Are you on Mastodon?
A little over a month ago, I decided to quit the network formerly known as Twitter. The decision to limit the number of tweets that users can read was the last straw for me.
I first joined Twitter in 2011, and it quickly became my primary platform. But as time passed, I began to have enough and deleted myself in 2017. Two years later, I decided to change my approach and give it another go, but Twitter became more like a "second home" since I began focusing more on LinkedIn.
Although Twitter was helpful for business purposes — as it drove traffic toward this website and other blogs — LinkedIn became my main lead generator.
Before I move on to discussing alternatives to Twitter, I would like to invite you to connect or follow me on LinkedIn in case you haven't already!
Not long after announcing my intention to stop using Twitter, I learned about a new platform called Threads, but I declined because I didn't think it would be a viable alternative. While I have a Facebook account, I'm only active in groups for business purposes. I'm not interested in other Meta products like Threads, which is currently unavailable in the European Union because of privacy concerns.
What would I replace Twitter with?
One of my contacts invited me to BlueSky, and I thought it looked like a promising social media platform. Unfortunately, I found that its restrictive, invitation-only nature would prevent me from creating a real network. And while I don't mind starting from zero at a new place, I'm not willing to "talk into a void" at this stage in the game. Therefore, I quit Bluesky and continued looking for a second home.
That's when I finally decided to try a platform I knew about, but I always dismissed it because it looked too complex.
Mastodon could be defined as a federation of networks. Think of the United States — there are fifty states, each with its own rules, but we all belong together.
You have to select a server to join Mastodon, and since there are so many different servers, it can feel like a daunting task. But, in reality, choosing a specific server doesn't keep you from connecting with people from other servers. That is because there are two levels:
Local — You see content from the server you chose to host your account.
Federal — You see content from all the servers that make up Mastodon.
For instance, I chose a server called masto.pt because I'm especially interested in connecting with people based in Portugal. Nonetheless, my Mastodon network is not restricted to people from that server. That is, I get to see content and interact with people from other servers.
Additionally, the topics (hashtags are encouraged) I choose to discuss are not limited to Portugal or the Portuguese language. While I may have chosen to highlight them for a number of reasons, I also use my other working languages — Catalan, English, and Spanish.
So, if you plan to join or are already on Mastodon, feel free to reach out and connect!