Twitter alternative Mastodon gains maximum traction after Musk takeover

As Elon Musk takes over Twitter and begins massive changes, those who do not like his ideology are migrating to other platforms and Mastodon, a decentralised open-source alternative to Twitter, is gaining maximum traction.

"Hey, so, we've hit 1,028,362 monthly active users across the network today. 1,124 new Mastodon servers since Oct 27, and 489,003 new users. That's pretty cool," Eugen Rochko, Founder and CEO of Mastodon, said in a post on the platform.

According to him, the platform had 381,113 active users on October 28.

About 10 days later, Rochko informed that his network had hit more than 1 million active users -- 1,124 new servers and 489,003 new users as Musk took over Twitter.

According to ZDNet, Mastodon servers have been straining under the stress since then.

"With users reporting long wait times before an email confirmation arrives and similarly long delays in getting those accounts properly set up," the report noted.

On Mastodon, tweets are called posts (they used to be called toots earlier). If you share someone else's post, you've reblogged or boosted it. There are hashtags and lists as well.

Mastodon handle includes your full identity, complete with the server name, like @ramkrishna@ mastodon.social.

"If you want a checkmark alongside your name to prove that you are who you say you are, you don't have to pay anyone; instead, you add a link to a website that's under your control, and that serves as verification. Oh, and you can edit your posts, again without having to pay for the privilege," said the report.

Meanwhile, Twitter has told advertisers that its daily user growth has hit an "all-time high" after Musk's takeover.

"Twitter is going super-fast. I hope it continues," posted Musk.

--IANS

na/vd