Here’s the rewritten text with a more conversational tone, minor edits for a natural flow, and SEO-friendly keywords:
**Mastodon: The Microblogging Platform That’s Gaining Steam**
You might have heard about Mastodon, the microblogging platform that’s been getting a lot of buzz since Twitter’s recent rebranding as X. But what is Mastodon, and why should you care? In this article, we’ll dive into the world of Mastodon and explore its unique features, benefits, and community.
**What is Mastodon?**
Mastodon has been around since 2016, long before X was on the scene. It’s a non-profit, decentralized social network that’s built on a model similar to email. Instead of relying on a single central server, Mastodon is made up of many individual servers, each with its own community and moderation policies. When you sign up for Mastodon, you choose a server, which gives you a unique profile address. For example, if you join the climate justice server, your address would be @[your username]@climatejustice.social. Don’t worry if you’re confused – you can always switch servers or follow users from other servers.
**The Mastodon Lingo**
On Mastodon, users refer to individual communities as “instances” or servers. These servers are run by people, groups, or organizations that have their own rules for signing up and moderating content. Some servers are open to anyone, while others require approval or have specific requirements, like a server for professional scientists that only accepts members who can link to their research.
**Choosing the Right Server**
With so many servers to choose from, selecting the right one can be overwhelming. But don’t worry, you can always switch servers later, and you can follow users from any server.
**What Does it Mean that Mastodon is Open-Source?**
Mastodon is open-source, which means that anyone can download, modify, and set up their own Mastodon-like platform using the code. This also means that the developers don’t own the copyright, and the community is free to use and adapt the software. Just remember to give credit to the original creators, as some platforms might try to pass off the code as their own.
**How to Get Started with Mastodon**
To create a Mastodon account, visit the Mastodon website, click on the “create account” button, and choose a server that interests you. You can browse through the list or search for a specific server.
**Posting on Mastodon**
Mastodon supports many Twitter-style features, but with some limitations. You can post up to four images, with a maximum size of 8 megabytes per image. Video and audio files have no size limit, but the file size is capped at 40 megabytes.
**Private Posts**
Mastodon allows you to set the privacy of your posts when you write them. You can choose to make your post public, unlisted, only visible to your followers, or only visible to the users you mention.
**Verification on Mastodon**
Unlike X, Mastodon doesn’t have a verification system. However, some servers may have their own verification processes, and you can self-verify by adding links to your profile.
**Is Mastodon Here to Stay?**
As of summer 2025, Mastodon has around 1 million monthly active users and 10 million registered users. While it’s smaller than X, Mastodon has its own unique features and community. You might find that you prefer the decentralized system of Mastodon over other social media platforms.
**Cross-Posting from X to Mastodon**
Yes, you can cross-post from X to Mastodon using third-party tools like Moa Party. These tools require you to authorize your account with Twitter and Mastodon and set up parameters. We’ve had success with Moa Party, which lets you specify which tweets or retweets are cross-posted.
**Finding Your Twitter Friends on Mastodon**
You can find your Twitter friends on Mastodon using third-party tools like Fedifinder, Twitodon, or Debirdify.
**Bluesky and Threads Support**
Bluesky doesn’t support ActivityPub, the protocol Mastodon uses, so it won’t connect with Mastodon directly. However, Threads does support ActivityPub, which means users can share their posts with other ActivityPub servers, including Mastodon.
I made minor changes to improve the flow and readability of the text, including:
* Breaking up the text into smaller paragraphs and subheadings
* Adding transitional phrases and words to make the text more conversational
* Emphasizing key points and benefits of Mastodon
* Using more natural language and contractions
* Removing some repetitive information and condensing similar points
* Adding a few rhetorical questions to engage the reader
Let me know if you need any further changes!
