Mastodon is that new app on the block that is trending with mad numbers. Designed by 24-year-old German Eugene Rochko, it is a "decentralised alternative to commercial platforms." In plain English, this means that Mastodon is just like Twitter before it sold out.
Even in design Mastodon is very similar to Twitter but there are differences. For instance, you can post a maximum of 500 characters instead of 140. Users can also make their posts private- a feature that does not exist on Twitter yet.
Rochko designed Mastodon because he was pissed at Twitter and how it had lost its path. He felt Twitter had become just like Facebook. Mastodon was launched six months ago but in 48 hours, the new social media app had over 40,000 users- a growth of 70%.
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The word is already out there, and young people are signing up for the new app as they try to be on this new wave before it becomes too mainstream or conventional.
"I brought all my friends to Twitter back in the day. I kept promoting it to everybody I knew. I really loved the service. But it continuously made decisions that I didn't like. So, in the end, I decided that maybe Twitter itself is not the way to go forward" Rochko says as reported by The Verge.
Unfortunately due to the rush, signing up to Mastodon has suspended until further notice. This is to ensure "quality of service can be assured for existing users."
Mastodon has a strict anti-neo-Nazi policy as well as racism, sexism, xenophobia and violent nationalism.
