{"slug": "mastodon", "name": "Mastodon", "category": "networking", "category_name": "Networking and VPN", "description": "Open-source, decentralized microblogging social network software that federates via ActivityPub.", "recommenders": 15, "commenters": 35, "warners": 10, "score": 6.532, "rising": 3.05, "first": "2025-11-14", "latest": "2026-10-30", "why": "Liked as a non-corporate, ad-free alternative to Twitter where many tech accounts now post, with the option to pick an instance or self-host.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 15, "neutral": 11, "compare": 0, "warn": 10}, "spark": [1, 0, 3, 2, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 2, 4, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Non-corporate alternative", "Instance choice"], "caveat": "Search and discovery", "short_quote": "in the case of Mastodon it actually is as good [or better] product-wise as Twitter.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/mastodon/mastodon", "official_url": "https://joinmastodon.org", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Mastodon"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked as a non-corporate, ad-free alternative to Twitter", "cites": [{"id": 788335584, "item_id": 49270974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270974", "by": "jwr", "date": "2026-08-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow.", "excerpt": "That seems like comparing apples to oranges. I switched to Mastodon in order to avoid the inevitable enshittification of every service that has anything to do with a corporate entity. I learned my lesson and I am not about to repeat it. And having spent considerable time on Mastodon now, I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow. I do not need everybody in the world to be on it. In fa", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}, {"id": 785496096, "item_id": 49093506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093506", "by": "kelnos", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in the case of Mastodon it actually is as good [or better] product-wise as Twitter.", "excerpt": "The hole in that analogy is that in some cases these other platforms aren't imaginary. The open, ad-free, privacy-protecting, you-own-your-data alternative to Twitter actually exists: Mastodon. The problem, of course, is that the utility of a social network is right in the name: the network of users it connects. If the people you want to interact with aren't on Mastodon, then you have to use Twitter. But ethically-go", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 744620384, "item_id": 46538774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538774", "by": "DamonHD", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "moved from Twitter to Mastodon/Fediverse, at least in part hosted in the EU", "excerpt": "I am also reducing my reliance on the US a little, financially also. Technically: Have you looked at Fairphone? I've been using a couple lastig many many years now. I self-host email, DNS, and a few other few services. Do not use any part of Meta, and moved from Twitter to Mastodon/Fediverse, at least in part hosted in the EU.", "context": "reducing reliance on US services, self-hosts email and DNS", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "Ask HN: How would you decouple from the US?"}]}, {"text": " where many tech accounts now post,", "cites": [{"id": 778597809, "item_id": 48662363, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48662363", "by": "archagon", "date": "2026-06-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Practically every tech account I used to follow has migrated to Bluesky or Mastodon by now.", "excerpt": "I\u2019m thinking more of the \u201cDead Weight\u201d and \u201cTurbo Brains\u201d boxes as being particularly eye-rolling. As for tech discussion, of course there is an alternative. Practically every tech account I used to follow has migrated to Bluesky or Mastodon by now. The accounts left on Twitter have a distinctly narcissistic, preachy vibe. These people care more about influencing, not engaging.", "context": "", "use_case": "tech discussion", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "The Coming Loop"}, {"id": 747626353, "item_id": 46726647, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726647", "by": "heavyset_go", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "most of the IT people whose ideas I'm interested in either have RSS feeds or Mastodon accounts", "excerpt": "It's really, really easy to not use X. Just don't visit it, it's a dumpster fire and if you get too close the fumes will make you stupid. I don't care about \"tech personalities\", but most of the IT people whose ideas I'm interested in either have RSS feeds or Mastodon accounts, or both.", "context": "", "use_case": "following IT people", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people?"}]}, {"text": " with the option to pick an instance or self-host.", "cites": [{"id": 795250417, "item_id": 49703151, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703151", "by": "multjoy", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes.", "excerpt": "But that's not how Mastodon works. Like email, I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes. I then follow other accounts, on other servers, using a client - I use Ivory on the mac & iPhone (because it's made by the same company who made Tweetbot) - and those accounts show up in my feed in chronological order, like Twitter in the old days.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "XCancel service is suspended until further notice"}, {"id": 777770544, "item_id": 48610659, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48610659", "by": "kuschku", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My self-hosted mastodon server continues working, and can continue federating with e.g. chaos.social", "excerpt": "Imagine bluesky (the company) and mastodon.social both disappear tomorrow. My self-hosted mastodon server continues working, and can continue federating with e.g. chaos.social With bluesky it's different. If I am fully self-hosting the entire bluesky app, I need to spend ten thousands of dollars a month, but it'll keep working. If I self-host my own app, it's cheap and keeps working, but I can only see content from m", "context": "self-hosts a Mastodon server", "use_case": "self-hosted social server", "switched_from": "", "story": "There Are No Instances in ATProto"}, {"id": 754341136, "item_id": 47146321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47146321", "by": "spartanatreyu", "date": "2026-02-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "General worldwide website: mastodon.social", "excerpt": "It's kind of like making an email account. First you pick where you want your email to be (gmail, outlook, proton, etc...), then make your account. ------------------------------------ If you're brand new, pick where you want your account to live. - General worldwide website: mastodon.social - or pick a website by topic: https://fedi.directory - or pick a website by locality: https://fediverse.observer Your starting ", "context": "", "use_case": "fediverse social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI is destroying Open Source, and it's not even good yet"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaints are weak search and discovery", "cites": [{"id": 802907424, "item_id": 50181714, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50181714", "by": "metabagel", "date": "2026-10-21", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Mastodon has a serious discovery problem.", "excerpt": "Mastodon has a serious discovery problem. IIRC, searches are only within your own instance, except for hashtag searches. This appears to have been an intentional design decision to prevent brigading / pile-ons. For me, I found it too difficult to locate \"my peeps\" on other instances, so I switched to Bluesky.