Disgruntled woke warriors quit Twitter for social network rival Mastodon

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Thousands of angry Twitter quitters have headed over to Mastodon, the social network rival no one has ever heard of.

The reaction is in response to Elon Musk’s $44-billion acquisition of the social media giant.

“The news of Elon Musk buying Twitter has put Mastodon into the public spotlight as an alternative social network, rapidly exploding our growth with over 30,000 new users in just a single day,” reads a blog post on Mastodon’s site from its founder and lead developer, Eugen Rochko.

Rochko went on to explain what it’s all about and that its vision of social media “cannot be bought and owned by any billionaire” and strives to “create a more resilient global platform without profit incentives.”

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The post continued: “Unlike Twitter, there is no central Mastodon website — you sign up to a provider that will host your account, similarly to signing up for Outlook or Gmail, and then you can follow and interact with people using different providers,” adding that “anyone can become such a provider as Mastodon is free and open-source.”

Basically, it’s not a single website like Twitter but rather, a network of users in independent communities that can set up their own guidelines.

Rochko also pointed out that: “It has no ads, respects your privacy, and allows people/communities to self-govern” — music to woke warriors’ ears.

The onslaught of users who abandoned Twitter for Mastodon caused technical issues with the German-based nonprofit, “putting strain on our resources, specifically the public Mastodon servers that we maintain ourselves.”

Mastodon launched in 2016.

Like Twitter, its mascot is a similar shade of Twitter blue of an animal with a trunk, resembling a mastodon or mammoth.

Messages, which are called “toots,” have a 500-character limit.

However, the influx of defectors heading over to Mastodon isn’t fazing Musk as Twitter Inc. reported stronger-than-expected user growth amid the billionaire’s takeover.