Chaos on Twitter leads users to Mastodon: “The atmosphere has become increasingly gloomy”

• Nando Kastelein

  Tech publisher

It must be a nightmare scenario for Twitter boss Elon Musk: users who have had enough of Twitter and switch en masse to competitors. although according to the billionaire himself usage on its platform is breaking records, alternatives are more in the spotlight than ever due to all the chaotic developments surrounding Twitter.

You don’t just change. You have to start all over elsewhere. And you don’t know in advance if others will also make the ‘crossing’. There are several alternatives: Tumblr, Reddit or Post.news and Mastodon. The latter seems to have what it takes to become the alternative; it’s very similar to Twitter and grew strongly in October and November. At the same time, Mastodon is technically more complicated and this can put off users.

NOS spoke to a number of switchers this week. One of them is children’s book author Rian Visser, who says he has benefited greatly from his 18,000 Twitter followers. But his view of the platform has changed. “In recent years, the atmosphere has become more and more gloomy.” It’s very different on Mastodon, he says, even though he has only 900 followers there.

Mastodon has been around for six years, but is only now getting a lot of attention due to developments on Twitter. It was created by German software developer Eugen Rochko. He shouldn’t know anything about investing, he said this week at the Financial Times, Rochko wants to protect the company’s nonprofit status. In 2021, the company had a turnover of 55,000 euros in the form of donations and sponsors. This is a very unusual way of financing in Silicon Valley.

Basically, Twitter and Mastodon are very similar. You communicate mostly via text (although images and videos are also supported), following and being followed are very important, and you have a timeline with all messages from your network.

At the same time, there are also some fundamental differences. While Twitter consists of a place, to be considered as an island, Mastodon consists of thousands of “islands”, each with its own web address. Such an island becomes one example mentioned and everyone can start one, that’s why there are so many. Twitter has a set of rules, in Mastodon each “island” can decide for itself what happens. These choices are made by administrators, who can also set other conditions for a registration.

Together, there are now 1.8 million monthly active users. Much less than on Twitter. New users can independently choose which ‘island’ to register with.

The BBC spoke to Mastodon founder Eugene Rochko in November:

One of the Netherlands-oriented islands or places is Mastodon.nl, which has a few hundred new users every day, says administrator Maarten den Braber. He stresses that growth is not the goal and welcomes the arrival of other places. Mastodon.nl now has over 34,000 members and expects to grow to at least 50,000.

A major challenge for Den Braber and all other administrators within the network is the fight against unwanted content. They can decide for themselves what is allowed and what is not. This is a sensitive issue that the large online platforms – which employ tens of thousands of employees – have been grappling with for years. After all, it’s important to keep the platform viable for users.

Den Braber points out a big difference between the big online platforms and Mastodon. “There is no algorithm that distributes messages.” On platforms like Instagram and Twitter, these algorithms ensure that messages get more or less attention, including unwanted messages.

The only way a message can be spread on Mastodon is by sharing it. Den Braber plans to tighten the rules on Mastodon.nl next year.

So everyone can make one example or “island” within Mastodon and cannot be stopped. However, an island can be blocked. In other words: no company or person has all the power.

This fact makes Mastodon interesting for switcher Maarten Oosterkamp. “It’s practically not in anyone’s hands and has more guarantees.” He cites the large number of layoffs on Twitter as a turning point. “Among them were also many moderators who ensured social security. While you really need it.”

Oosterkamp, ​​who works in healthcare, says the switch comes at an exciting time for him: He’s just started his own business and the healthcare world is very active on Twitter. However, he has already deleted his Twitter account.