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "The No Kings Takedown Is Why You Shouldn't Rent Your Megaphone from Zuck"}, {"id": 777471584, "item_id": 48591974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48591974", "by": "erxam", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Mastodon both has busted search and useless tags.", "excerpt": "It's not even about connecting to other people. I'm a toxic, friendless miserable asshole. I don't have anyone to connect with. All I use social media for is to look at whatever funny piece of media I'm obsessed with currently and related things. Unfortunately, Mastodon both has busted search and useless tags. Tumblr's search has been hilariously bad for ages now, but at least the tagging system is so comprehensive i", "context": "", "use_case": "social media browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Has W Social switched to closed source?"}]}, {"text": " and losing posts, history and connections when leaving an instance.", "cites": [{"id": 785809296, "item_id": 49113081, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49113081", "by": "dewey", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I feel like that's a big blind spot of Mastodon to this day", "excerpt": "> Please note that Mastodon can move your followers, but it can\u2019t transfer your old posts or uploaded media to your new account. If you want to keep a copy, download an archive. Sadly that's still an open issue that from time to time gets new input, but doesn't have a lot of traction. I feel like that's a big blind spot of Mastodon to this day and also basically forces people to stick to the largest instances that ar", "context": "", "use_case": "federated social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Toot.community Is Shutting Down"}, {"id": 784505250, "item_id": 49031578, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49031578", "by": "danpalmer", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "If your Mastodon admin goes rogue, you a) have to get your data out of their hands, and b) have to rebuild your Mastodon presence in a new location", "excerpt": "I'm not going to do the protocol justice in an HN comment, but a core goal is to separate the entities that control the data, the entities that run the network, and the entities that control the interfaces (and recommendation algos etc). If your Mastodon admin goes rogue, you a) have to get your data out of their hands, and b) have to rebuild your Mastodon presence in a new location, all your connections, history, et", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Regret Migrating to Codeberg"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Non-corporate alternative", "summary": "Commenters moved to it to escape ad-driven, corporate social media and Twitter.", "quotes": [{"id": 788335584, "item_id": 49270974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270974", "by": "jwr", "date": "2026-08-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow.", "excerpt": "That seems like comparing apples to oranges. I switched to Mastodon in order to avoid the inevitable enshittification of every service that has anything to do with a corporate entity. I learned my lesson and I am not about to repeat it. And having spent considerable time on Mastodon now, I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow. I do not need everybody in the world to be on it. In fa", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}, {"id": 785496096, "item_id": 49093506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093506", "by": "kelnos", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in the case of Mastodon it actually is as good [or better] product-wise as Twitter.", "excerpt": "The hole in that analogy is that in some cases these other platforms aren't imaginary. The open, ad-free, privacy-protecting, you-own-your-data alternative to Twitter actually exists: Mastodon. The problem, of course, is that the utility of a social network is right in the name: the network of users it connects. If the people you want to interact with aren't on Mastodon, then you have to use Twitter. But ethically-go", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 744620384, "item_id": 46538774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538774", "by": "DamonHD", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "moved from Twitter to Mastodon/Fediverse, at least in part hosted in the EU", "excerpt": "I am also reducing my reliance on the US a little, financially also. Technically: Have you looked at Fairphone? I've been using a couple lastig many many years now. I self-host email, DNS, and a few other few services. Do not use any part of Meta, and moved from Twitter to Mastodon/Fediverse, at least in part hosted in the EU.", "context": "reducing reliance on US services, self-hosts email and DNS", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "Ask HN: How would you decouple from the US?"}]}, {"label": "Instance choice", "summary": "You pick a server that suits you, or self-host one that keeps federating if big instances disappear.", "quotes": [{"id": 795250417, "item_id": 49703151, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703151", "by": "multjoy", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes.", "excerpt": "But that's not how Mastodon works. Like email, I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes. I then follow other accounts, on other servers, using a client - I use Ivory on the mac & iPhone (because it's made by the same company who made Tweetbot) - and those accounts show up in my feed in chronological order, like Twitter in the old days.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "XCancel service is suspended until further notice"}, {"id": 777770544, "item_id": 48610659, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48610659", "by": "kuschku", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My self-hosted mastodon server continues working, and can continue federating with e.g. chaos.social", "excerpt": "Imagine bluesky (the company) and mastodon.social both disappear tomorrow. My self-hosted mastodon server continues working, and can continue federating with e.g. chaos.social With bluesky it's different. If I am fully self-hosting the entire bluesky app, I need to spend ten thousands of dollars a month, but it'll keep working. If I self-host my own app, it's cheap and keeps working, but I can only see content from m", "context": "self-hosts a Mastodon server", "use_case": "self-hosted social server", "switched_from": "", "story": "There Are No Instances in ATProto"}, {"id": 754341136, "item_id": 47146321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47146321", "by": "spartanatreyu", "date": "2026-02-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "General worldwide website: mastodon.social", "excerpt": "It's kind of like making an email account. First you pick where you want your email to be (gmail, outlook, proton, etc...), then make your account. ------------------------------------ If you're brand new, pick where you want your account to live. - General worldwide website: mastodon.social - or pick a website by topic: https://fedi.directory - or pick a website by locality: https://fediverse.observer Your starting ", "context": "", "use_case": "fediverse social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI is destroying Open Source, and it's not even good yet"}]}, {"label": "Tech community", "summary": "Many tech and IT people commenters want to follow now post there.", "quotes": [{"id": 778597809, "item_id": 48662363, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48662363", "by": "archagon", "date": "2026-06-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Practically