What the hell is Mastodon? It’s what social media should be: a decentralized open protocol that anyone can connect to. Right now, it basically looks like a Twitter clone with no ads and a high concentration of techie early adopters. (update 2022: Yeah, this description still rings true!)
Twitter and Facebook are like AOL in the 90s: AOL offered email and a weird little sandbox of the “internet” in its heydey, but over time it was clear that “email” and “web pages” should be open concepts that anyone can access and participate in without a corporate gatekeeper.
The best part of Mastodon from my view is that it can continue to exist because users want it to exist. It doesn’t have to find a business model, it can just be a wonderful public service / open protocol.
I don’t know if Mastodon will be more than a flavor of the month. But I desperately want the idea of it to win.
So, what are you waiting for? Climb aboard!
