The Rectangular View

Unlike most social networking apps, you don’t actually join Mastodon, you join a server (also known as an instance) that runs Mastodon. Having to choose a server before joining probably turns non-tech savvy people off–it made me stop the process immediately and I’m not afraid of tech. But I didn’t stop the sign-up process out of fear, it was because I needed to fully understand what an instance was. So I did some research and am going to share what I learned with you.

What is a Mastodon instance?

What you need to know:

• An instance is a server with the Mastodon software installed. Your account will be set up on that server and will allow you to post text, images, etc… and will store the data you post.

• The Mastodon program works similar to email, in which your account is on one Mastodon server and can interact with anybody on any other Mastodon server. (i.e. an email sent via Gmail email server can be read to a person using an Outlook email server). Think of your Mastodon account handle as an email address you use to broadcast to the world.

• Each Mastodon server has its own rules, so you’ll need to review them before joining. These rules will talk about the type of content they allow (hate speech, disinformation, etc…) and if you’ll need to tag adult content.

What you need to look for when choosing a Mastodon server/instance

From here on I’ll use refer to a Mastodon instance as a server.

Although there’s lots of special interest Mastodon servers out there, it’s probably best to find one that will suit your needs as far as rules and content rather than your special niche. After all, any post you send out can be read to any person regardless of the Maston server they’re on.

When you first sign up for Mastodon you get a list of Mastodon serves to join. To choose the server that’s right for you, you might want to do a little digging. This can be done on a phone, but I found it easier to do on a laptop.

• Look through the list of servers and find one that you may want to join. Highlight the name of the server and paste it in the address bar on your browser followed by “/about” to get the about page (i.e. mas.town/about)

The information you need to make an informed decision will be listed here. Beneath the administrator’s name and contact information are three sections you’ll need to review. Those section are:

• About has information on cross posting, moderators, server specs, etc…

• Server Rules has what is and is not allowed (i.e. hate speech, racism, sexism, homophobia, and how they handle sexually explicit posts).

• Moderated Servers shows the servers you will not be allowed to interact with and why. Not all servers tell you why a server is moderated. I chose a server that lets you know why they put a server in this section.

The bottom left will have the version of Mastodon that the server is running.

Compare this with the most recent version of Mastodon on their Github page. It’s about halfway down on the right. This is important because you want a server with the latest security updates.

I joined mstdn.social (mstdn.social/about), which meets my needs. Also keep in mind that you can switch servers if you want. Join Mastodon here https://joinmastodon.org/. You can find me at https://mstdn.social/@RTV.