every tech account I used to follow has migrated to Bluesky or Mastodon by now.", "excerpt": "I\u2019m thinking more of the \u201cDead Weight\u201d and \u201cTurbo Brains\u201d boxes as being particularly eye-rolling. As for tech discussion, of course there is an alternative. Practically every tech account I used to follow has migrated to Bluesky or Mastodon by now. The accounts left on Twitter have a distinctly narcissistic, preachy vibe. These people care more about influencing, not engaging.", "context": "", "use_case": "tech discussion", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "The Coming Loop"}, {"id": 747626353, "item_id": 46726647, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726647", "by": "heavyset_go", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "most of the IT people whose ideas I'm interested in either have RSS feeds or Mastodon accounts", "excerpt": "It's really, really easy to not use X. Just don't visit it, it's a dumpster fire and if you get too close the fumes will make you stupid. I don't care about \"tech personalities\", but most of the IT people whose ideas I'm interested in either have RSS feeds or Mastodon accounts, or both.", "context": "", "use_case": "following IT people", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people?"}, {"id": 789346529, "item_id": 49334158, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49334158", "by": "ghewgill", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The success and growth of Mastodon proves that this model works", "excerpt": "Yes, let's look beyond centralized services for source control (also known as \"developer social media\"). For example, Forgejo is working on federation (https://codeberg.org/forgejo-contrib/federation/src/branch/main/FederationRoadmap.md) which makes the choice of where to host your code less relevant, because anybody on the federated network will be able to interact with any other repository no matter where it is hos", "context": "", "use_case": "federated social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "GitHub Has an Availability Problem. Is It Time to Look Elsewhere?"}]}, {"label": "Signal to noise", "summary": "Long-time users report a higher signal-to-noise ratio and good value from the people they follow.", "quotes": [{"id": 798194032, "item_id": 49887127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49887127", "by": "pavo-etc", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The signal to noise ratio on mastodon is higher than any other competing platform I've used.", "excerpt": "I have been using Mastodon since 2019 across multiple instances. The things you are talking about happen very rarely in actual use, I've never once had a problem with any of them. The signal to noise ratio on mastodon is higher than any other competing platform I've used.", "context": "using since 2019 across multiple instances", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kids turned low-traffic NPR Spotify comments into a secret group chat"}, {"id": 788335584, "item_id": 49270974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270974", "by": "jwr", "date": "2026-08-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow.", "excerpt": "That seems like comparing apples to oranges. I switched to Mastodon in order to avoid the inevitable enshittification of every service that has anything to do with a corporate entity. I learned my lesson and I am not about to repeat it. And having spent considerable time on Mastodon now, I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow. I do not need everybody in the world to be on it. In fa", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}, {"id": 734800369, "item_id": 45925023, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45925023", "by": "bayindirh", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use a small Mastodon instance, follow people who are interesting.", "excerpt": "> Anyone else feel the same way? Actually yes, but as a result, I left the internet I know behind. I don't use Twitter (aka X) or Facebook. I'm following friends on Instagram, but not adding any photos to the training pool anymore. I read Reddit as a last resort. I use a small Mastodon instance, follow people who are interesting. Read blogs of a select few, and discover new ones via their links or rings. Instead of I", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is building for the web even worth it now?"}]}, {"label": "Small communities", "summary": "Small instances and close-knit communities are seen as part of the quieter, older-style internet.", "quotes": [{"id": 753746162, "item_id": 47109135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47109135", "by": "amatecha", "date": "2026-02-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "close-knit communities on Mastodon and Lemmy", "excerpt": "I almost clarified that - Google Search is definitely part of that very centralized, corporate-owned web I was referring to. Like what you're describing is exactly what I'm talking about. But there are more and more niche obscure corners of the internet that you don't easily find, where good stuff is happening. People are still using IRC, Hotline, KDX, Gopher, and then there's newer stuff like Gemini ( https://gemini", "context": "", "use_case": "small communities", "switched_from": "", "story": "Facebook is absolutely cooked"}, {"id": 734800369, "item_id": 45925023, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45925023", "by": "bayindirh", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use a small Mastodon instance, follow people who are interesting.", "excerpt": "> Anyone else feel the same way? Actually yes, but as a result, I left the internet I know behind. I don't use Twitter (aka X) or Facebook. I'm following friends on Instagram, but not adding any photos to the training pool anymore. I read Reddit as a last resort. I use a small Mastodon instance, follow people who are interesting. Read blogs of a select few, and discover new ones via their links or rings. Instead of I", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is building for the web even worth it now?"}, {"id": 794304128, "item_id": 49644008, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49644008", "by": "beej71", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I still find the old Internet in a few ways. Mastodon, Signal group chats", "excerpt": "I still find the old Internet in a few ways. Mastodon, Signal group chats, quiet local (geographically) or private Discord servers, RSS, email, XMPP or IRC if I feel like it. Definitely use uBO. I sometimes even surf Neocities. Stay away from \"algorithmic\" social media and all 24-hour news\u2014if something important happens, it'll show up on the HN RSS feed. If you want to stay politically active and informed, subscribe ", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "I think I hate the internet"}]}, {"label": "Chronological feed", "summary": "Followed accounts show up in chronological order, viewable through third-party clients like Ivory.", "quotes": [{"id": 795250417, "item_id": 49703151, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703151", "by": "multjoy", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes.", "excerpt": "But that's not how Mastodon works. Like email, I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes. I then follow other accounts, on other servers, using a client - I use Ivory on the mac & iPhone (because it's made by the same company who made Tweetbot) - and those accounts show up in my feed in chronological order, like Twitter in the old days.