via Mammoth
Mastodon is a microblogging service built on top of the Fediverse. What does that mean? Essentially it’s a distributed social network, similar to Twitter. You join an instance, or server, which feels right to you. It could be based around your hobbies or have additional rules and protections against harassment. Instances can work together, with users on each instance being able to see and talk with members of another instance. However, it comes in handy for moderation. An instance that has strong anti-harassment and anti-hate rules, for example, could ban users from an instance that promotes hate or bigotry. It’s a clever way to block swaths of users and make a safer browsing environment.
It’s also a little complicated. Sure, all services work similar to this. Do you think Twitter has just one server? They have entire buildings full of servers across the globe working in tandem. Mastodon, unlike social networks like Twitter, just makes it easier to block abusive users and servers.
Users struggle to pick the right instance to join, then don’t know who they can follow. There’s no algorithmic feed either, so it’s harder to find the content you want to engage with. Still, it’s safer to use than Twitter, once you get situated.
I got set up on Mastodon with Leaf and Core and a personal account easily. However, even I’ll admit, it took me a considerable amount of time to find accounts to follow. I don’t have many followers of my own either.
Mammoth, a client built for Mastodon, seeks to make Mastodon as easy to use as Twitter, without the hateful leader. It can get you set up and even suggest users to follow based on your interests. Mammoth even has a “For You” tab.
Enter Mammoth
If you’ve tried Mammoth in the past, you’re in for a treat. The developers just released Mammoth 2, and the upgrades make joining Mastodon, finding accounts, and entering an endless scroll easier than ever. You know, if that’s what you’re in to.
Mammoth’s new 2.0 update allows users to follow and create lists, choose whose posts they see, including suggestions from Mammoth and “friends of friends.” Features like that and the “For You” make getting started on Mastodon easier than ever. You can even sign up for a new “moth.social,” Mammoth’s own Mastodon server, while signing in for the first time.
Mammoth 2 makes Mastodon feel like a fleshed-out social network, ready for your endless scrolling needs.
Too Good to be True?
One of the best parts about Mastodon is that you are in control of what instance you use, what data you give out, and what others can see. With Mammoth, you’re giving up some of that control by making all your instances look the same. Any third party app could also have its own privacy policy that could include uses of your data that you don’t want.
Mammoth has a privacy policy available here. It’s quite short, and standard for Mastodon instances. Mammoth will store your For You and settings preferences, as well as the trending topics you follow. However, for cross-app syncing, this is expected.
Mammoth doesn’t claim to make money from selling your data. They “do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information.” Basically, it seems like Mammoth respects user privacy.
Screenshot of the Mammoth Gold subscription benefits.
Rather than selling data, Mammoth has subscriptions. Earlier this year, they discussed in a blog post that Mammoth would be subscriber-funded. You can also find their completely open-sourced code here, if you’d like to dig deeper. The developers are going out of their way to build consumer trust.
Currently, the app is excellent in its free form. A “Mammoth Gold” subscription adds early access to new features, which you can vote on, as well as icon packages, so you can make the app look however you want. They may add more features to the Mammoth Gold plan in the future, but right now, it’s mostly for fans of the app to show their support with $2.99/month or $19.99/year.
It appears to be good and true.
Mammoth is available for free on the App Store for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. With an easy-to-use tool like Mammoth, maybe you can finally ditch Twitter, if you haven’t already.
Sources:
- Bart Decrem, Mammoth Blog
- Mammoth, Mammoth Blog
- Mammoth, GitHub
- David Pierce, The Verge