Mastodon: Open-Source Federated Social Network for Decentralized Social Media

What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is an open-source, decentralized social network built on the ActivityPub protocol for federated social networking. Designed as a Twitter alternative that respects user privacy and freedom, Mastodon enables users to share messages, media, and build communities without algorithmic feeds or surveillance. Over 3 million users participate in federated Mastodon instances worldwide.

Unlike Twitter ($5-15/month premium) where all activity is tracked and content is controlled by Twitter, Mastodon users own their content and choose their instance. Complete decentralization prevents platform-wide censorship or content manipulation.

Mastodon serves as the social network for open communication. Users share thoughts and opinions. Communities gather around topics and interests. Conversations flow freely without algorithmic manipulation.

Key Features and Capabilities

Content Sharing

Toots: Post messages (toots) up to 500 characters
Media: Share images, videos, and audio
Hashtags: Categorize content with hashtags
Content Warnings: Hide sensitive content behind warnings
Editing: Edit posts after publishing
Scheduling: Schedule posts for future publishing

Social Interaction

Follows: Follow users from other instances
Favorites: Favorite posts from other users
Boosts: Share posts with followers (retweets)
Replies: Reply to posts with threading
Direct Messages: Send private messages to other users
Notifications: Get notified of interactions

Federation

ActivityPub Protocol: Federate with other ActivityPub services
Cross-Instance Interaction: Follow users from different instances
Instance Federation: Connect with thousands of federated instances
Seamless Sharing: Share content across federated network

System Requirements

Server Requirements

OS: Linux (Ubuntu 18.04+, Debian 10+)
Ruby: 2.5+ with Rails
PostgreSQL: 10+ for database
Redis: For caching and background jobs
RAM: 2GB minimum, 4GB+ recommended
Storage: 50GB+ for media storage

Installation

Docker Installation

docker run -d 
  --name mastodon 
  -p 3000:3000 
  -e LOCAL_DOMAIN=mastodon.example.com 
  -v mastodon_data:/mastodon/public/system 
  tootsuite/mastodon:latest

# Access at http://localhost:3000