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "XCancel service is suspended until further notice"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Search and discovery", "summary": "Search is largely limited to your own instance and tags are seen as unhelpful, making people hard to find.", "quotes": [{"id": 802907424, "item_id": 50181714, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50181714", "by": "metabagel", "date": "2026-10-21", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Mastodon has a serious discovery problem.", "excerpt": "Mastodon has a serious discovery problem. IIRC, searches are only within your own instance, except for hashtag searches. This appears to have been an intentional design decision to prevent brigading / pile-ons. For me, I found it too difficult to locate \"my peeps\" on other instances, so I switched to Bluesky.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "The No Kings Takedown Is Why You Shouldn't Rent Your Megaphone from Zuck"}, {"id": 777471584, "item_id": 48591974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48591974", "by": "erxam", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Mastodon both has busted search and useless tags.", "excerpt": "It's not even about connecting to other people. I'm a toxic, friendless miserable asshole. I don't have anyone to connect with. All I use social media for is to look at whatever funny piece of media I'm obsessed with currently and related things. Unfortunately, Mastodon both has busted search and useless tags. Tumblr's search has been hilariously bad for ages now, but at least the tagging system is so comprehensive i", "context": "", "use_case": "social media browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Has W Social switched to closed source?"}]}, {"label": "Instance lock-in", "summary": "Moving accounts does not carry over old posts or media, and a rogue or vanishing admin can cost your presence.", "quotes": [{"id": 785809296, "item_id": 49113081, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49113081", "by": "dewey", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I feel like that's a big blind spot of Mastodon to this day", "excerpt": "> Please note that Mastodon can move your followers, but it can\u2019t transfer your old posts or uploaded media to your new account. If you want to keep a copy, download an archive. Sadly that's still an open issue that from time to time gets new input, but doesn't have a lot of traction. I feel like that's a big blind spot of Mastodon to this day and also basically forces people to stick to the largest instances that ar", "context": "", "use_case": "federated social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Toot.community Is Shutting Down"}, {"id": 784505250, "item_id": 49031578, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49031578", "by": "danpalmer", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "If your Mastodon admin goes rogue, you a) have to get your data out of their hands, and b) have to rebuild your Mastodon presence in a new location", "excerpt": "I'm not going to do the protocol justice in an HN comment, but a core goal is to separate the entities that control the data, the entities that run the network, and the entities that control the interfaces (and recommendation algos etc). If your Mastodon admin goes rogue, you a) have to get your data out of their hands, and b) have to rebuild your Mastodon presence in a new location, all your connections, history, et", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Regret Migrating to Codeberg"}, {"id": 735646624, "item_id": 45977914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45977914", "by": "rckt", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Decentralisation on Mastodon is an illusion.", "excerpt": "Decentralisation on Mastodon is an illusion. For me a truly decentralised thing is where I am a node that transmits and can receive transmissions, like radios. When there has to be a server that's being administrated by somebody, this already puts me in a position where I depend on the people who own the server. This means that if for any reason these people don't like me, they can simply ban me and that's it. Basica", "context": "", "use_case": "decentralised social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "I am stepping down as the CEO of Mastodon"}]}, {"label": "Moderation and bans", "summary": "Some say instance admins can ban you or block other instances, and call it censorious.", "quotes": [{"id": 799612802, "item_id": 49975800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49975800", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the Masto side seems rather fond of censorship themselves", "excerpt": "Fediverse in general, though the Masto side seems rather fond of censorship themselves. I recommend finding a small Pleroma/Akkoma instance or hosting your own. Also as a tip you can use an instance's search without an account to check if they block posts from certain other instances before you sign up.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "We are going to kill \"unalive\""}, {"id": 735646624, "item_id": 45977914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45977914", "by": "rckt", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Decentralisation on Mastodon is an illusion.", "excerpt": "Decentralisation on Mastodon is an illusion. For me a truly decentralised thing is where I am a node that transmits and can receive transmissions, like radios. When there has to be a server that's being administrated by somebody, this already puts me in a position where I depend on the people who own the server. This means that if for any reason these people don't like me, they can simply ban me and that's it. Basica", "context": "", "use_case": "decentralised social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "I am stepping down as the CEO of Mastodon"}]}, {"label": "Usability", "summary": "Usability gaps, including the lack of threaded discussion, are blamed for driving new users away.", "quotes": [{"id": 786222691, "item_id": 49138918, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138918", "by": "ElemenoPicuares", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "See the nearly immediate mastodon mass-exodus after getting millions of people to give it a shot.", "excerpt": "I think there\u2019s a (fixable, if difficult) reason the FOSS world contributes such a small percentage of heavily-used end-user facing tools to our software landscape. We\u2019ve got the commercial provided spanked on a lot of things, like web servers. Competitors almost stopped trying. Marketing is a way smaller reason than many people imagine\u2014it\u2019s mostly usability. See the nearly immediate mastodon mass-exodus after gettin", "context": "", "use_case": "social networking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google News is just Forrest Gump's shrimp boat now"}, {"id": 764336337, "item_id": 47771021, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47771021", "by": "AlBugdy", "date": "2026-04-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I absolutely hate how there is no threaded discussion on Bluesky or Mastodon", "excerpt": "Might be unrelated to the specific GUI discussion but I absolutely hate how there is no threaded discussion on Bluesky or Mastodon (or Twitter which they desperately try to mimic for some reason). You have to use \"@username\" which does nothing useful when clicked. You can barely select text on a post. If you click on it, you lost your place and go inside the post? Why aren't comment GUIs like those of HN, lobsters or", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Fediverse deserves a dumb graphical client"}]}, {"label": "Network effect", "summary": "Many people you may want to follow are not on it.", "quotes": [{"id": 785496096, "item_id": 49093506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093506", "by": "kelnos", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in