As part of my eternal curiosity, I've been checking out Mastodon. Because of the way just about anyone can set up a server, and make choices about privacy, content moderation and federation (sharing with other servers), it's not a clone of Twitter (or Facebook), but it has some aspects that (I think) make it better than both.

It's built, maintained, and managed by users, not a (massive) company. The incentives are there for it to be an interesting, useful and enjoyable social network for the users, instead of a way to harvest information about you and display the most relevant advertising to you. The way you use it (i.e. the web site, phone app, etc.) is up to you, giving users much more control, and reducing unpleasant "oh no what have they done with the timeline this time?" moments.

A side effect of how it has been built is that many of the users (as well as server owners) want the opposite of what Twitter or Facebook wants for you, and that has attracted a lot of curious, kind people. Of course, as popularity grows, people of every sort will join, but the combination of moderation at a server level, and the ability to cut off servers that encourage (or tolerate) bad behavior helps maintain the community.

As for Facebook/Twitter replacement, yes and no. Most people are on Facebook because Most People are on Facebook (though it definitely feels like a lot less Use it regularly.) But you could, over time, connect to people you know. Similar things can be said about Twitter, though I think that's a place where people form internet connections much more so than who they already know. Things like Facebook Groups, Marketplace and Messenger are not really available on Mastodon, and I don't expect they will be any time soon.

So do I think you should abandon what you know and move? Perhaps not, but it may become increasingly compelling over time as others do join and use it in place of Facebook and Twitter.

If you're already giving it a try, consider connecting with me there. https://mastodon.social/@neogodless

If you're considering trying it, head to https://joinmastodon.org/servers and pick any server that looks vaguely interesting. It's a bit like picking an email provider - you'll still be able to connect to others on the network, but there might be unique reasons to pick one over the other, like having a "local" place to share a common interest, or because you strongly agree with the server owner's philosophy on making it a place you enjoy visiting.