Mastodon is a microblogging service, just like Twitter. Registered users post concise messages that can be read by everyone. If one follows someone on the network, the messages are displayed in the individual timeline, as is the case on other social media platforms.
Mastodon however has the distinction of being decentralized. Unlike most other well-known platforms (be it Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest), Mastodon does not depend on a single provider, but is connected to many servers run by different organizations or people.
Different Mastodon servers have different orientations and sometimes different rules. Internet users choose the server that suits them best. But that doesn’t mean that communication is limited to people on that server. Indeed, all the servers are interconnected in Fediverse (network name). By indicating a pseudonym and a server, it is possible to connect to accounts on other instances and exchange information across Fediverse.
On the site joinmastodon.orgyou will find a overview of verified server instances. These are classified by region and by theme. In theory, you can also create your own Mastodon server. You then define your own rules and determine, for example, which content is allowed and what must be deleted. As the operator of a Mastodon server, you also have the ability to block other instances if you disagree with their content.
