Today Elon Musk took control of Twitter. For many, this is a good reason to leave Twitter. But how? Losing thousands of followers and getting cut off from information and conversations is painful. Can we switch to another platform that is not in the hands of one person or organisation? There are indeed alternatives that use technology that is federated in its design, like Mastodon. This can be compared to email: you have an account on Mastodon just like you have an email address. As you can email with anyone who has an email address, we can read messages from anyone who has a Mastodon account, without having to share the same server. This is also known as the fediverse, the federated internet.
Mastodon.social is part of the federated internet and has become very user-friendly over the years. It is ready for use by Twitter leavers. Sure, it takes time to find and follow interesting accounts, but this time it's for the last time because the fediverse makes sure you can take your contacts with you if you want to switch hosts!
And take your time. It's a transition. Build a presence on Mastodon first and take the time to entice your network to come along. You can even use apps to post your posts to Mastodon and Twitter at the same time.
1. Download a Mastodon client app such as Metatext (iOS) or Tusky.
2. Create an account on mastodon.social or any other host
3. Share your address (for example: @laicos.nodotsam@erehwen or mastodon.social/@newhere) with your contacts
4. Make connections and 'toot' on it. Look at #newhere and #followfriday for tips. Looking for your old Twitter friends? Then look here.
5. You can use the regular mastodon app, but also twidere.com which allows you (perhaps temporarily before final #twexit) to follow both Twitter and Mastodon tweets and toots. Or automate your Twitter and Mastodon and automatically post to both accounts through this tool.