Mastodon is a self-publishing format on the Internet, free open source software for building a non-profit decentralized social network. It allows everyone to place their server node on the network and combine separately managed user databases on different sites (called "instances"). Connected to a decentralized social network, these instances make it possible for direct communication between users of different instances with each other. Mastodon is part of Fediverse and allows its users to also interact with users of other open platforms, such as PeerTube and Friendica , supporting the same protocol [3] .
| Mastodon (social media network server) | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type of | Microblogging |
| Developer | Eugen Rochko , et. al |
| Written on | Ruby on Rails , JavaScript ( React.js , Redux ) |
| operating system | Unix , Linux , BSD |
| Interface languages | Albanian , Arabic , Armenian , Asturian , Basque , Bengali , Bulgarian , Catalan , Chinese , Corsican , Croatian , Czech , Danish , Dutch , English , Esperanto , Finnish , French , Galician , German , Greek , Galego , Hungarian , Ido , Italian , Indonesian , Latvian , Lithuanian , Norwegian , Occitan , Portuguese , Persian , Polish , Romanian , Russian , Serbian , Spanish , Slovak , Slovenian , Swedish , Ukrainian , Kazakh , Korean , Japanese , Malay , Tamil , Telugu , Thai , Hebrew , Turkish , Welsh |
| First edition | October 5, 2016 [1] |
| Hardware platform | Web , iOS , Android , Linux , BSD , Sailfish OS , macOS , Windows |
| Latest version | v2.8.2 (May 5, 2019 [2] ) |
| License | GNU Affero General Public License |
| Website | Template: Official URL |
Although outwardly mastodon microblogging is similar to Twitter or Weibo , unlike conventional software as a service, it has a decentralized architecture. Each user is a member of a separate, independently managed instance. Visible short messages to users here are called “toots,” which may have their own privacy settings. Despite the fact that they can vary from site to site, they usually involve direct messaging, messages only for subscribers, as well as publicly available messages that fall into the general feed. and ignored by her. On the Mastodon mascot, a brown or gray sixth mammoth is depicted, in some such drawings he has a smartphone or an Internet tablet in his paws.
Due to the lack of a central mastodon server, there can be how many sites, so many moderation rules, codes of conduct, service conditions. Mastodon users have a choice of instances with the rules of which they agree and instances with the rules of which they do not agree, unlike traditional social networks in which refusing to agree to the rules means refusing to use them.
Functionality and Features
Mastodon servers communicate with each other using the OStatus protocol, as well as the newer ActivityPub standard using its social media software. Thanks to this, any Mastodon user can communicate with users of any other servers in Fediverse that support such agreements.
Mastodon uses the TweetDeck user experience with its brief user messages visible to other users. Compared to Twitter, the maximum number of characters in one message is increased from 280 to 500, and messages in Mastodon are called not “tweets”, but “toots” [4] [5] .
Choosing a specific Mastodon server, it is also an “instance”, users join it, instead of having a single website or application. Like nodes on the network, instances are connected to each other, and each server has its own rules, can manage user rights in its own way, exchanging user messages with other instances. 545,000+ users are on the largest active copy in May 2019. Other copies are collected by users of interest, such as Internet memes , Minecfart or technology [5] .
Social media software has many specific characteristics for privacy. A set of privacy options is available for each individual message, and users can decide for themselves whether their message will be public or confidential. The first messages are visible in the global feed, it is also a timeline (timeline), while confidential messages are received only by the user's subscribers in their feeds. Marking messages as missing in the timelines or for specific users is also acceptable. Any user of the network is free to mark his account completely confidential. Optional "Caution Content!" for messages in the timeline warns about the need to click on the content to show the entire message. In Mastodon, this is used to publish hidden text for various warnings and inappropriate content (NSFW), although some accounts use this function to hide links and thoughts that others may not want to read [5] .
Mastodon collects messages in local and federated timelines. The local timeline shows messages from users of a single instance, while the federated timeline does this for all required Mastodon instances. The format of user names, similar to full email addresses, allows users to communicate with connected copies of each other [5] .
The differences in the approach to combating harassment, which is one of the biggest problems for Twitter users, were described by journalists in early 2017 [5] . Mastodon uses a collective moderation mechanism that allows you to limit or filter out unwanted types of content on each instance. The flagship copy of Mastodon.social, for example, prohibits content that is unauthorized in Germany or France, including Nazi symbols, denial and justification of the Holocaust. Some other instances do this too. Instances can also restrict or filter offensive content. According to Eugene Roshko, the founder of Mastodon, police functions are carried out more effectively in small closed communities, compared with the fight against toxic behavior of security services of large companies. In addition, users can block and report other administrators, as is done on Twitter [6] [5] .
The hundredth release of Mastodon, which coincided with the release of version 2.5 in September 2018, was marked by a redesign of the web interface [7] . Then, at the end of October, Mastodon 2.6 was released, in which it became possible to verify profiles, as well as preview image and video links [8] . In the January 2019 release of version 2.7, it became possible to search for several hashtags at a time, whereas previously it was possible to search for only one hashtag. Also in this version, moderation capabilities for server administrators and moderators were expanded, while special features, such as increased contrast for users with vision problems, were removed [9] . Then there was an opportunity for users to create and participate in surveys, and a new invitation-based registration system was added. This happened in the April 2019 issue of [10] . Finally, with the May 2019 release, blurring of explicit media content using the blurhash algorithm has been added [11] .
