Just over two years ago, I left twitter and joined Mastodon and Bluesky. Recently Bluesky has seen a ton of traffic/growth, and has become more engaging… this said, both networks have benefits.

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is decentralized and open source. Being decentralized is a huge benefit (in my mind), but also makes it a little more difficult for people to get started.

Each Mastodon server is completely independent; having the ability to join the other servers to make one global network. You can either run your own server or join a server that interests you. You can also migrate your account from one server to another, so you can change as you feel.

For example, my account is currently on the Fosstodon server/node. I ended up here as it matches the interests of many of the people I interact with (specifically open source software).

What I love about Mastodon is it’s lack of algorithms/ads, complete control of my posts/timeline, filter options, and more.

By being decentralized, Mastodon (like Matrix) uses federation to connect to others. Examples of federalized communication include phone networks, email, snail mail, etc.

Centralized networks, like Twitter, Facebook, Signal, rely on all users connecting to a single service/company for communication.

As with everything, there are pros/cons. Personally, I’m a very big proponent of decentralized/federalized communication.

What is Bluesky?

Bluesky was started by Jack Dorsey (the former CEO and co-founder of Twitter). His hope was to create a decentralized social media platform.

Although Dorsey initially created Bluesky, to say he’s flip-flopped is an understatement. He’s since deleted his Bluesky account, left the company’s board, and after openly criticizing Elon Musk has since praised him and the now X platform.

Bluesky utilizes the open source AT protocol (https://atproto.com/) to provide a “decentralized” experience. This said, for all practical purposes, Bluesky is a single node of users on the bsky.app platform.

Are they as good as Twitter?

Remember, I left Twitter. Twitter had changed dramatically and was not fun anymore. My wife and I both received threats, harassment, and long gone were the days of Twitter being an enjoyable platform for social communication.

Mastodon and Bluesky are absolutely friendly… but there’s also a lot less people on the platforms. This said, although you certainly get less reach with your posts, the interaction quality is significantly better.

As LeVar Burton likes to day… but, you don’t have to take my word for it…

Come engage with us on Mastodon and Bluesky and see for yourself.

When you join, I’m available via:

• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fred.tel
• Mastodon: https://fosstodon.org/@fredposner