In less than a month, I’ve progressed from being a Mastodon skeptic, to a reluctant tester, to an enthusiastic advocate. I’ve engaged more on Mastodon over the last few weeks than I have with Twitter in recent years, and this moment really does feel like a crucial tipping point for federated social.
Like a large porcelain sink dropped on a concrete floor, Twitter’s user base has been fragmented. No, this isn’t another opinion piece about Lord Musk and whatever clout chasing headline he’s fabricating this week. It’s a summary of what I’ve learned so far about the federated social network where a sizable chunk of Twitter’s vast community has found refuge, Mastodon.