Recently, a lot of people have been asking these questions – what is Mastodon (other than the name for some extinct elephant species, that is) and why are the tweeple moving to Mastodon from Twitter? Mastodon is an open-source decentralised social network which is not controlled by any single entity. It claims to be “by the people for the people” and offers people the chance to take back control of their social media.
The Twitter handle of Supreme Court lawyer and activist Sanjay Hegde was suspended on flimsy grounds. In response, people demanded that his account be restored with the #RestoreSanjayUvacha hashtag.
As an open-source network Mastodon is not controlled by any one entity in the way that Twitter and Facebook are. Mastodon depends solely on crowdfunding from Patreon, making it less vulnerable to manipulation by corporations and government entities.
Twitter put out a series of tweets clarifying their position: We have one set of Twitter Rules, and we enforce our policies judiciously and impartially for all individuals — regardless of their belief or background, they clarified.
There were many indignant comments in response to Twitter's statement. Users were of the view that Twitter is selective in what it chooses to take down who it chooses to block. Recently, Twitter has been seen to stifle anti-establishment voices while giving free reign to hate speech and to trolls who game the system to trend hateful hashtags. Many Twitter users think that there is a marked double standard in the fact that Twitter would permit flagrant hate speech in the form of hashtags such as “#मुस्लिमो_का_संपूर्ण_बहिष्कार, (total boycott of Muslims) while suspending the handles of ant-establishment voices such as Hegde's.
Twitter users feel that Twitter isn’t as tough on misogynistic and communal content as it should be; but chooses to muzzle other voices – often those of human rights workers and activists – under the guise of upholding community guidelines.
People have pointed out instances of Twitter being selective in the sort of posts it takes down and the handles it chooses to block.
Many of the tweeple, disillusioned with what they see as Twitter's unfair approach, have chosen to move to Mastodon.
People were soon tweeting their support for Mastodon with #TootNotTweet.
Several users tweeted about their positive experiences with Mastodon. However, others felt that such prompt and targeted action may not be possible when Mastodon gathers larger user numbers.
The lack of encryption and problems with security are issues that Mastodon has yet to address point out some tweeple.
Users have said that Mastodon is not very easy to use. There are other issues as well. However, many of the tweeple have moved there en masse.
Promoting #Mastodon in Twitter – the irony of this was not lost on the Tweeple. The tweeple wondered what Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey had to say about it all.
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