When you think of social media, you probably think of big platforms that track you, sell your data, and change rules without warning. But Mastodon, a free, open-source social network built on the Fediverse protocol that lets users host their own servers and connect across communities. Also known as decentralized social media, it doesn’t have a central boss—no Elon Musk, no board of directors, no ads. You join a server run by a teacher, a hobbyist, or a nonprofit. That server talks to others, so you can follow someone on a different server without needing their permission. It’s like email—you don’t need to be on Gmail to talk to someone on Outlook.
Mastodon isn’t just a copy of Twitter. It’s built differently. You can’t buy likes. There’s no algorithm pushing you toward outrage. Posts show up in order, by who you follow. Communities self-moderate. A server for astronomers won’t flood your feed with cat videos. A server for queer artists won’t ban your posts because they don’t fit corporate guidelines. This isn’t theory—it’s what real people use every day. Some servers have 10,000 users. Others have 12. But they all run on the same open code. And because no single company owns it, Mastodon can’t be shut down. If one server goes offline, the rest keep going.
That’s why people are leaving Twitter. Not because they hate tech—they hate being treated like products. Mastodon gives them back control. You choose your server’s rules. You pick who you follow. You decide if you want to join a server focused on crypto, gardening, or poetry. And if you’re into blockchain, you’ll notice something: Mastodon works like a public ledger. Every post is timestamped, signed, and stored across multiple servers. No one can erase your history. No one can silence you without a vote from their own community.
What you’ll find below are real stories about people who switched to Mastodon—and what they learned the hard way. Some found communities they never knew existed. Others got scammed by fake accounts pretending to be verified. A few tried to launch crypto tokens on Mastodon and got burned. This isn’t a marketing page. It’s a collection of what actually happens when you leave the walled gardens behind.
Decentralized content platforms let you own your posts, earn directly from your audience, and escape corporate control. Learn how Mastodon, Lens, and Mirror are changing social media in 2025.