How To Open An Outpost In Social Media Exile - Tech Policy Press (article about Mastodon)

[BootinUp]

(Esteban Moro Posted: Almost 180k new users joined #Mastodon yesterday, a new record. This third #twitterMigration wave happened after Musk's Twitter 2.0 ultimatum to #Twitter workers. Each wave is stronger than the previous one. Here is my updated plot showing the three consecutive waves) Esteban Moro Posted: Almost 180k new users joined #Mastodon yesterday

How To Open An Outpost In Social Media Exile - Tech Policy Press (article about Mastodon)

The primary software in this alternate universe — which largely replicates the experience of being on Twitter — is called Mastodon. However, Mastodon is not a replacement for Twitter. In many ways, its creators and community want to build an anti-Twitter, or at least a billionaire-proof Twitter. I created an account on the Mastodon project’s own server when it first appeared in 2016, and found it curious, if a little befuddling. I foolishly allowed myself to get worked up into a tizzy about its DM feature not being encrypted. My original account on mastodon.social, which has since become known as the Big Instance, gathered dust. Twitter’s grip on my attention seemed invincible.

Seeing the writing on the wall in the fall of 2022, the direction Elon Musk was taking Twitter clarified the cause for alarm. By granting amnesty to the most harmful voices while purposefully chasing benevolent voices away, his plan to destroy Twitter as we knew it became undeniable. He’s pivoting our once beloved doom-scrolling app to an all-out shitposting service. In response, I checked out the feeds over on the ‘fedi,’ and sure enough there was a bustle of activity. I noticed chatter about a dedicated, managed Mastodon hosting service that basically offered one-click setup. I may have been one of the last new customers to join before the operator had to suspend sign-ups to stabilize capacity and demand. Being a legacy blue-check person on the birdsite (as it’s referred to by folks on Mastodon), I was dismayed at the prospect of having to rent my own identity, and worse, be charged based on my following and reach. What if I took the $8 soon-to-be-levied by Elon Musk for subscriptions on Twitter and instead spent it on my own Mastodon server?

Thanks to the managed hosting service, I had my newly purchased domain pointing to an IP address and in a few clicks, it magically turned into a brand-new server on the Fediverse. I lasted a day as a single-user instance before opening it to other members. As such, I became what’s known as an Admin, or server/instance owner. Fascinatingly, once you find yourself in the position of running a server on the Fediverse, you are instantly ordained an autocratic ruler of your own domain. You set the rules. You enforce them, even if arbitrarily or capriciously. You basically become the Elon of your own Twitter. You can even hand out blue checks willy-nilly, because you get to control the custom emoji on your server. Weirdly enough, prominent Twitter users started to apply to join my Mastodon instance almost immediately.

It’s been a learning experience. Here are some FAQs and initial thoughts based on my first couple of weeks as an Admin.

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