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Mastodon is shifting control to a new nonprofit organization

The Mastodon logo

Mastodon, remember that service? It gained a lot of attention during the first mass exodus from Twitter (now X), shortly after Elon Musk bought the platform for $44 billion. Mastodon was so popular at the time that it even caught the attention of Musk, who mocked it and called it "Masterbatedone" in a now-deleted tweet. He went as far as suspending accounts that posted links to competing platforms like Mastodon.

However, after the initial rush, the hype around Mastodon faded, with other platforms like Bluesky gaining more attention from Twitter refugees. Despite that, Mastodon remains the most popular way to interact with the fediverse, and even Meta's Threads has integrated fediverse support. For those who aren’t familiar with it, the fediverse is a network of interconnected, decentralized social media platforms that communicate using open protocols.

In a recent announcement titled "The people should own the town square," likely a jab at Elon Musk, who has referred to X as the "public town square," Mastodon revealed that it is transferring ownership of key platform components, such as the name, copyrights, and other assets, to a new non-profit organization.

While some parts of Mastodon are moving to a new non-profit, here’s what’s staying the same (according to the announcement):

  • Mission: Mastodon continues its core mission to create digital tools and spaces for authentic, constructive online communities free from ads, data exploitation, manipulative algorithms, and corporate monopolies.
  • Mastodon.social and Mastodon.online: These two public servers will remain operational, allowing users to join the Mastodon network. It will also continue to support the federated network, where different servers communicate with each other.
  • User Experience: No significant changes are expected for users, aside from regular updates and code tweaks. Future changes are planned, though.
  • Headquarters: Mastodon will remain primarily based in Europe, with operations managed by Mastodon GmbH, a for-profit company.
  • US-based Non-profit: The US-based 501(c)(3) non-profit will continue its role as a fundraising hub.

In the announcement, Mastodon also mentioned that progress on the Fediscovery project would continue. If you're unfamiliar with it, Fediscovery is a Mastodon-led initiative that aims to make it possible to search across the entire Fediverse. According to the project's website, it’s designed to respect privacy and only uses content from creators who have opted in.

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