Friendship, comfort, donations, information, Dad jokes, disaster communications, finding and sharing work, videos of rescued dogs having baths, commerce, art, networking, political organising, trying to get Mark Hamill’s attention, access to any expertise on the planet, hourly photos of foxes and quokkas, breaking news, fighting trolls with sarcasm and facts, memes, mutual aid, gifs of cat DJs in space with pizza.
Twixodus
Whatever you use Twitter for, if you do, the past few weeks have been a shocker. First ‘Space Karen’ Elon Musk was going to be the new landlord of the social media platform, then he wasn’t, then suddenly he was.
His first few weeks have been inauspicious. He’s let the wrong people go, broken things that were working fine, trashed the trustworthiness of verification, and is allegedly violating EU privacy laws.
If Musk started as he means to go on, no wonder his takeover is causing a twixodus. Early adopter Stephen Fry has left, along with Whoopi Goldberg, Gigi Hadid, Balenciaga, and Playbill. General Motors, Pfizer, United Airlines, and others have suspended advertising. Musk warned that bankruptcy is possible, and engineers say the site could break. MIT found a million users left in Musk’s first week.
For many, it’s unrealistic to stop using Twitter. It’s a private service, but also a public good, a global town square, albeit one that could cease to exist overnight. So millions are hanging on as long as Twitter lasts but scrambling to line up an equivalent they can jump to if the worst happens.
The trouble is, there isn’t one.
What’s the alternative?
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is starting an app called Bluesky, but it’s still in development. The waiting list is 30,000 and counting, and it’s unclear whether it will be a true rival to Twitter. Dorsey says user data will be controlled by users themselves, free from government influence or commercialisation, which is promising. Until Bluesky is a reality, however, where are people going, and how are they finding it?
Twitter has a fraction of Facebook’s users, but Facebook doesn’t provide immediate connection to the huge range of people and information that Twitter does. Instagram is the same, but with more duck face selfies. Reddit’s model silos communications and topics. Tumblr is more of a blogging platform. Donald Trump’s Truth Social is Twitter-like, but with Nazis, and only available in the US.
Mastodon
This leaves decentralised platforms allowing people to follow each other as Twitter does. Of these, the one mopping up most of the twixodus is Mastodon. Founded in 2016, it links multiple servers, known as instances, in a loose network. If you don’t get on with one, you can join another. Mastodon has gained over a million new users since late October, more than doubling its user base, and also saw the return of around 600,000 users to moribund accounts.
I conducted a Twitter poll which found 90% of respondents turning to Mastodon. Other alternatives like CounterSocial (which is in fact a Mastodon instance, at a greater distance) and Tribel (which has moderation capacity issues and a founder with a complex history) have attracted only 4% of respondents between them. Others are waiting to see what Bluesky will offer, and/or hoping Twitter will settle down.
There are many benefits to Mastodon. Elements such as profile pages, timelines, hashtags, and follower/following counts are comfortingly familiar to Twitter users. It’s less rough and tumble, often described as friendly, supportive, positive, or relaxed. There are third-party apps which help you to use it, and websites which help you find those you were following on Twitter. There are no ads, and few extremists.
Mastodon issues
On the other hand, Mastodon is also often described as clunky, buggy, and complicated, less intuitive than Twitter, and challenging for the less technically-minded to set up and use. There are many reports of login problems and other issues, though these may well be a result of the explosion in new users. Instances are run by volunteers, and lack the capacity of Twitter.
Also problematic are the accessibility features offered by Twitter not being on Mastodon. The unavailability of direct and instant translation makes it an English-heavy community, and disabled users complain that it doesn’t work as well for them. Many disabled and immuno-compromised Twitter users rely on it for social and emotional connection and support, so Mastodon may have even less equivalence for them than for other users.
High-profile Twitter and TikTok user Tan Smith, @Supertanskiii, whose sweary, angry, and amusing political videos often start with a “dystopia warning”, has not got on at all well with Mastodon. After complaining of login problems, calling it a “hellsite”, and barely even using it, she was then suspended due to trolls falsely reporting her for posting private information and links to child pornography. (Reader, she did not).
The suspension happened without any checking of the truth of the reports. Again, Mastodon lacks the capacity of Twitter for moderation, safety and verification. Although, to be fair, Twitter now has diminished capacity for such protections too.
A different experience of Mastodon is being enjoyed by scientist and Bylines Network co-founder Mike Galsworthy, who tweeted a recommendation to “get onto Mastodon to hedge your bets” and is enjoying experimenting with a new platform. He tweeted, “Getting very settled into Mastodon here. Lots of friends arriving and lots of interesting chat, posts & potential in this new place. Getting the Bylines Network set up here too, which is fun.”
Even former Twitter employees have set up a Mastodon server (macaw.social). Stephen Fry is on Mastodon now. While Twitter users nervously wait to see what will become of their once-beloved town square, and whether Bluesky is the saviour they’re hoping for, it looks like Mastodon will continue to grow. Here’s hoping it, and the people keeping its engines running, will cope with the demand.
The most democratic place on Earth
Platforms like Twitter can, in the right hands, be the most democratic places on Earth. Where else can you discuss ‘bad hair our mums gave us’ with Dolly Parton’s sister, force a parliamentary debate by making a petition go viral, receive the support of strangers to help you cope with Brexit or Covid, and have Mark Hamill like a photo of your dog? Hi Mark, thank you Mark.
Twitter is dead. Long live Twitter.
Editor’s note:
The Bylines Network is on Mastodon, you can find our Mastodon accounts listed below:
- @BylinesNetwork@bylines.social
- @BylinesCymru@bylines.social
- @BylinesScotland@bylines.social
- @CentralBylines@bylines.social
- @BylinesEast@bylines.social
- @KentBylines@bylines.social
- @NEBylines@bylines.social
- @NWBylines@bylines.social
- @SussexBylines@bylines.social
- @WEBylines@bylines.social
- @YorksBylines@bylines.social
