A Beginner’s Guide to Decentralized Social Media - Mastodon

If you're looking for a social media platform that prioritizes privacy, community, and control over your data, you may have heard of Mastodon. Unlike Twitter (now X), YouTube or Facebook, Mastodon is decentralized, meaning it's not owned by a single company. Instead, it's made up of independent servers that connect with each other.

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is a social networking platform designed to offer an alternative to mainstream services like X, Bluesky or Threads. It allows users to post short messages, follow others, and engage in discussions without being subjected to trackers, intrusive ads or algorithm-driven feeds.

Instead of relying on a single company to dictate the rules, Mastodon is operated by independent communities, each with its own guidelines and moderation policies. This means that you can have more control over your own experience, from choosing a server that aligns with your values to curating your own timeline free from corporate influence.

The platform encourages open and meaningful interactions, putting user autonomy at the forefront of social networking.

How to Get Started

1. Choose an Instance

Mastodon has many different servers (also called instances) tailored to different interests, regions, or moderation styles. Popular options include:

• mastodon.social – The largest general-purpose instance, run by the Mastodon team.
• infosec.exchange – A instance for info/cyber security-minded people.
• mstdn.social – A general-purpose instance hosted in Europe by Stux.

Besides the popular instances you can search if your region or community has a own instance but don't worry too much about picking the "perfect" instance—you can follow users from any instance and even migrate later.

2. Create your Account

Once you’ve chosen an instance, sign up with your email, username, and password. After verifying your email, you can customize your profile with a bio, name, profile picture, and header image.

You can even verify your account for free as it uses open standards. More about that here.

3. Explore the Interface

Mastodon’s layout includes:

• Home Timeline – Shows the posts from people you follow.
• Local Timeline – Shows the posts from everyone on your instance.
• Federated Timeline – Shows the posts from the part of the Fediverse your instance knows about.
• Notifications – Mentions, follows, boosts (which are retweets), and favorites (which are likes).
• Private mentions – Shows posts which are only visible to you and whose who are mentioned (also the author if the post is from someone else).

Key Features of Mastodon

• Toots – Instead of tweets, you post "toots" (up to 500 characters by default, but some instances allow more). Toots can also have different visibility, like public, followers and only mentions.
• Boosts & Favorites – Boosting shares a toot with your followers, while favoriting simply shows appreciation.
• Content Warnings (shortened to CW) – Allows users to hide sensitive or long content behind a "read more" button.
• Hashtags – Help you discover new content and engage in trending discussions.
• Lists & Filters – Customize your feed by organizing users into lists or filtering out unwanted topics.

Why use Mastodon?

Mastodon offers more privacy and control than traditional social media, as it generally doesn’t track you or sell your data. You can choose an instance with rules and moderation that fit your values, giving you a customizable experience. It’s community-driven, open-source, and supported by donations, not advertisements. Additionally, Mastodon’s chronological feed ensures you see content in real-time, free from algorithmic manipulation.

Final Thoughts

Mastodon offers a refreshing alternative to mainstream social networks by prioritizing user autonomy, privacy, and community-driven moderation. While it may take some time to adjust to the decentralized nature, many users find it a more pleasant and meaningful social media experience.

Ready to try it? Find an instance and start exploring today! 🚀

If you want to hear more from me you can find me in the Fediverse at @gelbphoenix@social.gelbphoenix.de (Mastodon) or @gelbphoenix@gram.social (Pixelfed).