the case of Mastodon it actually is as good [or better] product-wise as Twitter.", "excerpt": "The hole in that analogy is that in some cases these other platforms aren't imaginary. The open, ad-free, privacy-protecting, you-own-your-data alternative to Twitter actually exists: Mastodon. The problem, of course, is that the utility of a social network is right in the name: the network of users it connects. If the people you want to interact with aren't on Mastodon, then you have to use Twitter. But ethically-go", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 788286034, "item_id": 49267877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49267877", "by": "jillesvangurp", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm on still on X, and on Bluesky and Mastodon.", "excerpt": "> it\u2019s simply not usable purely by virtue of who\u2019s there. You are describing X here. It kind of turned into a very toxic political platform. The exodus to Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky happened for a good reason. After Elon Musk took over it didn't exactly improve. I'm on still on X, and on Bluesky and Mastodon. For my network of perfectly normal people, most of them did not delete their X account but just aren't ve", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}]}, {"label": "Self-hosting costs", "summary": "Personal hosted instances require watching media usage and using relays sparingly.", "quotes": [{"id": 802026081, "item_id": 50126630, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126630", "by": "krapp", "date": "2026-10-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Mastodon has its issues but one benefit of decentralization is you don't really have to commit to anything.", "excerpt": "You can also get a personal hosted instance (I use masto.host) to serve as an identity instance pretty cheap, but you have to be careful about keeping track of media usage, avoid posting images and use relays sparingly. Before that I just had an account on multiple (mostly gamedev) instances. Mastodon has its issues but one benefit of decentralization is you don't really have to commit to anything.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "/dev/null: social network for developers"}]}], "who": [{"by": "kstrauser", "context": "has run a Mastodon instance for about 10 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50306541", "date": "2026-10-30"}, {"by": "pavo-etc", "context": "using since 2019 across multiple instances", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49887127", "date": "2026-09-29"}, {"by": "kuschku", "context": "self-hosts a Mastodon server", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48610659", "date": "2026-06-20"}, {"by": "DamonHD", "context": "reducing reliance on US services, self-hosts email and DNS", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538774", "date": "2026-01-08"}], "tags": ["self-hostable", "for leaving Twitter/X", "for following tech people", "for niche communities"], "use_cases": ["social media", "social network", "social networking", "federated social network", "running own instance", "twitter alternative"], "compared": [{"slug": "x-twitter", "name": "X (Twitter)", "co": 10, "switched_from": 3, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "bluesky", "name": "Bluesky", "co": 12, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "threads", "name": "Threads", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "discord", "name": "Discord", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "lemmy", "name": "Lemmy", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "pixelfed", "name": "Pixelfed", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "signal", "name": "Signal", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752806", "title": "Ask HN: Alternatives to Twitter/X?", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49263461", "title": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726310", "title": "Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people?", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50305573", "title": "The federated code forge", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50271808", "title": "Tell HN: I'm going on strike this November", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50181137", "title": "The No Kings Takedown Is Why You Shouldn't Rent Your Megaphone from Zuck", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1, "warn": 1}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"warn": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"warn": 1, "recommend": 2}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 2, "warn": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"warn": 2, "neutral": 2, "recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 3}, "2026-10": {"warn": 3, "neutral": 3}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804904657, "item_id": 50306541, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50306541", "by": "kstrauser", "date": "2026-10-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I've run a Mastodon instance for about 10 years", "excerpt": "Got it. I'm still trying slightly unsuccessfully to wrap my head around this, but I've run a Mastodon instance for about 10 years and it took me a little while to wrap my head around that, too. This is great. I'm delighted at the idea of having my own knot hosting my projects, talking to my friend's knot, and coordinating on a global project's knot, all without having to lock everyone into one centralized point of fa", "context": "has run a Mastodon instance for about 10 years", "use_case": "running own instance", "switched_from": "", "story": "The federated code forge"}, {"id": 804412755, "item_id": 50275797, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275797", "by": "toss1", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "no, Mastadon ain't it; wish it were, but...", "excerpt": "Awesome Screed. Seriously. Particularly on-target in: >>And then came the greedy grifters. They invested money not just to get returns (they could've gotten returns on any other established field of business), but to gamble for a chance of crazy high returns. They thought software has near-zero marginal cost. They started building walled gardens, to extract rent from users. ... So the advertisement business grew, and", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Tell HN: I'm going on strike this November"}, {"id": 802907424, "item_id": 50181714, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50181714", "by": "metabagel", "date": "2026-10-21", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Mastodon has a serious discovery problem.", "excerpt": "Mastodon has a serious discovery problem. IIRC, searches are only within your own instance, except for hashtag searches. This appears to have been an intentional design decision to prevent brigading / pile-ons. For me, I found it too difficult to locate \"my peeps\" on other instances, so I switched to Bluesky.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "The No Kings Takedown Is Why You Shouldn't Rent Your Megaphone from Zuck"}, {"id": 802026081, "item_id": 50126630, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126630", "by": "krapp", "date": "2026-10-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Mastodon has its issues but one benefit of decentralization is you don't really have to commit to anything.", "excerpt": "You can also get a personal hosted instance (I use masto.host) to serve as an identity instance pretty cheap, but you have to be careful about keeping track of media usage, avoid posting images and use relays sparingly. Before that I just had an account on multiple (mostly gamedev) instances. Mastodon has its issues but one benefit of decentralization is you don't really have to commit to anything.