{"id":21614,"date":"2023-09-06T11:09:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-06T15:09:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/mastodon-privacy-security-settings\/21614\/"},"modified":"2023-09-06T20:51:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T16:51:08","slug":"mastodon-privacy-security-settings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/me-en.kaspersky.com\/blog\/mastodon-privacy-security-settings\/21614\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastodon: yet another social network \u2014 with a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"

The once cozy world of social media has been getting feverish in recent years. In the battle for audience attention, fly-by-night social networks come and go (Clubhouse<\/a>, anyone?), users run back and forth, and governments, as ever, ponder the introduction of regulations. Who\u2019d have thought, for example, that TikTok would be able to displace such monsters as Facebook and Instagram, and also to be banned fully or partially<\/a> in a host of countries?<\/p>\n

The public skirmishes between, and overall pantomime of the owners of the world\u2019s largest social networks\u00a0\u2014 Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, Instagram, Threads) and Elon Musk (X, formerly Twitter)\u00a0\u2014 similarly add nothing in terms of stability. And while Threads, despite analysts\u2019 predictions, didn\u2019t bury Twitter, Musk himself is doing a good job of digging the latter\u2019s grave: with every new innovation he comes up with, users jump ship in their droves. Catching up, slowly but surely, is YouTube, which has long since morphed from a mere video hosting service into a social media powerhouse boasting 2.5 billion users a month and used by 95% of teenagers; while taking a breather on the sidelines is LinkedIn, having carved out a business niche all for itself.<\/p>\n

Against this backdrop of upheavals, there\u2019s a relatively new\u2026 elephant in the room, which more than fills an X-shaped hole<\/a>. And that is Mastodon<\/a> (a mastodon, in case you don\u2019t know, was a furry elephant \u2014 long extinct). But it turns out Mastodon is no newcomer; it\u2019s still a game-changer\u2026\n<\/p>\n

How Mastodon works<\/h2>\n

\nCreated in 2016, Mastodon<\/a> is a microblogging social network similar to X (ex-Twitter), but based on the principles of decentralization. Unlike X, Mastodon consists of multiple independent servers (called \u201cinstances\u201d) brought together into a single network and interacting with each other, which offers far greater customization and control. Users can select instances according to their preferences and settings, yet still communicate with members from other instances.\n<\/p>\n

What are Mastodon instances?<\/h2>\n

\nInstances are independent servers, each with their own address in the Mastodon network, its own administrator, and its own rules of use. They can be general-purpose, or highly specialized with a unique theme dedicated to specific interests, languages, regions or communities. Users can select the servers they want to register on, while being able to follow accounts registered on other servers and view posts from any account on any server in their timeline.<\/p>\n

\"Mastodon<\/a>

Mastodon is a decentralized social network where each server has its own rules, values and guidelines.<\/p><\/div>\n

The first server to run Mastodon was mastodon.social<\/strong>. The instance was created and is maintained by its founder, Eugen \u201cGargron\u201d Rochko<\/a>, and is very popular.<\/p>\n

\"Picking<\/a>

Picking a Mastodon server is like choosing a place to live.<\/p><\/div>\n

How to pick a Mastodon server<\/h2>\n

\nThere are several criteria when it comes to choosing an instance in Mastodon:\n<\/p>\n