Why Elon Musk’s Tweet Sent Mastodon Soaring
On January 28th, 2021, Elon Musk sent a tweet that sent shockwaves through the social media world. In his tweet, Musk expressed his dissatisfaction with Twitter and its handling of censorship, which he followed up with a suggestion for users to switch to Mastodon, a decentralized, open-source social network. Since then, Mastodon has seen an enormous influx of new users, leading many to ask why Elon Musk’s tweet was such a powerful catalyst for the platform’s growth. In this blog post, we’ll explore why Elon Musk’s tweet sent Mastodon soaring and why it resonated so strongly with people.
Who is Mastodon?
Mastodon is an open-source social networking platform that was created in 2016 by Eugen Rochko. It is an alternative to the popular Twitter microblogging service and is run on user-hosted servers around the world. The main difference between Mastodon and other social media platforms is that it operates on a decentralized network, meaning that users can set up their servers or join existing ones to host their content. This means that users have complete control over the content they share, who they follow, and who they interact with. While Mastodon was created as an alternative to Twitter, it has grown to become one of the most popular social networks with millions of active users.
What happened when Elon Musk tweeted about Mastodon?
On January 8th, 2021, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, sent out a tweet that changed the course of Mastodon. In his tweet, Musk said “I love Twitter” followed by “#Mastodon”. With this one tweet, the attention that Mastodon had been receiving before exploded.
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Within hours of Musk’s tweet, Mastodon was featured on the front page of Reddit, and millions of people had flocked to join the platform. This influx of new users pushed Mastodon from having around 3 million users to having more than 6 million. Many of these new users were drawn to the fact that Mastodon emphasizes user privacy and decentralization. This is in stark contrast to platforms such as Twitter, where the platform reserves the right to remove any content that it deems inappropriate.
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In addition to the sheer number of new users, Musk’s tweet also brought with it an avalanche of media attention. Overnight, news stories about Mastodon began to appear in publications around the world, and the platform was featured on several TV programs.
The success of Mastodon following Elon Musk’s tweet demonstrates the power of social media influencers. With just one tweet, Musk was able to bring millions of people to a platform that had previously been relatively unknown. It also shows how much can change in a short period in the online world. With Musk’s help, Mastodon has become a viable alternative to many other social media platforms.
How can you join Mastodon?
Mastodon is an open-source, decentralized social network that provides users with a powerful alternative to platforms like Twitter. Joining Mastodon is easy.
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First, head to the Mastodon website and register an account. Once your account is created, you can pick from a list of public instances or “hubs”. Each instance has its own unique set of rules, moderation, and content guidelines. After picking an instance that fits your needs, you can start exploring what Mastodon has to offer.
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Once your account is set up, you can start customizing it to your liking. You can choose a profile picture, write a bio, add friends, and post messages. Your profile page also includes a timeline of your posts and those of the people you follow. You can use hashtags to search for topics and conversations in your instance, as well as cross-post messages to other instances so that everyone can see them.
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Mastodon also provides several different privacy settings so you can control who can view your posts and interact with you. For example, you can restrict access to only certain users or even make your posts visible to everyone on the network.
Finally, there are tons of apps available for iOS and Android that allow you to access and manage your Mastodon account from your phone or tablet. Whether you’re looking for an alternative to Twitter or just want to explore new ways of connecting with people, Mastodon is a great option. So why not give it a try?
