After Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, at the end of last month, some users of the application began searching for new options, only to discover quickly that there are not many alternatives.
However, it seems that Mastodon has succeeded in attracting more experienced users of the technology, according to the British newspaper, “The Guardian “.
The app got its name from an extinct elephant-like animal that was launched 6 years ago, and today has a popular base among specific, usually left-leaning groups. Perhaps the most prominent feature that distinguishes it from other social media applications is that it adopts a decentralized program, and therefore cannot be controlled by a company or a billionaire.
Mastodon.. an open-source platform
Mastodon is an open-source social network that focuses on the user, what they want to see, what they want to ignore, and what they like to share, all governed by micro-controllers, giving the user complete control and control over what they want to see.
The idea of Mastodon was started in 2016 by German developer Eugen Rushko as a project in the world of social networking with the aim of being a basic and convenient alternative to the popular platform Twitter.
How does Mastodon work?
If you search for a blog, more than one result will appear in the search results, each of which presents a specific topic on the platform where it works on separate servers managed by volunteers.
For example, the first thing you find may focus on a particular topic such as technology or culture, and the last may provide a general discussion on a particular topic but with strict rules against swearing, however, be careful because you may come across an example showing content that is not suitable for children or content that you do not want Seeing in results, children should not use this platform without supervision.
These small communities use the Mastodon platform but have different rules and ways of interacting. This platform can be likened to any democratic country that has states with their own laws, but they all operate under the infrastructure of that country.
There is not a single Mastodon application but there are a variety of standalone applications such as Tootle, Fedi, and AndStatus which combine programs in different interfaces It is like email, for example, you may have a Google account but You can still message someone with a Yahoo or Hotmail account but the social interactions are very similar to those of Twitter.
What makes Mastodon different from other platforms?
The most important thing that distinguishes Mastodon from other platforms is that it is open source, unlike major companies such as Facebook or Twitter and others, which are confined to one website that offers many diverse contents where there is no division of special interests.
But the decentralized system in Mastodon allows the user to run unified, self-hosted social networks. Instead of subscribing to Mastodon, you can create a single account on a large number of independent Mastodon networks with unique URLs, as they depend on Mastodon software Basic but have different laws and methods of interaction.
Something is wrong with social media these days. Platforms like Tik Tok, YouTube, and Instagram have contributed to loneliness, low self-esteem, and the spread of harmful misinformation. Despite this bad reputation, these giants remain entrenched in The industry as it has always been.
Critics say social media platforms have too much power over public opinion and use that power irresponsibly. Among those just looking for an enjoyable online experience and platform owners, who have the incentive to maximize engagement at any cost.
But as writer and technologist Ben Tarnoff wrote in his latest book, The Internet for People, these platforms are not actually trying to enhance human connection but rather social media enticing users to behave in the most readable ways of the automated systems they follow and analyze in order to sell ads And increase profits and these results are bad for users.
On the other hand, Mastodon is decentralized. The smaller media ecosystem looks like a patchwork of neighboring but interconnected virtual villages operating on an understandable scale. Some say Mastodon’s structure is too confusing for most people to understand, limiting the Its attractiveness, but change has to start somewhere and in time, and the platform’s relative success suggests that people may be ready to begin a gradual transformation.
What distinguishes Platform from Mastodon from other platforms is the absence of ads, as the platform wrote in its blog “does not contain ads, respects your privacy, and allows people and communities autonomy”, which indicates a move away from tracking and monitoring users’ interests for the sake of targeted advertising.
Perhaps Mastodon in terms of social interactions is closer to Twitter, but with better privacy measures, increasing the number of characters to 500 instead of 280 as in Twitter, and more control by users, but despite these features, its disadvantage is its small size compared to the giant Twitter, which prevents Mastodon from being Be a real alternative for people who want the world to see their posts.
“I made a post and immediately random people I’d never talked to took it carefully, I felt the internet should be like this,” says Morgan, one of the users of Mastodon, who considers it the most democratic platform.
What is the future of Mastodon?
The subjective community experience is ultimately more relevant to the average user than the experience based on web hosting, but decentralization offers some tangible solutions to the ills of social media platforms if you will, and perhaps the community is the perfect solution point to tackle this pollution emanating from some social media platforms.
“I really like community control of social media more than company ownership,” Morgan says, stressing that they still hope for a viable decentralized platform to emerge.
Decentralized social media platforms constitute a promising framework, albeit gradually, to address many diseases of modern social communication. Thus, starting with the idea of a decentralized platform, its continuity and growth do not depend on a specific external party, but on the community itself and what it chooses.
Social networking sites were intended to provide communication and news services for the benefit of the community, but this benefit was exploited for commercial and advertising purposes for the benefit of major companies, which makes communication limited to these companies and following their policies.
But open-source platforms such as Mastodon have broken the barriers of isolation and worked to get out from under the wing of those platforms so that users become the bird that puts society under its wing.
