Berlin, Dusseldorf There is always hype about new platforms – some grow to global size, such as Instagram and Tiktok, some disappear from the public eye again after the initial interest, such as Clubhouse and Diaspora.
The micro-blogging service Mastodon, invented by the German software developer Eugen Rochko, is currently causing a lot of discussion. Since Twitter’s takeover by Tesla boss Elon Musk on October 27, the number of active users has doubled to more than one million. In the meantime, Mastodon was no longer accepting new registrations due to high demand.
Proboscis instead of birds, horns instead of tweeting – is that a long-term trend? With Mastodon, experts see at least the potential to play a long-term role in the big social networks.
“There was a certain uneasiness about Twitter before, but now the change of ownership has caused many people to think about whether this is still the right place for them,” says social media researcher Jan-Hinrik Schmidt. With Mastodon there is now a suitable alternative.
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The two short message services Twitter and Mastodon are similar in how they work. However, the latter is based on a decentralized and open-source system, and when registering you have to decide on a server – a so-called instance or home.
Volunteer admins set the rules
The rules there are set by the operators, often volunteer administrators. One of them is Julian Laubstein: the Bochum web developer founded the ruhr.social instance with two friends in 2017. He describes his motivation as follows: “I want to contribute to a large, public infrastructure that is completely non-profit and not controlled by a company.”
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In this part of the digital sphere, Laubstein and his two comrades-in-arms bear the responsibility. They make sure the technology is running and intervene when users complain about content. For example, they do not accept radical right-wing statements, nor do they accept transphobic or homophobic content.
If you don’t agree with this, you can look for another instance in “Fediverse” – as the enthusiasts call the Mastodon world. Laubstein compares it to a nightlife district: “Brawls are okay in one pub, but not in another. One has loud music, the other quiet.”
The crucial question: Is there a suction?
This principle is well received. On Twitter, numerous users add a link to Mastodon to their biography. And, for example, lists of scientists from various disciplines who are active there are drawn up.
“The crucial thing that we will observe in the next few weeks: Will the many individual decisions to go to Mastodon become an undertow?” says Schmidt, who researches digital media and political communication at the Hans Bredow Institute in Hamburg. It’s the network effect like on Facebook and Twitter: the benefit grows with every participant.
In any case, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) has noticed massive growth on Mastodon – measured in terms of the number of instances and users. In this week alone, the Federal Ministry of Construction and the Federal Ministry of Economics have registered.
Well-known and high-reach players play a decisive role in the success or failure of social networks. In the case of Mastodon, it is primarily personalities such as the satirist Jan Böhmermann or the federal government and authorities who have bundled their many addresses on the instance social.bund.de. The number of Böhmermann followers, at 92,000, is nowhere near the 2.7 million who follow him on Twitter.
The infrastructure is financed by donors
In order for Mastodon to be successful in the long term, the infrastructure must grow with it: the more users are online, the more servers are required. Since the network is organized in a decentralized manner, the commitment of private users and organizations is required, whether with donations or technology.
Laubstein’s employer, the software developer 9Elements, is currently financing the server for the instance ruhr.social. It costs up to $200 a month. “We are considering founding an association,” says the IT professional. Then you could democratically decide on topics such as technology and moderation – and also accept donations more easily.
Mastodon gGmbH, which develops the software, is also dependent on support: it deliberately avoids advertising and finances itself with donations. Starting from 1.50 euros per month for a basic membership up to a gold sponsorship of 214.50 euros per month, which is currently sold out.
It is unclear how much the non-profit company will ultimately have at its disposal. The budget is likely to be far smaller than Twitter’s. The US service posted advertising revenue of nearly $1.1 billion in the second quarter. The turnover was fed almost exclusively from advertising, similar to the Facebook owner Meta.
Another important point for the future is the moderation of content. Because: If the growth continues as in the past few weeks, Mastodon should soon fall under the Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG). This comes into effect from two million registered users and is intended to facilitate law enforcement on the Internet, especially in the case of illegal hate speech.
“There is still work to be done on one or the other large authority,” says BfDI spokesman Christof Stein. According to Schmidt, the control in the small user groups has worked well so far: “If more people come, there may also be more trolls – then the question of moderation arises more than before.”
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