Mastodon is free and open-source software for running self-hosted social networking
services. It has microblogging features similar to Twitter, which are offered by a large
number of independently run nodes, known as instances or servers, each with its
own code of conduct, terms of service, privacy policy, privacy options, and content
moderation policies.
Each user is a member of a specific Mastodon server that can interact seamlessly
with users in any other server. This is intended to give users the flexibility to select a
server whose policies they prefer but keep access to a larger federated social
network. Mastodon is powered by the ActivityPub protocol, making it part of the
Fediverse ensemble of services such as Lemmy, Pixelfed, Friendica, PeerTube, and
Threads.
Mastodon was created by Eugen Rochko and announced on Hacker News in
October 2016.[9] It gained significant adoption in 2022 in the wake of Twitter's
acquisition by Elon Musk. The project is maintained by the German non-profit Mastodon gGmbH. Mastodon
development is crowdfunded, and the code does not support advertisements.
Functionality and features
Mastodon servers run social networking software that is capable of communicating
using W3C's ActivityPub standard, which has been implemented since version
1.6.[14] A Mastodon user can therefore interact with users on any other server in the
Fediverse that supports ActivityPub.
Since version 2.9.0, Mastodon has offered a single-column mode for new users by
default.[15] In advanced mode, Mastodon approximates the microblogging user
experience of TweetDeck. Users post short-form status messages, historically known
as "toots",[16] for others to see. On a standard Mastodon instance, these messages
can include up to 500 text-based characters, greater than Twitter's 280-character
limit. Some instances support even longer messages.
Users join a specific Mastodon server, rather than a single centralized website or
application. The servers are connected as nodes in a network, and each server can
administer its own rules, account privileges, and whether to share messages to and
from other servers. Many servers have a theme based on a specific interest. It is
also common for servers to be based around a particular locality, region, ethnicity, or
country.
Mastodon includes several specific privacy features. Each message has a variety of
privacy options available, and users can choose whether the message is public or
private. Public messages display on a global feed, known as a timeline, and private
messages are only shared on the timelines of the user's followers. Messages can
also be marked as unlisted from timelines or direct between users. Users can also
mark their accounts as completely private. In the timeline, messages can display
with an optional content warning feature, which requires readers to click on the
hidden main body of the message to reveal it. Mastodon servers have used this
feature to hide spoilers, trigger warnings, and not safe for work (NSFW) content,
though some accounts use the feature to hide links and thoughts others might not
want to read.
Mastodon aggregates messages in local and federated timelines in real time. The
local timeline shows messages from users on a singular server, while the federated
timeline shows messages across all participating Mastodon servers. Users can
communicate across connected Mastodon servers with usernames similar in format
to full email addresses.
Here is a link for update: https://joinmastodon.org/
Interesting! However, understand somee security specialists have concerns? Still might be worth a test drive given the advantages outlined.