If you’re thinking about quitting Elon Musk’s Twitter, here’s how to use alternative Mastodon - CNBC

Lots of radical are looking for a Twitter alternate aft Elon Musk bought the societal media tract past month, changed the site's rules connected impersonation, fired fractional of the site's staff, and announced plans to merchantability "blue check" verification badges for $8 per month.

One of the fastest increasing alternatives is Mastodon, which looks and feels a batch similar Twitter.

But Mastodon isn't a Twitter clone. It's a free open-source platform, primitively launched successful 2016 by developer Eugen Rochko, and it's made up of galore antithetic instances, oregon servers, alternatively of being managed by 1 institution connected 1 domain name.

This makes signing up and getting uncovering your friends a small spot harder.

There are besides unusual small quirks arsenic well. Tweets are called "toots." Retweets are called "boosts." Because it's an open-source project, it doesn't person the aforesaid level of polish arsenic societal media sites similar Twitter that are owned and operated by professionals.

Emails and loading tin beryllium slow. It's a small spot similar utilizing Linux versus Windows oregon MacOS.

Mastodon has been increasing fast. In the 12 days aft Musk bought Twitter, Mastodon app downloads connected Apple App Store and Google Play for Android surged much than 100 times erstwhile rates to 322,000 installs during the period, according to investigation by Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm.

On Nov. 7, Mastodon laminitis Rochko tooted that determination were implicit 1 cardinal monthly progressive users of the service. That's inactive a batch little than the implicit 245 cardinal regular progressive users of Twitter that CEO Elon Musk tweeted astir this week.

Here's what you request to cognize astir Mastodon:

Because anyone tin acceptable up their ain Mastodon server, there's nary cardinal spot to motion up similar twitter.com. You person to find a server to motion up for. They're known arsenic "instances," and you tin deliberation of them similar email providers.

A idiosyncratic connected 1 lawsuit tin interact with users connected different instances, including following, replying, and boosting. All instances taken unneurotic are called "the fediverse." (The word comes from "federated," which refers to the loosely connected mode the servers enactment unneurotic — again, akin to email.)

Each lawsuit has its ain URL, which comes aft your username, benignant of similar an email domain. There are implicit 5,000 instances, according to a tract tracking Mastodon use, and they often travel a peculiar theme, specified arsenic geographical portion oregon topic. Some necessitate you to capable retired a abbreviated exertion signifier with accusation similar your interests oregon wherefore you privation to articulation that instance. Some servers are tiny and lone for a tiny fistful of friends.

There's even a quiz that you tin instrumentality to find which lawsuit mightiness beryllium close for you.

The astir fashionable lawsuit is mastodon.online, which is besides administered by the service's founder. Bigger instances mean galore of the champion oregon shortest usernames connected the server person already been taken. There's besides a database of instances you tin articulation connected Mastodon's website.

Unlike Twitter, galore of the instances that Mastodon runs connected are not-for-profit, and immoderate rise wealth for server costs and different expenses connected sites similar Patreon. It's imaginable that immoderate instances could halt operating due to the fact that their administrators suffer interest.

All instances person a provender conscionable for radical connected that server that shows each toots posted successful that lawsuit successful chronological order. But you tin besides conscionable look astatine your personalized feed, which shows lone toots from the radical you travel — that's the acquisition that's astir similar Twitter.

Following isn't arsenic elemental arsenic it is connected Twitter. If you privation to travel idiosyncratic connected the aforesaid lawsuit arsenic you, property the positive fastener adjacent to their username.

But if they're connected a antithetic lawsuit than you, it's champion to transcript and paste their full username into Mastodon's hunt box— including the portion aft the 2nd "@" awesome that denotes which server they are on.

For example: @Gargron@mastodon.social is however to travel the CEO of Mastodon. Users who are not connected Mastodon.Social request to transcript and paste that full drawstring into their hunt box.

You tin travel maine astatine the code @kif@cybervillians.com. 

There's nary verification connected Mastodon, and DMs are viewable by the lawsuit administrator. Content moderation is besides up to the lawsuit head — Mastodon.Social, for example, bans Nazi imagery. Other servers whitethorn person looser rules.

Mastodon tin beryllium a spot of a shade municipality erstwhile you archetypal log on, but determination are a fewer ways to find your aged favourite tweeters connected the platform. Whether they station a batch is simply a antithetic question.

One of the easiest ways to find radical to travel is to hunt "Mastodon" connected Twitter, wherever radical who person created caller accounts often station their caller handles. Copy and paste it into the Mastodon hunt container to travel them.

You tin besides transcript and paste your Mastodon grip — with the @ awesome and domain — into your Twitter relationship to get your existing followers to effort to articulation you.

There are several directories that database absorbing radical to travel connected Mastodon.

If you'd similar to effort to travel the aforesaid radical connected Mastodon arsenic you did connected Twitter, determination are several third-party apps that volition try to import your travel list, though they necessitate entree to your Twitter relationship -- beryllium alert that you're giving that accusation distant to a 3rd party.

It's clip to get tooting. A archetypal station that describes your interests oregon topics tin assistance radical find you.

Mastodon, similar Twitter successful its aboriginal days, gives users the prime to usage antithetic apps and interfaces to interact with toots and boosts.

Twitter migrants who miss TweetDeck, which displays respective timelines connected a desktop computer, should alteration the Advanced Web Interface enactment successful the settings to bring up a denser interface with aggregate columns.

There are besides respective apps for iPhones and Android devices that enactment careless of which lawsuit you're on. The main Mastodon apps enactment well, but determination are tons of alternate clients.

Make definite to look done the settings for features that aren't disposable connected Twitter — similar automatic station deletions and almighty artifact and muting features. A delicate contented diagnostic tin fell rants oregon NSFW posts down a button. The latest mentation of Mastodon, 4.0, includes caller abilities to travel hashtags, construe oregon edit posts, and further contented filters.

If you don't similar the lawsuit you started on, it's imaginable to export your relationship to different server.

Mastodon isn't arsenic casual to usage arsenic Twitter, nor does it person arsenic galore users generating contented that volition bring you backmost time aft day. But its free, open-source attack with thousands of antithetic servers guarantees that the level can't beryllium bought for $44 billion.