Mastodon Ou Mastodon Para Social Midia - Domínio Metal

Mastodon Or Mastodon For Social Media And Sludge Metal Dominance

A few months ago I joined a (still) fledgling social media network called Mastodon. Mastodon is built on a framework similar to Twitter, but something entirely new and open source. Last week Mastodon (the band) released a new album. I'm trying to decide which Mastodon has more value.

Mastodon is free, open source and is funded through a Patreonaccount by apparently the most altruistic developer in history as he is "not interested in VC funding, monetizing, advertising, or anything of that sort." It's a decentralized version of Twitter that runs on many different server instances. These instances can be viewed on the federated (consolidated) timeline or individually (local).

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Mastodon Screenshot

There is a slight tinge of anarchy to the way Mastodon is set up, but at the same time there is a sense of forward thinking. For instance, there are no public or private accounts. You can mark your "toot" with a content warning and users can choose to view it. Each "toot" allows for up to 500 characters versus the 140 of Twitter. You can also create your own instance of Mastodon, your own little safe space where you can curl up in your Snuggie and toot out into the void.

Meanwhile, Pitchfork calls Emperor of Sand from Mastodon "metal's answer to Rush's mainstream-conquering 1981 classic Moving Pictures." The seventh studio album from the band almost takes on a concept album challenge, without actually being so. The album is best to be experienced as a whole, apparently holding an interesting story about telepathy or something heavy metal.

Mastodon (the social network) allows you to create your own Twitter land. If you like Twitter but can't stand all the hate speech and trolls, create your own Mastodon instance, invite all your friends and it'll be just like back in the ICQ days. Even to the point that Mastodon users don't have their user names in their direct account link, but numbers. I'm #2595. Of course, like all social networks in infancy, Mastodon prime is currently at capacity.

So you'll have to join one of those many instances to start tooting. Which is a problem. Instead of fostering a framework for exponential growth, it would appear that Mastodon is instead creating a framework of chat rooms that look like Twitter. While all these instances can cross pollinate, it seems generally arduous to leave the cozy armpit warmth of your own instance. Why would you want to sully your toot with the surely fetid repulsion of the Federated Timeline? Viva la resistance after all.

So could Mastodon be the Twitter killer that all the social justice warriors, tech fanboys and anonymous eggs have been looking for? Or could it become the next Ello -- a social construct with grand designs on creating a safe space alternative then eventually morphing into just another niche site with a singular focus?

Ello has become a visual wonderland for designers, while its creator is moving on from building a Facebook killer (of which it was not) to a Snapchat killer with Wuu (of which it won't be.) The only Snapchat killer will be Facebook, the only Twitter killer will be Twitter itself. So perhaps Mastodon, if it's around long enough, can hope to rise from the ashes of Twitter.

It won't though. The only Mastodon rising from the ashes of anything is Mastodon the heavy metal band. Rising from the ashes of cult status and into the mainstream.

If you were so inclined, you could grab a Python 3 script, join dev.twitter.com, get a consumer key and access token, create an app then cross post from Mastodon to Twitter. That sounds exciting. Can I cross post video to Peach?

Naming your social media service after an extinct animal (and also the band) then following that up with naming the social action after slang for a bodily function is either a brilliant piece of subversive artistry or just complete marketing blindness.

Listen, social networks don't have to be the next great thing to unseat the current great thing. Twitter has its problems but isn't likely to just disappear anytime soon. Facebook is trending more towards being the one-stop shop right behind Google. Mastodon is just another thing that exists. Sure, it's currently blowing up right now, but unlike the band it is named after it probably doesn't have the staying power. No matter which way you spin it, staying power requires money.

Mastodon the social network is a great example of the ingenuity that exists in development and serves to show that a future without Twitter could very well be possible but still hearkens too much back to the socially isolated days of internet communication. Perhaps that is what some people desire, to escape the overwhelming reality of social media mainstream for something more comforting and soloed.

My hottest take is that if you are going to invest any of your time into anything called Mastodon I would recommend Mastodon's 2004 release Leviathan, a concept album based on Moby-Dick.That album is something that has true staying power and will keep you head-banging long after every new social media network withers and dies.