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Mastodon app on a smartphone: First make a joke
Photo: Torsten Kleinz
No sooner had Twitter announced Elon Musk's impending takeover of the platform than a previously neglected competitor's offering received a lot of attention: Mastodon.
The term trended on Tuesday morning – on Twitter.
Well-known users of the social network, such as the ZDF comedian Jan Böhmermann, are already setting up there.
Twitter users who reject the new management under Elon Musk and fear the worst for the communication platform hope to find sanctuary on the platform.
Mastodon was founded in 2016 by the developer Eugen Rochko, but has so far received little attention from the major media.
The main difference to the commercial competitor: The alternative network is ad-free and decentralized.
You can see what that means right away when you download the new official Mastodon app for iPhones or for Android.
Because in the first step, new users have to decide on a »community«.
A new home
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Those who have choices have communities
Photo: Torsten Kleinz
As a Mastodon user you can communicate with members of all other communities, but the home community determines, among other things, the code of conduct for its members.
There are servers that attach particular importance to freedom from censorship, while others emphasize that they prefer a good neighborly relationship without spam and personal attacks.
The home community also determines the address where you can be found in Mastodon.
They look similar to e-mail addresses - not @neueruser like on Twitter, but for example @neueruser@mastodon.social or @neueruser@koeln.social.
The app is not absolutely necessary.
Mastodon can also be easily accessed in a mobile browser or on a PC.
There are now some apps that make it possible, for example, to use Twitter and Mastodon at the same time.
Initiative is required
Once you have completed the registration and confirmed your e-mail address, you are first faced with an empty timeline.
Unlike Twitter or Facebook, you are not asked to provide the app with your address book so that you can automatically find friends on the new platform.
Instead, you have to do it yourself.
Depending on the Mastodon server used, a series of users are proposed, already very active and offering a good starting point to get to know the new platform.
But you can also look around in the profile directory of the various Mastodon servers or browse through communities that correspond to your own interests.
There are so-called mastodon instances for music lovers, for software developers and even for members of certain parties.
In total, more than 11.5 million accounts are currently registered in the Mastodon network.
On the largest server alone, mastodon.social, there are more than 660,000 accounts.
No power to the algorithms
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Already moved in: Jan Böhmermann
Photo: Torsten Kleinz
By default, Mastodon provides a chronological timeline, unaffected by sorting algorithms.
With the search function, however, new users get an overview of what is currently going on in the network: As with Twitter, there are hashtags and trends.
You can also display a list of the most discussed news articles.
This function can be found in the app under the magnifying glass symbol at the bottom, in the desktop browser under "Discover".
In this way you can gradually put together your own timeline.
However, caution is advised: Unlike Twitter, there are no authenticated users.
That's why you should look at profiles carefully before following them.
The search function also does not always find new users immediately.
Many of the basic functions are very similar to those of Twitter.
Instead of 280 characters, the limit for Mastodon is 500 characters.
There are favorites, retweets, lists and even polls.
If you click through the user interface, you will find some additional functions.
You can automatically add an expiry date to your messages, or view all Mastodon messages that are currently being distributed worldwide in the »Federation«.
For each individual message, you can specify whether it should be visible to the public or only to friends.
The network is currently feeling a bit sluggish due to the current rush.
However, Eugen Rochko is currently working on expanding the server capacities so that Mastodon can better cope with the new users.
Whether the Twitter alternative can now develop from a niche offer to serious competition for commercial offers also depends on whether there are enough people who support the project with donations, their own servers and help with the moderation of content.