Why did Musk buy Twitter?
We can’t say for sure. Actually I doubt Musk can say for sure. It may be as simple as him being high on weed and thinking it would be really cool to mess with the Twitter people while attracting attention for his gallactic-sized ego. Jack Dorsey called his bluff and s*** got real after that, $44 billion later.
But that is hardly the whole story. At the same time, we saw Musk reveal himself as a world-class fascist more than happy to do the bidding of Xi (re: Taiwan), Putin (re: Ukraine) and MBS (because they have a lot of money.) In purchasing Twitter, we know that the Saudis put in billions, and it is very likely that most of the remaining funding that was attributable to “investment banks” is actually money laundered from Putin’s oligarchs and China.
And why did they buy in? Because Twitter has a quarter billion active users daily and can easily be manipulated to be a super-efficient conduit of propaganda and disinformation
What to do about it?
Twitter needs to be destroyed and fortunately Musk is doing a good job of that. But it won’t disappear unless there is a real alternative that can attract a critical mass of users.
So, the best way to help Musk destroy Twitter is to help users get to a better place. Fortunately there is another place that might just work. It is called Mastodon.
The purpose of this diary is to provide a very simple introduction to Mastodon, mainly for nontechnical people who might be thinking about how to leave Twitter. I am not an expert. This information will only be introductory and high-level. But I hope it helps some people begin down a productive path.
What is Mastodon?
It is open source software. Anybody who has a server can choose to host an instance of Mastodon. And anybody who hosts an instance (aka community) can set their own rules for the users to live by.
The user experience is quite similar to Twitter. The basic transaction unit is a Toot (comparable to a Tweet). You can follow other users, even users that are in other Mastodon communities. However, the server owner may block any other sites or users. So it is important to understand the rules of your chosen community.
There is no advertising on Mastodon servers, so it begs the question how anybody can afford to host and moderate a large community.
How to Pick a Community
The first thing to understand is that you can change your mind later. The Mastodon code includes the ability for users to migrate from one server to another. Of course, if you choose a weak or poorly managed server, it may just disappear one day without the opportunity to migrate your account. So it is important to pick a community that seems to have some staying power.
Many communities are organized around particular interests, such as art, travel, food, or whatever. Other communities have broader interests. Some communities ban NSFW (not suitable for work) content. Others are more lenient.
In looking at specific communities, many of them have temporarily blocks on new accounts because users are scrambling to leave Twitter. This is a very hopeful sign, but it does make for some temporary confusion. Here are a few servers that might be worth considering:
Mstdn.social This is probably the biggest one and is run by the people who invented the Mastodon code. It is based in Germany.
Fosstodon.org A popular site that focuses on technology
Mastodon.Art What it sounds like
Mastodon.green Environmentally oriented
Mas.to A popular, general interest community.
Truth.Social ‘nuff said. Hopefully you can find a community with the good sense to block all content from that site and other nutjob sites.
Here’s a tool that can help you decide: instances.social
What Are Prominent Users Doing?
Frankly, not much yet. I don’t find prominent politicians like Obama, Biden, AOC, Bernie or Hillary on Mastodon yet. I expect this will change rapidly. Here are some early adopters. I hope commenters will chime in with others.
Jeff Teidrich @jefftiedrich@mastodon.social
George Takei @georgetakei@universeodon.com
Kathy Griffin @kathygriffin@mstdn.social
Greta Thunberg @gretathunberg@mastodon.nu
Neil Gaiman @neilhimself@mastodon.social
Robert Reich @rbreich@masto.ai
Marc Elias @marcelias@mas.to
Kimberly Johnson @KimberleyJohnson@mastodon.lol
Paul Krugman @pkrugman@mastodon.online
Joaquin Castro @Joaquincastrotx@mastodon.social
Marcy Wheeler @emptywheel@mastodon.social