We have to talk about the elephant in the room…a massive one that goes by the name of Mastodon.
With Elon Musk taking control of Twitter, many are now thinking about joining this platform instead.
What is Mastodon?
Mastodon is a decentralised open-source software for running self-hosted servers. This enables communities to communicate with one another. Users join a specific Mastodon server, rather than a single website or application.
“Think of Mastodon as like a class at school. You can have friends in any class or year group. You CHOOSE to spend time with them. But you are also in a class, so tend to know a fair bit about ALL your classmates through daily exposure.
This is why it is important to pick a server for yourself that:
1. Has a moderation policy you like
2. Seems to match your interests and posting style”
– John Bull
For more information, refer to John Bull’s Twitter thread about joining Mastodon.
Right. As a heavy tweeter/content creator who is now maintaining BOTH a Twitter and Mastodon presence, here is a short guide to what I have set up, how to do it and lessons I've learned, for others.
— John Bull (@garius) November 5, 2022
TLDR: It's been WAY less hassle than I expected thanks to tips from followers /1
No algorithm
The timeline shows you all posts written by people you follow. There’s no algorithm. The number of likes is only visible if you click through, so that you judge a post on what it says instead of how popular it is. Read Justin Pot’s Beginner’s Guide to Mastodon (strongly recommended).
Wondering which server to choose?
#EUinfluencer Paul Nemitz co-pioneered the creation of eupolicy.social, as an alternative to Twitter for the EU policy bubble. This is probably the server you should join, if you want to see familiar faces. Interestingly enough, Paul first mentioned the creation of the instance during ZN’s own #EUinfluencer event, back in September.
Glimmer of hope
Transport #EUinfluencer Jon Worth published a blog post about switching from Twitter to Mastodon. “It feels like Mastodon is what we, the users, can make of it. It is importantly not what some tech bro thinks he wants to do to us, with some ill-thought-out vision for the tool. And that, for now, gives me a glimmer of hope.”
Who is on it?
A lot of people already! Some examples:
- The EU Commission with 54K followers to date
- Health #EUinfluencer Katie Owens
- #EUinfluencer & EU Scream podcast creator James Kanter
- Number-1 #EUinfluencer Andrew Stroehlein
- Several EURACTIV and Politico Europe journalists have joined the platform
- As well as more and more MEPs…
If you’re on Mastodon, please connect with us:
Mastodon is easy, and the conversation is pleasant. Why not try it out and be #OneStepAhead?
At this point in time we don’t know how this will develop and what will happen with Twitter or Mastodon. Best to keep your options, your mind and your eyes open and to look for alternative strategies to reach your stakeholders with agile communication.
If you’d like to discuss your organisation’s social media presence and how to make sure you reach your audience in this changing landscape, don’t hesitate to contact us and book a session with our digital experts.
