How Is Mastodon Different From Centralized Social Networks Like Twitter?

Updated

Mastodon is not a single social network you join; it is software that powers many independent websites that can talk to each other. That is the core difference from a centralized platform like Twitter, where one company runs one service that everyone uses. On Mastodon, you pick a server, but you can still follow and message people on other servers, similar to how a Gmail user can email someone on Outlook.

Centralized vs. federated vs. distributed

The Mastodon documentation frames this as a spectrum of centralization:

Model How it works Examples
Centralized A single central service that all people use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Federated Multiple services that any number of people can use, and that interoperate Email, XMPP, phone networks, physical mail
Distributed No central coordination at all BitTorrent, IPFS, Scuttlebutt

Mastodon sits in the federated category. Each Mastodon website can operate alone, like a traditional website: people sign up, post messages, upload pictures, and talk to each other. Unlike a traditional website, Mastodon sites can interoperate, letting their users communicate across servers.

What this means in practice

  • You are not locked into one provider. Because Mastodon is software that can power any website, the choice of service provider and its policies is a separate decision from using Mastodon itself.
  • Cross-server communication works by address. Just as you can send email from Gmail to Outlook, Fastmail, or Protonmail as long as you know the address, you can mention or message anyone on any Mastodon website using their address.
  • The network is bigger than Mastodon. Mastodon uses the open ActivityPub protocol to implement federation. Any software that also implements federation via ActivityPub can communicate with Mastodon seamlessly.

The fediverse, not just Mastodon

The fediverse ("federated universe") is the name for all websites that can communicate with each other over ActivityPub and the World Wide Web. That includes all Mastodon servers plus other implementations:

  • Pleroma — a modular microblogging engine
  • Pixelfed — federated image sharing, for media posts
  • Misskey — microblogging alongside a customizable dashboard
  • PeerTube — upload videos to channels
  • Plume — publish longer-form articles
  • And many more, including individual and personal websites

Because the fediverse has no single brand, you will more often hear "follow me on Mastodon" than "follow me on the fediverse," though the latter is technically more correct.

The takeaway

If you are used to Twitter, the mental shift is this: there is no single Mastodon company, app, or server that defines the network. There are many servers running the same software, and they interoperate through an open protocol. Your account lives on one server, but your reach is not limited to it.