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "/dev/null: social network for developers"}, {"id": 800254642, "item_id": 50015915, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50015915", "by": "chr15m", "date": "2026-10-09", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Mastodon posts are syndicated to other networks.", "excerpt": "I have so much personal automation and small web apps running on my VPS, laptop, and on my phone it's hard to know where to start. - laptop, phone (termux), Linux VPS, and home inference machine can all see each other on the same Wireguard network via the VPS. - Todo list web app for our family shopping list. Used daily for many years now. - Personal daily updating dashboard with important numbers I care about, life ", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?"}, {"id": 799612802, "item_id": 49975800, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49975800", "by": "opan", "date": "2026-10-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the Masto side seems rather fond of censorship themselves", "excerpt": "Fediverse in general, though the Masto side seems rather fond of censorship themselves. I recommend finding a small Pleroma/Akkoma instance or hosting your own. Also as a tip you can use an instance's search without an account to check if they block posts from certain other instances before you sign up.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "We are going to kill \"unalive\""}, {"id": 798194032, "item_id": 49887127, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49887127", "by": "pavo-etc", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The signal to noise ratio on mastodon is higher than any other competing platform I've used.", "excerpt": "I have been using Mastodon since 2019 across multiple instances. The things you are talking about happen very rarely in actual use, I've never once had a problem with any of them. The signal to noise ratio on mastodon is higher than any other competing platform I've used.", "context": "using since 2019 across multiple instances", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kids turned low-traffic NPR Spotify comments into a secret group chat"}, {"id": 796854496, "item_id": 49803406, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803406", "by": "fedeb95", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "except for Mastodon which I use very rarely", "excerpt": "this is true. We should focus on avoiding bad habits and forming good ones. But they are bad also because of the methods they use, because of the deliberate and systematic study of how the mind works and how to tweak it. It is also the method that needs to be changed, and using it for \"good\" habits is just as problematic. That is because we don't need others to decide what is \"good\" for us. As for \"we're all not doin", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Singapore\u2019s National Library Board offers micropayments to build reading habits"}, {"id": 796225024, "item_id": 49764064, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49764064", "by": "Muhammad523", "date": "2026-09-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ever heard of something called Mastodon? Fediverse? Check it out", "excerpt": "Ever heard of something called Mastodon? Fediverse? Check it out", "context": "", "use_case": "Twitter alternative", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to Twitter/X?"}, {"id": 796185649, "item_id": 49761603, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49761603", "by": "jamesforestwest", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "many people also use Mastodon and RSS", "excerpt": "Bluesky is almost like Twitter, many people also use Mastodon and RSS. I also heard about threads, but I don\u2019t like it, I can\u2019t recommend it.", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to Twitter/X?"}, {"id": 796046992, "item_id": 49752937, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49752937", "by": "PaulHoule", "date": "2026-09-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "My friends and furs are on mastodon, tumblr, and Bluesky", "excerpt": "My friends and furs are on mastodon, tumblr, and Bluesky", "context": "", "use_case": "social networking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Alternatives to Twitter/X?"}, {"id": 795250417, "item_id": 49703151, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49703151", "by": "multjoy", "date": "2026-09-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes.", "excerpt": "But that's not how Mastodon works. Like email, I sign up for a Mastodon account on a server that suits my tastes. I then follow other accounts, on other servers, using a client - I use Ivory on the mac & iPhone (because it's made by the same company who made Tweetbot) - and those accounts show up in my feed in chronological order, like Twitter in the old days.", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "XCancel service is suspended until further notice"}, {"id": 794304128, "item_id": 49644008, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49644008", "by": "beej71", "date": "2026-09-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I still find the old Internet in a few ways. Mastodon, Signal group chats", "excerpt": "I still find the old Internet in a few ways. Mastodon, Signal group chats, quiet local (geographically) or private Discord servers, RSS, email, XMPP or IRC if I feel like it. Definitely use uBO. I sometimes even surf Neocities. Stay away from \"algorithmic\" social media and all 24-hour news\u2014if something important happens, it'll show up on the HN RSS feed. If you want to stay politically active and informed, subscribe ", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "I think I hate the internet"}, {"id": 791798753, "item_id": 49487422, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49487422", "by": "SyneRyder", "date": "2026-08-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Don't get me started on some of the things Mastodon accepted payment for...", "excerpt": "I just want to say, kudos on your We Recommend section. I was initially rolling my eyes at the \"StemDeck... does not accept any money, sponsorship, or funding\" line, here we go, another open source project that isn't thinking about practicalities... until I saw you were linking to others as pure recommendations. Just for the joy of what they do & how they've helped you and hoping they do the same for others. The web ", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "StemDeck, a free, open-source and local AI stem separator"}, {"id": 789346529, "item_id": 49334158, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49334158", "by": "ghewgill", "date": "2026-08-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The success and growth of Mastodon proves that this model works", "excerpt": "Yes, let's look beyond centralized services for source control (also known as \"developer social media\"). For example, Forgejo is working on federation (https://codeberg.org/forgejo-contrib/federation/src/branch/main/FederationRoadmap.md) which makes the choice of where to host your code less relevant, because anybody on the federated network will be able to interact with any other repository no matter where it is hos", "context": "", "use_case": "federated social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "GitHub Has an Availability Problem. Is It Time to Look Elsewhere?"