Mastodon: What is it, how to use it and more details about Twitter’s alternative

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is an open-source micro-blogging platform that has been in existence since 2016. The app was founded by German-born Eugene Rochko after becoming ‘disillusioned with Twitter.

Unlike Twitter, Mastodon functions in a decentralized manner. Users can either join an existing community on Mastodon or host their own. While Twitter users ‘tweet’ their posts, Mastodon lets users ‘toot’ their views.

The app has user managed servers. They are themed on country, city or interest – gaming, social and more. Each server on Mastodon has a description about the particular community. Mastodon will also show you the number of people who have joined a particular server. Users can migrate to other servers by making changes in the setting section.

How to log into Mastodon?

Mastodon app is available on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Once installed on your device, tap on ‘Get started’ and follow the on-screen instructions like select a server and accept rules of the platform.

You will then be asked to create your ID and password. Mastodon requires your email id to create an ID. Your Mastodon account is also verified using the email service.

How to use Mastodon?

To begin sharing your thoughts on Mastodon, tap on the edit button located at the lower right side of the app and type your message. Next, press hit to publish. Retweets and like on Mastodon are called reblogged and favourite.

Unlike Twitter which has a character limit of 280, Mastodon supports about 5,000 character limit per post.

There are no ads on Mastodon right now. Also, although Mastodon is a free to use platform, some servers on the app ask for donations.