Since Twitter was taken over by Elon Musk And having adopted the name X, a significant part of the digital conversation has moved to other areas. Among all these alternatives, Mastodon has established itself as the most serious open-source option For those looking for something similar to Twitter, but without a large company controlling every detail of the platform.
The idea isn't new, but it has gained prominence in recent years, especially after the surge of users in Europe and the rest of the world who began to Explore decentralized and more community-friendly networksMastodon presents itself as an ecosystem less dependent on advertising and the whims of a single owner, something that in the European context fits with the growing interest in the digital sovereignty and data protection.
What is Mastodon and why does it matter in the tech ecosystem?
At a technical level, Mastodon is an open-source microblogging platform Launched in 2016 by German developer Eugen Rochko, it visually resembles Twitter: a timeline with posts, replies, retweets, and favorites. However, what lies beneath the hood is very different: It is not a centralized network, but a federated network of independent servers..
Instead of a single website and one company making all the decisions, Mastodon is made up of many interconnected communities, known as instances or serversEach one runs on the same software, but You can define your own rules, your moderation policy, and your access criteria.A server can be managed by a person, an association, an activist group, a media outlet, or even a public institution.
This model fits with the so-called Fediverse, a set of decentralized social services that communicate using the ActivityPub protocol. In practice, A Mastodon account can interact with other compatible platforms. within that ecosystem, which opens the door to more interconnected social networks that are less dependent on large US platforms.
Another relevant nuance is its legal and economic nature: Mastodon is organized as a non-profit projectThe stated goal is not to maximize profits for shareholders, but to maintain an infrastructure that prioritizes the interests of its user community. This philosophy has garnered it support among developers, academics, and a segment of the European technology sector, which is particularly sensitive to the concentration of power in a few companies.
How Mastodon Works: Servers, Instances, and Fediverse
Using Mastodon doesn't begin with simply choosing a username, but with decide which server you want to open your account onThe logic is similar to that of email: you can have an address on Gmail, Outlook, or your company's domain, but you can still send emails to anyone, wherever they are. Something similar happens here.
When you register, you select a server that may be filtered by language, region, theme, or type of communityFor example, you could join a generalist instance like mastodon.social, a technology-focused server, one specializing in climate justice, or one managed by a local European community. Your identifier will then have a format like this: @user@server.tld, as if it were an email address.
Although each server is independent, The federation allows you to follow, reply to, and mention users from other nodes.Only when a server believes that another is violating its standards (for example, by tolerating hate speech or harassment) can it decide to block it partially or completely. This ability to "cut off" federated connections is one of the key community-level moderation tools.
The word “Instance” is used in Mastodon jargon to describe each of those serversThey can be open to anyone, require an invitation, or require manual approval from an administrator, which is common in specialized academic or professional communities. In some cases, users are even asked to demonstrate their experience, for example, by linking to their scientific publications.
Choosing a server can seem a little intimidating at first, but It is not an irreversible decisionMastodon allows you to migrate your account from one instance to another while keeping the people you follow and who follow you, although some data, such as older posts, isn't always transferred. In any case, your network of contacts isn't lost, which reduces the fear of making a mistake on the first step.
Main features: publications, media and timelines
On a day-to-day basis, Mastodon works in a way that's quite familiar to anyone who has used Twitter. Posts can contain text, images, video, audio, and pollsThe system supports up to four images per message, with a maximum size of approximately 8 MB per file, while videos and audios can be of any duration within a limit of about 40 MB per piece.
Historically, publications were called “toots”The term ended up being more of an inside joke than anything else. Today, people usually just talk about "messages" or "posts," although the original name still pops up from time to time, especially in older third-party clients and applications.
At the interaction level, Mastodon incorporates replies, favorites, reposts, and bookmarksIn addition to the intensive use of hashtags to organize the conversation, the project for years avoided introducing a feature similar to "quoting tweets," believing it would encourage online harassment campaigns. However, a quote tweet option was finally introduced, attempting to balance usability with preventing harassment.
List management differs slightly from what many users knew about Twitter/X: You can only add accounts you already followThis reduces the possibility of using lists as a tool for mass surveillance of people with whom you don't interact. It reinforces the idea that social relationships are bidirectional, at least to some degree.
Regarding direct messages, it's important to understand how they work: They are not a classic-style private chat systemInstead, they are posts targeted at specific users through mentions, whose visibility is adjusted so that only the parties involved can read them. This requires paying attention to privacy settings before clicking "publish," because technically they are still messages within the same posting infrastructure.
Local, initial, and federated chronologies
Another element that differentiates Mastodon from X is the way they organize what you see on screenInstead of a single timeline configured by opaque algorithms, here there are several timelines that the user can alternate according to their interests.