}, {"id": 788335584, "item_id": 49270974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270974", "by": "jwr", "date": "2026-08-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow.", "excerpt": "That seems like comparing apples to oranges. I switched to Mastodon in order to avoid the inevitable enshittification of every service that has anything to do with a corporate entity. I learned my lesson and I am not about to repeat it. And having spent considerable time on Mastodon now, I'm quite happy with the value I'm getting from it and the people I follow. I do not need everybody in the world to be on it. In fa", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}, {"id": 788286034, "item_id": 49267877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49267877", "by": "jillesvangurp", "date": "2026-08-11", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I'm on still on X, and on Bluesky and Mastodon.", "excerpt": "> it\u2019s simply not usable purely by virtue of who\u2019s there. You are describing X here. It kind of turned into a very toxic political platform. The exodus to Threads, Mastodon, and Bluesky happened for a good reason. After Elon Musk took over it didn't exactly improve. I'm on still on X, and on Bluesky and Mastodon. For my network of perfectly normal people, most of them did not delete their X account but just aren't ve", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "Bluesky's active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app"}, {"id": 787462336, "item_id": 49216396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49216396", "by": "BeetleB", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Mastodon which has a 500 limit, and even that sometimes is not enough.", "excerpt": "The character limit is, in my opinion, the primary reason Twitter became so bad. It encourages absolute language (qualifiers take up characters!) It discourages any level of nuance. I use Mastodon which has a 500 limit, and even that sometimes is not enough.", "context": "", "use_case": "microblogging", "switched_from": "", "story": "textlog \u2013 A quiet, text-only microblogging platform"}, {"id": 786222691, "item_id": 49138918, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138918", "by": "ElemenoPicuares", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "See the nearly immediate mastodon mass-exodus after getting millions of people to give it a shot.", "excerpt": "I think there\u2019s a (fixable, if difficult) reason the FOSS world contributes such a small percentage of heavily-used end-user facing tools to our software landscape. We\u2019ve got the commercial provided spanked on a lot of things, like web servers. Competitors almost stopped trying. Marketing is a way smaller reason than many people imagine\u2014it\u2019s mostly usability. See the nearly immediate mastodon mass-exodus after gettin", "context": "", "use_case": "social networking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google News is just Forrest Gump's shrimp boat now"}, {"id": 785809296, "item_id": 49113081, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49113081", "by": "dewey", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I feel like that's a big blind spot of Mastodon to this day", "excerpt": "> Please note that Mastodon can move your followers, but it can\u2019t transfer your old posts or uploaded media to your new account. If you want to keep a copy, download an archive. Sadly that's still an open issue that from time to time gets new input, but doesn't have a lot of traction. I feel like that's a big blind spot of Mastodon to this day and also basically forces people to stick to the largest instances that ar", "context": "", "use_case": "federated social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Toot.community Is Shutting Down"}, {"id": 785496096, "item_id": 49093506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49093506", "by": "kelnos", "date": "2026-07-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "in the case of Mastodon it actually is as good [or better] product-wise as Twitter.", "excerpt": "The hole in that analogy is that in some cases these other platforms aren't imaginary. The open, ad-free, privacy-protecting, you-own-your-data alternative to Twitter actually exists: Mastodon. The problem, of course, is that the utility of a social network is right in the name: the network of users it connects. If the people you want to interact with aren't on Mastodon, then you have to use Twitter. But ethically-go", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Substack writers, you need a website"}, {"id": 784505250, "item_id": 49031578, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49031578", "by": "danpalmer", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "warn", "quote": "If your Mastodon admin goes rogue, you a) have to get your data out of their hands, and b) have to rebuild your Mastodon presence in a new location", "excerpt": "I'm not going to do the protocol justice in an HN comment, but a core goal is to separate the entities that control the data, the entities that run the network, and the entities that control the interfaces (and recommendation algos etc). If your Mastodon admin goes rogue, you a) have to get your data out of their hands, and b) have to rebuild your Mastodon presence in a new location, all your connections, history, et", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Regret Migrating to Codeberg"}, {"id": 782369776, "item_id": 48898111, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48898111", "by": "yogthos", "date": "2026-07-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Mastodon, Pixelfed, and Lemmy every single day.", "excerpt": "I use Mastodon, Pixelfed, and Lemmy every single day. Just because you live in a particular bubble doesn't mean people don't use these platforms.", "context": "", "use_case": "social networking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mastodon, the Only Good Choice"}, {"id": 780769312, "item_id": 48798082, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48798082", "by": "Finnucane", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Mostly spending time on Mastodon these days", "excerpt": "Mostly spending time on Mastodon these days, which is only made tolerable by its lack of capabilities.", "context": "", "use_case": "social networking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are you guys happy with existing social networkin apps?"}, {"id": 778597809, "item_id": 48662363, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48662363", "by": "archagon", "date": "2026-06-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Practically every tech account I used to follow has migrated to Bluesky or Mastodon by now.", "excerpt": "I\u2019m thinking more of the \u201cDead Weight\u201d and \u201cTurbo Brains\u201d boxes as being particularly eye-rolling. As for tech discussion, of course there is an alternative. Practically every tech account I used to follow has migrated to Bluesky or Mastodon by now. The accounts left on Twitter have a distinctly narcissistic, preachy vibe. These people care more about influencing, not engaging.", "context": "", "use_case": "tech discussion", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "The Coming Loop"}, {"id": 777770544, "item_id": 48610659, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48610659", "by": "kuschku", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My self-hosted mastodon server continues working, and can continue federating with e.g. chaos.social", "excerpt": "Imagine bluesky (the company) and mastodon.social both disappear tomorrow. My self-hosted mastodon server continues working, and can continue federating with e.g. chaos.social With bluesky it's different. If I am fully self-hosting the entire bluesky app, I need to spend ten thousands of dollars a month, but it'll keep working. If I self-host my own app, it's cheap and keeps working, but I can only see content from m", "context": "self-hosts a Mastodon server", "use_case": "self-hosted social server", "switched_from": "", "story": "There Are No Instances in ATProto"}, {"id": 777471584, "item_id": 48591974, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48591974", "by": "erxam", "date": "2026-06-18", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Mastodon both has busted search and useless tags.", "excerpt": "It's not even about connecting to other people. I'm a toxic, friendless miserable asshole. I don't have anyone to connect with. All I use social media for is to look at whatever funny piece of media I'm obsessed with currently and related things. Unfortunately, Mastodon both has busted search and useless tags. Tumblr's search has been hilariously bad for ages now, but at least the tagging system is so comprehensive i", "context": "", "use_case": "social media browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Has W Social switched to closed source?"