Soon after billionaire Elon Musk accquired Twitter on October 27th, he came up with several changes. From less content moderation and subscription for the blue tick to mass layoffs; Musk’s strategies have forced users to look for new alternatives.
Now, Mastodon, a social media application started to gain popularity soon after people started drifting away from Musk’s Twitter.
Let’s Know The App
Launched in 2016, Mastodon, from Germany is a self-hosted social network and is a collection of various servers. Currently, the app has a user base of 655,000 users out of which more than 230,000 joined the application last week.
Like posts on Twitter are called “tweets”, this app calls them “toots”. Other Twitter-like features include reposting, commenting, liking, hashtags and following. There are two categories on the basis of which users are segregated- location and interests, thus enabling them to connect with like-minded people around the globe.
The application is decentralized, a common format that has been seen in other social media apps as well. Though the feature is highly appreciated, it is a drawback too as if one server gets removed, all the accounts attached to the server gets removed too.
Also Read: Twitter Ex-Employees Share Stories Of Entire Teams Getting Wiped Out Across The World
Surge In Users
With a lot of people joining the platform, the activity has overwhelmed the owner and the site. Now, the application observes 1 million active users a month which is not even a quarter of the 238 million active users that Twitter has on a daily basis.
However, the founder and the team behind the platform have always been waiting for this outcome ever since the platform was launched.
“We’ve hit 1,028,362 monthly active users across the network today,” The Chief Executive Officer at Mastodon, Eugen Rochko, tooted on the application.
Rochko said, “I don’t think Mastodon or the fediverse has ever received this much attention before. It’s a great opportunity for people to finally see that social media can be done differently, that it can be a protocol not under the control of any single company.”
Now that people are coming to Mastodon, the application is suffering a strain. Rochko apologized to the users for the delays in processing and said that he is working on the same.
Why Mastodon Over Others?
There are numerous social media applications like Discord and Instagram that can be used like Twitter as these apps quickly change themselves when they see the opportunity. A classic example is the introduction of Reels to Instagram.
However, people prefer Mastodon because it is decentralized. Unlike Twitter’s centrally provided service, in Mastodon, every user chooses their servers and interests.
No single company can own it all at once or shut it down. If one emerges as dominant, others can easily cut their ties with the server and look for other servers.
Hence, people see the potential that Mastodon holds and have quickly shifted to the platform. Now, we have to see whether the app is able to dethrone Twitter and gain its position or not.
Image Credits: Google Images
Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth
Sources: Republic World, Deccan Herald, Times Of India
Find the blogger: Palak Dogra
This post is tagged under: Twitter, tweet, Elon Musk, Mastodon, Twitter rival, social media, social media application, toot, twitter users, social media users, mastodon twitter alternative
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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