{"id":21711,"date":"2022-11-17T14:50:50","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T14:50:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/?p=21711"},"modified":"2023-05-31T18:01:24","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T17:01:24","slug":"the-rise-of-mastodon-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/the-rise-of-mastodon-twitter","title":{"rendered":"The Rise Of Mastodon: What It Means For Brands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As Twitter\u2019s new owner, Elon Musk, continues to make changes to the network<\/strong> – including firing the ethical AI team<\/a>, firing thousands of moderators<\/a>, and making changes to the verification scheme that saw spoof brand accounts<\/a> cause headaches for marketers – many Twitter users have been experimenting with other networks including Mastodon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Twitter users are exploring sites like Discord, Tumblr and Cohost, Mastodon seems to be the go-to alternative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSocial networking that\u2019s not for sale.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the first message people see when they visit Mastodon\u2019s website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eugen Rochko founded Mastodon as a more democratic alternative to mainstream social networks. Its federated nature allows anyone to set up servers (instances) and create guidelines for their members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour home feed should be filled with what matters to you most, not what a corporation thinks you should see. Radically different social media, back in the hands of the people.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/joinmastodon.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mastodon has boomed in popularity since Elon Musk\u2019s Twitter takeover, reaching more than one million members<\/a> as of 11th November (up from 400,000 before 27th October). <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are more than 5,700 instances<\/a> on Mastodon, with over 4.5 million users (over 1.7 million active users in the past month. Some instances are large, like the flagship mastodon.social (180,000+) users, while others are smaller and serve specific communities like the LGBTQ+ community or special interests like sci-fi and fantasy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter \u2018migrants\u2019 are finding some key differences between the apps. For one thing, you need to choose an instance when signing up. Instances are a bit like choosing a Discord server, only you can follow people from other instances and see their posts in your home feed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has a very strong culture of expecting users to add content warnings on a wide variety of content (such as NHS waiting times and political discussions).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boosting (Mastodon\u2019s version of retweets) is very important as the site doesn\u2019t use algorithms to present content – you can just view your followers\u2019 posts or view a timeline of all posts in your instance as they are published. Boosting helps you find people in other instances who you may want to follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any instances that don\u2019t abide by the core community guidelines<\/a> aren\u2019t promoted by the site (meaning that people from other instances can\u2019t view content from that instance or interact with their users). Instances have been added to this list for spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories, harassment, inappropriate content, spam and hate speech, among other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people are now experimenting with what they can do on Mastodon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, it\u2019s worth keeping in mind that the original users of Mastodon, and many people who have joined since, were attracted to the site because they were looking to move away from large centralized networks with algorithms, addictive elements and promoted content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things to keep in mind:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Unless Mastodon makes major changes to the way the site operates, it\u2019s probably not worth brands experimenting on the platform, especially when there are other social networks where people are more likely to engage with brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter<\/a> continues to be in a state of flux. We\u2019re advising brands to pause paid advertising and any proactive engagement on the site. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But do keep replying to customer queries and comments, and monitor for any reputation issues (such as impersonation).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Twitter\u2019s new owner, Elon Musk, continues to make changes to the network – including firing the ethical AI team, firing thousands of moderators, and making changes to the verification scheme that saw spoof brand accounts cause headaches for marketers – many Twitter users have been experimenting with other networks including Mastodon. While Twitter users…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":21712,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sync_status":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[612],"tags":[],"series":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/arteum-ro-7H41oiADqqg-unsplash.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Genuine-Humans.jpg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/3abc34c3-ff60-4a78-b347-6119461b7ed1\/GENUINE-HUMANS","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/genuine-humans\/id1561811296","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.google.com\/feed\/aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVzb2NpYWxlbGVtZW50LmFnZW5jeS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Q?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwiQz-mM7dzvAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAQ","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/7jkfw0qeUlwrauhfy2pCGU","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/feed\/podcast","embedCode":"What is Mastodon?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Mastodon gives users 500 characters to use and allows image, video and audio uploads, as well as polls. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Should brands be getting involved?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Elon Musk taking control of Twitter was the last straw for many who felt like they already weren\u2019t in control of their online presence.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
What we\u2019re advising brands on Twitter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Rise Of Mastodon: What It Means For Brands<\/a><\/blockquote>