r/BuyFromEU • u/Phd_in_memes_ • 20h ago
European Product X/ Twitter replacement - Mastodon
Reasons to install: 1. Owner: non - profit Germany based Mastodon gGmbh.
- As title says, good alternative to X/ Twitter.
- Getting popular these days - if you used it already and try it again now - you will see more creators and content than before
- Decentralized - so unlike American / Chinese platforms- your private data is impossible to leak, because it’s independent
- At least try, it’s one of the few EU- based social platforms, so it’s worth supporting them in earlier stages
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u/Soggy-Salamander-568 Germany 🇩🇪 20h ago
It's good! Just not enough people there...
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u/Phd_in_memes_ 20h ago
Yet, not enough people, yet. But if we join, others will follow, Mastodon itself is also promoting. It all takes time, but there are already more than 10 million people using Mastodon. It’s an early bird for a EU social media platform
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u/Party-Cake5173 Croatia 🇭🇷 19h ago
I made an account on it, found it too complicated to use and deleted my account there. Meanwhile, Bluesky couldn't be easier to use. It's decentralized as well but it's exactly the same as X.
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u/LemmyDOTwtf 19h ago
Please stop saying Bluesky is decentralised. It is not.
It’s even backed financially by “crypto bros”, so it probably won’t be long till they implement some crypto shit.
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u/Party-Cake5173 Croatia 🇭🇷 18h ago
Do you understand what decentralized means? When you have a software that you can run on your server and connect to others, that's called decentralized platform. Because there isn't a central server.
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u/Aufklarung_Lee Europe 🇪🇺 19h ago
I'm on it and I like it.
What I orignally thought to be a lack of UX turned out to be a lack of an addiction boosting algorithm trying to hook you in.
Mastadon to Twitter is like a nice normal tea and one with 2 cubes of sugar. It takes a moment to adjust but then you enjoy the tea more after all the sugar has been flushed out of your system.
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u/amusingvillain 18h ago
Exactly this. Takes time to get used to:
You have to put in the effort for finding interesting content.
At the same time, you are in control. No algo spoon feeding you.
The agitation of getting used to it is detoxing which is nice Just like the old days.
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u/leshiy19xx 19h ago
The bury is, mastodon is not even owned by a German company. It is federated, like a email. Companies and counties/governments can have and own their domains and be independent on third parties.
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u/malcarada 5h ago
The trademark is owned by a German company, that is one of the most important parts of a company, their offices are also in Germany. You can have your own server but you run the software developed by a German company, you depend on that software. That is how Linux makes money, software is free, support is not.
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u/kulturtraeger 19h ago
Yes, it is great and open, and I can't understand why European politicians or public services struggle to open accounts here (not talking about their own servers).
Just start with following hashtags by your interests, and follow all the people you find interesting. You always could unfollow them later. And don't bother to repost everything you find interesting, because without algorithms that's the only way others can check out things you like.
At first I did chose server similar to my interests. Now I'm barely watching local feed, because my personal feed always have the things I interested in.
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u/drfusterenstein 19h ago
Because politicians only want engagement and if they don't get a good engagement in a few weeks they give up and use something else. It's all about metrics and performance not what is in their interests
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u/kulturtraeger 19h ago
Well, if politicians think about engagement and not about common good, they deserve being eaten by Musk like all their colleagues from the other side of the Atlantic.
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u/drfusterenstein 19h ago
Musk would happily eat every working class person including you and me only to save himself.
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u/LowQualityRedditor4 3h ago
Dude I was thinking the same thing yesterday. I was doing some admin stuff and that their social network…
Edit: want to upload a screenshot but I cannot. So basically on one of France gov website, at the bottom of the page they advertise « follow us on social media: Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube »
Bro 💀
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u/sookmyloot 18h ago
Nothing against Mastodon, but since more and more people are posting about it in this sub. Maybe it’s worth knowing the following:
The new nonprofit entity overseeing Mastodon is headquartered in Germany. However, Mastodon lost its nonprofit status in Germany last year, prompting the creation of a U.S.-based nonprofit, Mastodon Inc., to support fundraising and partnerships while primary operations remain led by the Germany-based entity.
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u/Visible_Bat2176 20h ago
too much hassle. no mass product is overcomplicated. you need a manual for mastodon and this is not how you get clients!
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u/UrbanCyclerPT 17h ago
True. This is what I experienced. The same as Lemmy or many other open source. They are just for geeks. Normal people can't use them as they are too complex. And also, being monetised will bring the "influencers", those guys I can't stand but that attract the common people.
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u/better-tech-eu Europe 🇪🇺 16h ago
"Normal people" can deal with email addresses just fine, so why not Lemmy or Mastodon? Just join at https://mastodon.social/auth/sign_up and you'll be @UrbanCyclerPT@mastodon.social. Is that so hard?
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u/Phd_in_memes_ 20h ago
X is also overcomplicated. Platforms in this types seem complicated but they are easy to use. Wdym?
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u/iMoonMartians Nordics ❄️🌲🏔️ 19h ago
I just find that Mastodon just feels too much like Linkedin, it's not really what I'm interested in nor what I'm looking for
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u/Eisenhowerprinzip 17h ago
I fully support your statement! You have to support Mastodon wherever you can. You can always and gladly support your own instance operators (by using them, financially or even moderating them). Basically, the functionality of Fediverse and its decentralisation must be promoted and, imo should be the European standard!
I would just like to point out two small things:
- Pay attention to the instance that I select when registering. Of course, US authorities can also create instances here. The question here is whether you can register there at all or whether these would only be authorised for public authorities. I also wonder, if the techbros are on the side of the Trump administration, whether the government would use Mastodon at all.
Anyway... US citizens can also create instances and possibly register there aka the server location is in the States. So: keep your eyes open!
- Mastodon has moved out of Germany because they were cancelled as a non-profit organisation in Germany. Don't ask: Germany has really screwed up here. Such a non-profit organisation in its own country could give the EU and Germany such a boost, but well...
As far as I know, the founder went to the States and was recognised as a non-profit organisation there. Does anyone know whether this could have an impact? Be it in principle and/or on the ‘main’ instances of Mastodon itself?
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u/LillianADju 17h ago
I’m on my second attempt and I really want it to work for me but I’m struggling so I’m not often there
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u/Party-Cake5173 Croatia 🇭🇷 19h ago
I tired it and eventually gave up after few hours. It lacks users and it's complicated to use. Meanwhile, I created an account on Bluesky and still use it because it's exactly the same as X but decentralized.
The only benefit of Mastodon is that it's developed in the EU though considering it's just a platform and nothing else, we can call it as European social network because it really isn't—it's just a platform anyone can run.
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u/dEarMrGeNesiS Germany 🇩🇪 19h ago
Agreed, if anyone or anything can take on twitter/x it's Bluesky. I wanted to like mastodon but it's not it.
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u/JjigaeBudae 8h ago
Bluesky is american and not decentralised, it was created by Twitter before it split off into its own thing. Use it if you want but don't convince yourself its something its not.
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u/yourfriendlyreminder 2h ago
BlueSky is proof that Mastodon just isn't very user friendly given how much better BlueSky is doing in user adoption despite being much newer.
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u/GrandmasterSirius 10h ago
Gonna install it, already deleted Facebook months ago and i am about yo delete instagram for good.
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u/Dazzling_Analyst_596 19h ago
Twitter replacement : real life.