Neowin News Feed for: Mastodon

Like Wikipedia, Mastodon now shows a banner urging you to donate to keep it alive

David Uzondu — Wed, 23 Jul 2025 21:26:02 +0000

Open source projects often depend on donations to keep going. Now, Mastodon is making its need for support more visible and will start actively asking users to pitch in. Read more...

Mastodon updates terms of service to ban AI model training on user data

David Uzondu — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 18:06:02 +0000

Scraping user data to train AI models is a growing concern, and Mastodon has responded by banning the use of its content for such purposes. Read more...

Flipboard's Surf includes feature to exclude posts about Elon Musk in latest beta update

David Uzondu — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 22:00:01 +0000

Flipboard has introduced the newest beta update for Surf, featuring a filter option for "you know who" that hides posts discussing him. Read more...

Mastodon is finally working on adding a feature that X has had for more than a decade

David Uzondu — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 20:56:01 +0000

Mastodon is finally getting a feature that platforms like Twitter (now X) have long supported, reducing the need for third-party workarounds and bringing more first-party support. Read more...

Mastodon is shifting control to a new nonprofit organization

David Uzondu — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 18:32:02 +0000

Mastodon has announced that "no one should own the public town square" as it hands control over to a new nonprofit. Read more...

Mastodon becomes a non-profit in the US, Twitter co-founder joins board

Paul Hill — Sun, 28 Apr 2024 01:44:01 +0000

Mastodon has become a non-profit in the United States following the revocation of this status in Germany. It has also appointed a new board which includes the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone. Read more...

Meta launches Threads in the EU, tests fediverse integration

Steve Bennett — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 12:22:02 +0000

Meta's competitor to X (nee. Twitter), Threads, has now launched in Europe, after being initially delayed due to the introduction of the Digital Markets Act across its member states. Read more...

Links to sites that Elon Musk publicly attacked apparently load slower on X

Steve Bennett — Tue, 15 Aug 2023 20:44:01 +0000

In the saga that is Elon Musk's management of X, it's being reported that links to websites that he has been having arguments with online are now loading slower, with delays of up to 5 seconds. Read more...

Twitter said it needed to limit usage without warning so it could detect "bad actors"

John Callaham — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 19:36:01 +0000

In a new blog post, Twitter said its actions over the weekend to limit the number of posts people could read each day only affected "a small percentage of people using the platform." Read more...

Admin of an anarchist Mastodon server raided by FBI, insecure user data gets seized

Paul Hill — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 20:18:02 +0000

An anarchist-oriented Mastodon server has seen one of its admins raided by the FBI. The admin in question was working with an unencrypted backup of the Mastodon server, which was also seized. Read more...

Meta is taking on Twitter by developing a decentralised, Mastodon-like app

Karthik Mudaliar — Fri, 10 Mar 2023 09:16:01 +0000

Meta is developing a decentralised text-based social media platform that will run on the same protocol as that of Twitter rival Mastodon and aims to create a more transparent and secure social media. Read more...

Mastodon's active users decline after months of steady rise

Justin Luna — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 07:16:02 +0000

Twitter alternative Mastodon amassed more than 2 million users in the past year. However, the platform has eventually started losing users, likely due to it being difficult to use. Read more...

Mastodon has amassed 2.5 million active users since Elon Musk took over Twitter

Justin Luna — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 09:42:02 +0000

Mastodon has garnered more than two million active users from October to November, according to its CEO Eugen Rechko. More journalists and organizations have also been moving to the platform. Read more...

Twitter says you can't link to rival social media platforms, you face suspension if you do

Paul Hill — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 18:34:09 +0000

Twitter has announced that it will no longer allow users to tweet usernames related to or links to rival platforms. Its prohibited list includes Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon and even linktr.ee. Read more...

How to opt for the nuclear option and delete your Twitter account

Paul Hill — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 15:32:01 +0000

Here's a simple guide on the Twitter account deletion process. With many people leaving the platform for Mastodon, you may want to know how to tidy up behind you and shut down your Twitter account. Read more...

The fediverse has gained a million new users this month, most are heading to Mastodon

Paul Hill — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 07:52:01 +0000

The fediverse has gained more than a million new users this month alone, according to data from Fediverse Observer. Unfortunately, many fediverse projects are ignored in favour of Mastodon. Read more...

Half a million people join the fediverse in November, most joining Mastodon

Paul Hill — Thu, 10 Nov 2022 02:52:01 +0000

The fediverse has seen more than 500,000 new users join so far this month. The spike in new users is largely backlash against Elon Musk taking over Twitter. Fediverse servers also increased. Read more...

Mastodon climbs to a million active monthly users thanks to Twitter shenanigans

Fiza Ali — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 14:22:01 +0000

Mastodon, running under the slogan "social networking that's not for sale," is ad-free and offers various microblogging features. The Twitter alternative is growing rapidly since Musk' takeover. Read more...

PGP creator backs Openbook, a KickStarter privacy-first alternative to Facebook

Paul Hill — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 12:36:02 +0000

A new privacy-oriented social network called Openbook has gained the support of notable security experts. The firm is due to launch its KickStarter on Tuesday to raise funds to build the new network. Read more...