On the one hand, there is the start timelineIt groups posts from the accounts you follow, much like the classic Twitter timeline. There isn't such an aggressive algorithm pushing recommended content, which can make the experience more predictable, though also less "addictive."
Then there is the local chronologyThis view displays messages from everyone posting on your server, as long as the posts are public. It functions almost like a community bulletin board, useful for discovering new accounts within your own node.
Por Ăşltimo, la federated chronology It broadens the scope even further: it includes public posts from users followed by someone on your server, even if they're hosted on other instances. It's a kind of expanded Fediverse radar that lets you see what's happening beyond your immediate community.
For those who find these flows too intense, Mastodon incorporates options such as the “slow mode”, which hides continuous updates behind a click, so the user decides when to refresh the content instead of receiving a constant stream of new posts.
Moderation, rules and security in a decentralized system
One of the aspects that most worries those who change platforms is How is security and harassment managed?At Mastodon, the key is that there is no single policy, but rather each server defines its own rules and moderation tools, within minimum requirements set by the software and usage licenses.
In many instances, especially those hosted in Europe or driven by social groups, they are explicitly prohibited. racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic content or content that incites violenceOrganized harassment, doxing (publishing someone's personal information without permission), and the deliberate spread of misinformation are also usually prohibited.
It is also requested that Explicit or especially violent sexual content is marked as sensitiveso that it remains hidden behind a warning and doesn't appear without context in other users' timelines. Attribution is also important: many platforms require clearly citing the source of external content and labeling the use of AI-generated images.
This distributed architecture allows that, if one server becomes too permissive with hate speech or spam, others can take action. block it or limit federation with itThis is a very different approach from a centralized network, where everything depends on the policies of a single company. Here, the "health" of the network is sustained through collective decisions made by each community.
As for whether Mastodon is “more secure” than Twitter/X, the answer is nuanced: The experience depends heavily on which instance you choose and how you use the blocking, muting, and filtering tools.The search, for example, works primarily through hashtags, which reduces the possibility of someone tracking specific keywords to harass users, unless they tag their posts to make them more visible.
Open source, licenses and controversies
Beyond the social aspect, Mastodon has a technical dimension that makes it especially attractive to the developer community: Its software is open sourceAnyone can download it, install it on their own server and modify it, always respecting the terms of the license and correctly attributing the authorship of the original project.
This model has generated both collaboration and conflict. One of the most notorious cases was that of Social TruthThe network of former US President Donald Trump used Mastodon code without initially acknowledging it or complying with the license terms. The community reacted strongly, emphasizing that open source code does not imply free rein to appropriate it without mentioning its origin.
Being open source, the code also makes it easier to alternative clients and third-party tools may appear These features expand the platform's capabilities, a fact that has become increasingly evident following the growing interest in Fediverse. In Europe, where numerous public and academic projects related to open digital infrastructures exist, this approach has aligned well with initiatives focused on transparency and reuse.
For end users, Mastodon being open source means, above all, that It does not depend exclusively on a single company to evolveThe community can propose changes, correct errors, and adapt the service to new regulations, which is especially important in the European regulatory environment, marked by laws such as the GDPR or the Digital Services Act.
Create an account on Mastodon and choose a server
The registration process has become simpler over time. From the official website, the usual procedure is Click on “Create account” and access a list of recommended serversThat list can be filtered by criteria such as region, language, theme, or speed of approval for new members.
For those who don't want to complicate things too much, Mastodon offers general instances, such as mastodon.socialThese serve as an entry point without requiring in-depth knowledge of the federation's workings. However, many people in Spain and other European countries opt for smaller, more specialized servers managed by local communities, media outlets, or associations.
Once you've chosen a server, registration is quite similar to that of any social network: you choose a username, provide an email address, and, if applicable, wait for administrator approval if the instance isn't automatically accessed. After that step, you can start following accounts, posting, and configuring your preferences.
For those arriving from X, this may be useful. rely on third-party tools that cross-reference data To find contacts already on Mastodon, there are services that can check who you follow on Twitter/X and locate their equivalents on the Fediverse, saving time when rebuilding your social network.
In addition, Mastodon is considering the possibility of migrate your account to another instance in the futureThe process allows you to redirect followers and follow the same people from the new server, although not all old content is always transferred. In any case, digital identity is less rigid than on centralized platforms.
Privacy, visibility, and account verification
Privacy management at Mastodon is more granular than many users expect. Each post can be set to public, unlisted, followers only, or visible only to the mentioned accounts.This allows you to adjust the scope of each message without having to change the overall profile settings.
Unlisted publications are an interesting middle ground: They remain accessible if the link is shared or if someone already follows you.However, they don't appear in discovery views or some searches, which reduces their exposure. This is a useful option for more personal comments or for preventing certain conversations from unintentionally going viral.
