This is as opposed to the one central terms and conditions we see on big social media platforms. What makes federated servers attractive is that each server can set up its own rules and moderation policies. Mastodon servers communicate the same way and by using the computer protocol, ActivityPub. This is because of a protocol called a federated network. Say, for example, you are using Gmail and your friend is using Yahoo email handles, you will be able to send and receive emails back and forth despite the difference in the email handle. Some widely used email providers are Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook. The best way to answer this question is by drawing parallelism from emails. What Is a Federated Network? Screenshot from Simply Explained on YouTube ActivityPub is not responsible for forming any rules it is just a protocol that determines how users can interact on a toot. Other than that, there aren’t many rules to follow. And if any of these rules do not match your post patterns, you can choose to set up your account under a different server. They get to determine the rules users should follow. However, that is not true for Mastodon.Īn administrator runs each server that administrator is also part of that server community. Previously, we pointed out that this is part of the centralization protocol in social media giants. The company then drafts a set of rules that users across the board should observe. This protocol contributes to the overall effectiveness of the federated server protocol.Īre There Rules per Mastodon Social Media Server?īig social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter operate under the banner of a single parent company. OStatus is a protocol used for distributed status updates that utilize a series of open protocols like Atom, Activity Streams, PubSubHubbub, Salmon, and the likes. Simply put, imagine using your Twitter account to follow other users on Instagram and see what they post on their feeds - that is if these platforms would implement ActivityPub.įurthermore, the reason why interactions across open-source platforms are possible is that they also implement what we call the OStatus standard. And any posts posted by those users will pop up on each other’s feed. That means a Mastodon social media user can follow a user from a platform that implements ActivityPub. Other applications are also using ActivityPub and because of this, many applications and platforms are now part of a big pool of massive social networks. You can interact with users and toots in two ways: (1) Local Timeline, which shows toots from users within your Instance and (2) Federated Timeline, which shows toots from users you follow regardless of the server you are on.ĪctivityPub determines how servers would handle user posts and how the interaction should take place. This is a protocol developers call “federated server” and activities are possible through a protocol they call “ActivityPub.” That means, if a friend uses server A, you can still follow their account, view their toots, and interact despite signing up using server B. However, the beauty of these Instances is that they can communicate across servers. If any of the rules do not match what you want to post, your best option is to look for a different server to register your account. Rules are set up by the server’s administrator, who also happens to be part of that community. Instances or the servers in Mastodon allow user interaction on the platform. Since Mastodon looks and feels the same as Twitter, it is easy to conclude that the basics are pretty much the same. How Users Interact on Mastodon Social Media Platform Well, below is the rundown of items to answer his question. Instead, any developer or anyone who knows how to code can copy Mastodon’s code and create their own server (often referred to as Instances).Īll the talks about servers and we haven’t even touched on the basics of how Mastodon works. However, it is different from Twitter because Mastodon as social media is not owned by one company. You can follow other users using Mastodon and even boost (or retweet) their toots. Other than that, the user’s interface, environment, and the way you get to see toots from other users are pretty much the same as in Twitter. On Twitter, you can send a tweet containing a maximum of 280 characters you can send up to 500 characters Toot in Mastodon. For example, a tweet is to Twitter as toot is to Mastodon. Mastodon is no-brainer if you’re already familiar with Twitter, as it resembles it in many respects. On the platform, it resembles the environment of Tweetdeck. It is an open-source platform with a target to put social media back in the hands of users. Mastodon is a new social media platform launched in August 2016.
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