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Mastodon competes with Twitter with new Android app

Mastodon, Twitter’s rival, has just won a new application for Android. The social network for microblogging already had an online version, an iPhone application and integrated third-party services. Now, the tool gains more potential number of users.

The launch comes at a time when Twitter could be bought by Elon Musk. The owner of SpaceX has made a proposal to acquire the company’s shares that must still go through deliberation by the Twitter board. Musk is a figure, to say the least, controversial in the tech world for having been accused of harassment and censorship at his companies.

In addition to choosing an alternative to Twitter, those who decide to test the application will get to know decentralized social networks. The idea is that, with decentralization, users can manage their networks. In this way, it is possible to fight more efficiently to avoid hate speech or political polarization.

The platform is open source and is one of the best-known decentralized social media alternatives. Diaspora is another alternative, which is often compared to Facebook.

Image: Mastodon

Mastodon’s main advantage is decentralization

With the network spread over several servers, the platform has independent communities, which cannot be controlled by a single owner. Each instance, or server, on the network can be governed by who installed it and its users. In this way, the network cannot be sold, blocked by governments or go bankrupt.

The costs of maintaining a server on the platform can be shared by crowdfunding or by volunteers, according to the TNW. The news feed has no ads and no algorithm to prioritize certain messages. The feed is chronological, being more transparent than Twitter.

The network also has tools to prevent abuse that users can utilize. The platform also has a code of conduct to prevent hate speech.

The new version of the platform for Android is similar to Twitter with federated or decentralized communities. However, Mastodon still has far fewer users than Twitter. While Mastodon has 4.4 million, Twitter has 217 million, according to figures from February 2022. It is as if the decentralization of social networks is a trend that many want but that can take years to become real, as the metaverse.

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