Regarding verification, Mastodon It does not have a global system of blue badges managed from a central authority.Some servers manually verify the identity of their users, but the most common method is to use "self-verification" through links between external profiles.
One of the most commonly used mechanisms is to add to the biography links with the attribute rel="me" to pages you control (your professional website, your blog, your profile on another network), so that it can be confirmed that you manage both spaces. Some instances also allow you to add emojis or icons next to your name to simulate a verification mark, but without official value or recognition beyond aesthetics.
This approach, while less flashy than X's verification-based payment system, aligns with the idea of do not turn identity into a commercial productFor environments like Europe, where any model based on personal data and reputation monetization is closely monitored, it is an alternative that generates less friction.
Tools and apps to access Mastodon
The most direct way to get into Mastodon is through their official web clientaccessible from any browser. However, the ecosystem of mobile and desktop apps has grown considerably, partly thanks to the software being open source and the increasing popularity of the Fediverse.
On iOS, one of the most talked-about apps in recent years is MammothA free client that focuses on making life easier for new users. Among its features, the ability to create accounts in an almost guided way and suggest relevant profiles to follow from the very first moment, reducing the feeling of "desert" that some have when landing in Mastodon.
There are also other clients such as IvoryIn addition to the official Mastodon mobile app, each offers variations in interface, keyboard shortcuts, column layouts, and timeline grouping, allowing you to adapt the experience to different usage patterns, whether in remote teams, professional environments, or personal settings.
Aside from the customers, they have become popular cross-publishing services These tools allow you to automatically send, or filter, the messages you post on X to your Mastodon account. Tools like Fiesta or specific crossposters for the Fediverse make it easy to maintain a presence on both platforms simultaneously, which is useful for those who don't want to abruptly abandon Musk's network.
Similarly, there are utilities that help to Locate your Twitter/X contacts within Mastodonscanning bios in search of Fediverse identifiers. Many people have turned to these services to rebuild their social networks without having to manually go user by user.
Mastodon versus Twitter/X and other alternatives
The big question for many users and companies is whether Mastodon can to truly replace Twitter/X as a global public squareToday, the answer is clear: in terms of size, it's not competitive. Mastodon's user base remains significantly smaller, with fewer than one million monthly active users at certain times and around ten million registered accounts, compared to X's more than one hundred million daily active users.
However, Their proposal is not simply to copy Twitter with fewer peopleBeing smaller and segmented by communities, Mastodon can foster more direct conversations and very well-defined niches. For certain topics—such as role-playing games, scientific research, free culture, or local European collectives—it's easier to find spaces where the quality of the conversation takes precedence over the noise.
Compared to other alternatives that emerged after the transformation of Twitteras the Bluesky or ThreadsMastodon has the advantage of having been in operation longer and being based on open standards like ActivityPub. Bluesky, for example, has decided to promote its own protocol, which has aroused some skepticism in part of the free software community, who fear a new form of centralization under another brand.
In any case, Mastodon has established itself as the most visible reference in the universe of decentralized networksNot everyone needs it to completely replace X: for many European users, combining both platforms, or using Mastodon as a specialized community space, is already enough to justify the switch.
Interest for the European ecosystem and for technological projects
In Europe, where digital regulation is advancing rapidly, Mastodon has been viewed by some public and private actors as a tool to regain control over online social infrastructureUniversities, media outlets, cultural institutions and even some administrations have experimented with their own instances, hosting their servers within the European legal framework.
For startups and technology teams, especially those operating remotely, Mastodon offers a space to build community without being entirely dependent on the decisions of a single platform.The option to host your own server allows you to align moderation and data protection standards with the organization's internal policies and current European Union regulations.
For founders and technical teams in the region, the network also functions as a living laboratory for testing decentralized modelsIntegrations with other Fediverse services and solutions based on open protocols make it a particularly attractive environment for those working in free software, privacy, cybersecurity, or public digital services.
Beyond the technical layer, Mastodon makes it easier for projects to Cultivate niche audiences, with less noise and more control about the type of content that is viewed and promoted. In a context where organic reach on centralized networks is increasingly opaque and dependent on advertising, this relative transparency about how the timeline works is increasingly valued.
For Latin America and other regions, the appeal is similar: to insulate the conversation from abrupt changes in the policies of global platforms and explore more resilient forms of online communityEurope, with its emphasis on open standards and demanding regulations, has become one of the territories where these alternatives are observed with the greatest attention.
The picture that Mastodon paints today is that of a smaller, decentralized social network built on Open source software, interconnected instances, and communities that set their own rulesIt hasn't yet replaced X as the major global platform, but it has become a haven for those seeking more thoughtful conversations, greater control over their data, and a model less dependent on advertising and a single owner. For users, technology projects, and European institutions, it has become a key player in the debate about what kind of social networks we want in the medium term.
