use Mastodon every month. Currently, a total of more than 7.5 million users are registered. Blick shows why Mastodon is more than just a Twitter 2.0.
“Mis Problem”
The first reason is obvious and it is in the media every day: Elon Musk. The eccentric billionaire has alienated both users and employees since he took over.
Half of the 7,500 employees were laid off and 62,000 were blocked, often with suspicious user accounts reactivated. One of the beneficiaries of the action: former President Donald Trump (76), who was allowed to retweet but no longer wants to tweet.
Advertisers are now avoiding Musk. This is sometimes due to reactivated accounts. Because no one who advertises on Twitter knows where the ad is shown. And nobody wants their ads placed next to profiles of racist and provocative conspiracy theorists, for example.
part of something bigger
The decentralized “Fediverse”, of which Mastodon is a part, benefits from the absence of a polarizing leader. And he’ll probably never get one. Because Mastodon is too good to be sold due to its decentralized nature.
As a member of the Fediverse, the Mastodon user can also join various other networks with their login. The latest member is the social network Tumblr, which has more than 450 million users worldwide. Fediverse’s goal is to create a decentralized network that is as independent as possible from billionaires and big tech groups.
Less “viral frenzy”
But probably the biggest advantages for the user come from two innovations. Lack of algorithms on the one hand, and “special likes” on the other. You can always see the latest posts in real time, as the platform works completely without a ranking algorithm. This has two advantages: the user is not patronized and you can easily see posts from people they follow in chronological order.
Similar function is also different. Instead of liking, you bookmark a post on Mastodon. However, this is only visible to the person who created the post and the Liker himself. In other words, you cannot see how many likes or “favorites” a post has received. In a world full of “virus” madness and wild prey for the likes and clicks, it’s a welcome slowdown.
Plus, Mastodon is ad-free, has no app trackers that unintentionally collect user data, and is constantly being developed thanks to open software. So there’s a lot to be said for newcomers to the world of social media.