"Mastodon is an open and transparent alternative to centralised social media"

Mastodon.nl

"I installed the Mastodon open-source software and set up the mastodon.nl server in 2017," says Maarten. "Before the news that Elon Musk was buying Twitter, not many people were using the server. But as soon as he took over, lots of people started looking around for decentralised alternatives to Twitter and the other big platforms. Mastodon now has nearly 10 million users, with about 40,000 of them on the Mastodon.nl server."

The biggest difference between Twitter and Mastodon is that Twitter has a centralised infrastructure, and Mastodon doesn't. So policy can't be dictated from the centre, in the way that Twitter's policy is. "If he wanted to, Elon Musk could take Twitter off the internet at any moment," explains Maarten. "That kind of thing's impossible with Mastodon. If one server goes down, the other servers in the network simply continue operating. Mastodon belongs to everyone. It's an open and transparent alternative to centralised media. Anyone can instal the open-source software on a server and define their own policies and service conditions. As a result, server operators are completely independent. The servers are connected together via hubs to form a cohesive network."

For and by the Dutch community

"We've set up a project called Mastodon for the Dutch Community, by the Dutch Community to investigate the platform's capabilities and potential applications. The project involves initiatives such as producing a guide to setting up and operating a Mastodon server and deciding what rules should apply. What kinds of information and what forms of behaviour will and won't be tolerated on your server, for example? We're also working on a relay, or switch,for connecting Dutch Mastodon servers to each other."

SIDN Fund is supporting a pioneering project called 'Mastodon for the Dutch community, by the Dutch community', which began at the start of 2023. Safeguarding the internet's public values is an important feature of the Mastodon ethos. In the Netherlands and other countries, the platform represents an opportunity to create an open, decentralised community whose members have more control over their online communications.

Explaining the background to the Fund's involvement, Programme Manager Mieke van Heesewijk says, "SIDN Fund supports projects that focus on public values and the internet's societal role. We also like to get behind projects designed to tackle any negative effects that the internet or internet mechanisms may have on our society. As a decentralised, open-source infrastructure, Mastodon gives end users autonomy and control over the platform itself."

Your own Mastodon server

"The Mastodon main page has 3 timelines," says Maarten. "On the standard timeline, the user sees all the messages posted by people they follow, including people on other servers. Then there's a second timeline that shows only posts by people on the same server as the user. And the third timeline has messages posted by people on the same server as the user, and posted by people they follow. Most users will therefore find it helpful to start on a server dedicated to a theme or geographical region they're interested in. For example, there's a mastodon.art server for people interested in art and creativity. Because a wide variety of different servers are available, a user can pick one that suits their interests and preferences. Users are able to manage what shows up in their timeline; the content offered to them isn't decided by an algorithm."

"Also, by setting up your own server, you can boost the trustworthiness and credibility of posts. In January 2023, for example, the City of Amsterdam started up the social.amsterdam.nl server for people interested in news about the city. The City Council controls who can create accounts on the server, which is limited to official bodies and other such organisations. Users can therefore be confident that the information comes from reliable, verified sources," Maarten points out.

Want to know more about Mastodon.nl and the project Mastodon for the Dutch Community, by the Dutch Community? Mail Maarten den Braber at m@mdbraber.com or visit mastodon.nl.