Technology
Mastodon is written as an open source web application for federated microblogging, in which everyone can enter their own code, and which everyone can optionally run on their server infrastructure, or join servers launched by other people on the federal network [12] [13 ] ] . Its server part is developed on Ruby on Rails and Node.js , and the client part is written on React.js and Redux . The service is compatible with the federal social network GNU social and other OStatus platforms, and also, starting from version 1.6, with those platforms that use the ActivityPub standard [14] .
Client applications (mobile, desktop or alternative web clients) that interact with the Mastodon API are available for a number of systems, including Android , iOS , SailfishOS and Windows Mobile [15] .
Distribution
In late March and early April 2017, the service began to expand, although the first release of Mastodon took place in October 2016 [16] . As The Verge wrote, the community was then small and did not attract Twitter users [5] . Global usage increased from 766,500 users in August 2017 to 1 million in December 2017 [17] . In November 2017, artists, writers and entrepreneurs such as Chuck Wendig, John Scalzi, Melanie Gillman and later John O'Nolan joined Mastodon. [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] Another surge in popularity occurred in March-April 2018, due to concerns about user privacy caused by the efforts of #deletefacebook [23] .
Mastodon has a large user base; in particular, as of February 2019, Japanese-speaking total users: more than 250,000 [24] [25] .
Mastodon, along with a number of other alternative social networking sites, saw a big surge in membership, receiving thousands of new members within a few hours compared to dozens a few days before, after Tumblr announced his intention to ban all confidential content from his site [26] [27] .
See also
- Comparison of software and protocols for distributed social networking
- Comparison of microblogging services
Notes
- ↑ Show HN: A new decentralized microblogging platform . Hacker News (October 6, 2016).
- ↑ Release v2.8.1 unspecified . Github . Circulation date May 6, 2019.
- ↑ Mastodon launches their ActivityPub support, and a new CR! . ActivityPub.rocks . Date of treatment January 20, 2019.
- ↑ Twitter just doubled the character limit for tweets to 280 . Theverge.com . Date of treatment December 3, 2018.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 A beginner's guide to Mastodon, the hot new open-source Twitter clone . The Verge (April 7, 2017). Date of treatment April 8, 2017.
- ↑ Learning from Twitter's mistakes (link not available) . Medium.com Date of treatment June 3, 2019. Archived December 10, 2018.
- ↑ Mastodon 2.5 released: Highlights from the changelog . Blog.joinmastodon.org . Date of treatment December 3, 2018.
- ↑ Mastodon 2.6 released: Highlights from the changelog . Blog.joinmastodon.org . Date of treatment December 3, 2018.
- ↑ Mastodon 2.7 released: Highlights from the changelog . Blog.joinmastodon.org . Date of treatment January 20, 2019.
- ↑ Mastodon 2.8 Highlights from the changelog . blog.joinmastodon.org . Date of treatment April 11, 2019.
- ↑ Improving support for adult content on Mastodon . blog.joinmastodon.org .
- ↑ Mastodon Instances - The Fediverse Network .
- ↑ Rochko, Eugen Welcome to Mastodon (unavailable link) . Hacker Noon (April 1, 2017). Date of treatment December 3, 2018. Archived on September 12, 2018.
- ↑ Release v1.6.0 unspecified . Github
- ↑ List of apps . Github
- ↑ Steele, Chandra What Is Mastodon and Will It Kill Twitter? . PCMag Australia (April 6, 2017).
- ↑ dynamic status of mastodon . Eliotberriott.com . (inaccessible link)
- ↑ Mastodon Users (bot), December 1, 2017, 4:00 PM . Mastodon.social . Date of treatment December 1, 2017.
- ↑ Bonnington, Christina . Mastodon is an open source, decentralized version of Twitter , The Daily Dot (November 22, 2016). Date of treatment January 11, 2017.
- ↑ Mastodon Is Like Twitter Without Nazis, So Why Are We Not Using It? , Motherboard (April 4, 2017).
- ↑ Tidey, Jimmy . What would Twitter be if it adopted Wikipedia's politics? , openDemocracy (January 6, 2017). Date of treatment January 11, 2017.
- ↑ Are You on Mastodon Yet? Social Network of Our Own - ProfHacker - Blogs - The Chronicle of Higher Education . Chronicle.com .
- ↑ POST, Brian Fung, WASHINGTON Facebook's poor care of customer data is driving users to social networks such as Mastodon . www.philly.com .
- ↑ Mastodon instances . instances.social .
- ↑ citation thing . Pastebin.com (February 1, 2019).
- ↑ User Count Bot . Mastodon.social . Date of treatment December 3, 2018.
- ↑ Tumblr banning adult content starting Dec. 17, citing porn concerns , CBS News (December 3, 2018). Date of treatment December 3, 2018.
Links
- - official Mastodon website
- Mastodon instances listing
- Mastodon instances dashboard