}, {"id": 764336337, "item_id": 47771021, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47771021", "by": "AlBugdy", "date": "2026-04-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I absolutely hate how there is no threaded discussion on Bluesky or Mastodon", "excerpt": "Might be unrelated to the specific GUI discussion but I absolutely hate how there is no threaded discussion on Bluesky or Mastodon (or Twitter which they desperately try to mimic for some reason). You have to use \"@username\" which does nothing useful when clicked. You can barely select text on a post. If you click on it, you lost your place and go inside the post? Why aren't comment GUIs like those of HN, lobsters or", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Fediverse deserves a dumb graphical client"}, {"id": 754341136, "item_id": 47146321, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47146321", "by": "spartanatreyu", "date": "2026-02-24", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "General worldwide website: mastodon.social", "excerpt": "It's kind of like making an email account. First you pick where you want your email to be (gmail, outlook, proton, etc...), then make your account. ------------------------------------ If you're brand new, pick where you want your account to live. - General worldwide website: mastodon.social - or pick a website by topic: https://fedi.directory - or pick a website by locality: https://fediverse.observer Your starting ", "context": "", "use_case": "fediverse social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI is destroying Open Source, and it's not even good yet"}, {"id": 753746162, "item_id": 47109135, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47109135", "by": "amatecha", "date": "2026-02-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "close-knit communities on Mastodon and Lemmy", "excerpt": "I almost clarified that - Google Search is definitely part of that very centralized, corporate-owned web I was referring to. Like what you're describing is exactly what I'm talking about. But there are more and more niche obscure corners of the internet that you don't easily find, where good stuff is happening. People are still using IRC, Hotline, KDX, Gopher, and then there's newer stuff like Gemini ( https://gemini", "context": "", "use_case": "small communities", "switched_from": "", "story": "Facebook is absolutely cooked"}, {"id": 747626353, "item_id": 46726647, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726647", "by": "heavyset_go", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "most of the IT people whose ideas I'm interested in either have RSS feeds or Mastodon accounts", "excerpt": "It's really, really easy to not use X. Just don't visit it, it's a dumpster fire and if you get too close the fumes will make you stupid. I don't care about \"tech personalities\", but most of the IT people whose ideas I'm interested in either have RSS feeds or Mastodon accounts, or both.", "context": "", "use_case": "following IT people", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people?"}, {"id": 747624689, "item_id": 46726543, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46726543", "by": "krapp", "date": "2026-01-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm only really active on Mastodon now, however.", "excerpt": "I had high hopes for Bluesky and I made an account because a lot of people I wanted to follow from Twitter wound up there instead of the Fediverse. The only reason I'm even still on Twitter is so bots don't take my username (not that it matters, it isn't that valuable, but I've had it since 2009 and they can take it from my cold dead hands) and following a couple of Japanese accounts (mostly Aya Nishitani, creator of", "context": "", "use_case": "social networking", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "Ask HN: Have you managed to switch to Bluesky for tech people?"}, {"id": 744620384, "item_id": 46538774, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46538774", "by": "DamonHD", "date": "2026-01-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "moved from Twitter to Mastodon/Fediverse, at least in part hosted in the EU", "excerpt": "I am also reducing my reliance on the US a little, financially also. Technically: Have you looked at Fairphone? I've been using a couple lastig many many years now. I self-host email, DNS, and a few other few services. Do not use any part of Meta, and moved from Twitter to Mastodon/Fediverse, at least in part hosted in the EU.", "context": "reducing reliance on US services, self-hosts email and DNS", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "Twitter", "story": "Ask HN: How would you decouple from the US?"}, {"id": 742069296, "item_id": 46379331, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46379331", "by": "rcarmo", "date": "2025-12-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use mostly Mastodon", "excerpt": "My anecdotal experience is that I still have to dive into X to follow some people. I use mostly Mastodon, occasionally look into BlueSky, and pretty much stopped caring about Threads since Meta decided to treat the EU differently. I\u2019d say the grand social experiment the post portrays just isn\u2019t happening.", "context": "", "use_case": "social media", "switched_from": "", "story": "My 2026 Open Social Web Predictions"}, {"id": 735646624, "item_id": 45977914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45977914", "by": "rckt", "date": "2025-11-19", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Decentralisation on Mastodon is an illusion.", "excerpt": "Decentralisation on Mastodon is an illusion. For me a truly decentralised thing is where I am a node that transmits and can receive transmissions, like radios. When there has to be a server that's being administrated by somebody, this already puts me in a position where I depend on the people who own the server. This means that if for any reason these people don't like me, they can simply ban me and that's it. Basica", "context": "", "use_case": "decentralised social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "I am stepping down as the CEO of Mastodon"}, {"id": 734800369, "item_id": 45925023, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45925023", "by": "bayindirh", "date": "2025-11-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use a small Mastodon instance, follow people who are interesting.", "excerpt": "> Anyone else feel the same way? Actually yes, but as a result, I left the internet I know behind. I don't use Twitter (aka X) or Facebook. I'm following friends on Instagram, but not adding any photos to the training pool anymore. I read Reddit as a last resort. I use a small Mastodon instance, follow people who are interesting. Read blogs of a select few, and discover new ones via their links or rings. Instead of I", "context": "", "use_case": "social network", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Is building for the web even worth it now?"}]}