Moving to Mastodon

I set up a Mastodon account towards the tail-end of last year when my former favourite social media platform became a billionaires personal dumpster fire. At the time, I set the account up more as a backup plan, and it just sat there.

One of the main reasons I didn't use it that much was that I hadn't quite figured out what Mastodon was for me (I still haven't, but I'm past the 'what is this thing!' stage... I think). Mastodon is also different enough from Twitter that I felt a sort of uncanny-ness or dissonance each time I used it. My problem was that I was trying to use it as an exact, slot-in replacement for Twitter – and it isn't that for many reasons, most of them positive. Since then, I've spent time lurking, exploring and getting used to Mastodon and the wider fediverse. I'm taking the time to build the network of people I follow. It's refreshing.

Making Mastodon even more compelling to me is the fantastic client apps have come to the platform(s). My personal favourite is Ivory from Tapbots. I used their, now defunct, Tweetbot as my default twitter client for years and Ivory is its spiritual successor. Even in it's current state – with some functionality still in development – it's a joy to use. It feels like Tweetbot, but at the same time it feels like Mastodon. I can't recommend it (or supporting developers like Tapbots) enough.

I'm sad to leave Twitter (my account is still there, but I don't intend to post to it again) as it's been genuinely valuable to me for over a decade. It was one of the lifelines to the communities I value during the pandemic, and, before that it gave access to some awesome minds and advice. But I'm excited to continue to explore Mastodon, to find new people and communities and to see how this thing grows.