Meta tags:
description=Welcome to the Mastodon documentation!;

Headings (most frequently used words):

what, is, and, software, mastodon, microblog, federation, activitypub, practical, implications, choose, your, path, sponsored, by, choice, of, service, provider, policy, funding, monetization, interoperability, between, different, free, libre,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (52), #mastodon (42), and (38), your (17), that (17), with (14), admin (14), can (13), you (13), for (12), software (11), their (11), account (10), from (10), are (10), activitypub (10), server (10), different (9), other (9), all (9), websites (9), people (8), any (8), website (8), not (7), more (7), some (7), how (6), eugen (6), rochko (6), like (6), they (6), just (6), what (6), api (5), 2018 (5), communities (5), own (5), but (5), services (5), service (5), features (5), same (5), posts (5), federated (5), communicate (5), have (5), using (5), profile (5), also (4), learn (4), use (4), why (4), does (4), decentralization (4), fediverse (4), power (4), each (4), users (4), provider (4), follow (4), twitter (4), updates (4), public (4), via (4), operators (4), accounts (4), media (4), platform (4), one (4), which (4), lets (4), federation (4), email (4), new (4), instance (4), oauth (4), source (3), technical (3), about (3), machine (3), choose (3), network (3), allows (3), see (3), without (3), individual (3), publish (3), includes (3), these (3), instagram (3), protocol (3), security (3), running (3), distributed (3), centralized (3), moderation (3), microblogging (3), search (3), preferences (3), apps (3), reports (3), setting (3), this (2), overview (2), contribute (2), getting (2), started (2), app (2), preparing (2), signing (2), dec (2), matter (2), world (2), decentralized (2), user (2), exist (2), ability (2), create (2), modify (2), unlike (2), free (2), modified (2), forks (2), required (2), freedoms (2), project (2), many (2), well (2), including (2), small (2), because (2), libre (2), freedom (2), anyone (2), has (2), code (2), future (2), compatible (2), practical (2), leaving (2), used (2), support (2), creating (2), status (2), out (2), interoperate (2), webfinger (2), between (2), utility (2), global (2), conversation (2), organizations (2), who (2), conversations (2), development (2), likewise (2), patreon (2), existing (2), similar (2), personal (2), themselves (2), friends (2), implement (2), monetization (2), structure (2), its (2), list (2), may (2), policies (2), such (2), tags (2), content (2), least (2), form (2), upload (2), implementations (2), traditional (2), sign (2), pictures (2), address (2), single (2), act (2), publishing (2), text (2), polls (2), documentation (2), notificationpolicy (2), filter (2), report (2), quote (2), domainblock (2), notifications (2), trends (2), collections (2), domain_blocks (2), tokens (2), environment (2), implementing (2), installing (2), configuring (2), imprint, view, blog, join, sponsored, last, updated, january, 2024, available, polski, 日本語, 简体中文, improve, page, backend, write, install, path, biodiversity, digital, hallmark, healthy, ecosystem, interfaces, forms, government, cooperate, feb, 2017, build, response, mark, zuckerberg, ultimate, giving, spaces, fit, sacrificing, interact, proprietary, version, versions, known, uphold, original, example, distribution, adds, various, experimental, perhaps, themed, slightly, differently, modifications, codebase, respects, personalizations, only, allowed, encouraged, glitch, soc, complete, run, examine, inspect, copy, distribute, reuse, provided, guarantee, derivative, work, jun, platforms, focus, needs, yet, foundation, subscribing, receive, terms, imagine, could, comment, photos, were, would, possible, necessary, subset, interacting, find, specifications, read, even, interoperability, mar, opinion, instant, messaging, should, fact, independent, actors, self, govern, incentives, exploit, profit, crowdfunded, venture, capital, involved, opencollective, offer, paid, companies, utilize, infrastructure, rely, crowdfunding, paying, pocket, maybe, want, hosting, check, offers, way, donate, operated, completely, independently, strategies, funding, social, hierarchical, where, rules, enforcement, direction, decided, ceo, mldr, deliberately, relinquishes, control, owner, essentially, having, jul, cage, maintaining, feel, safe, members, easy, provides, lot, foundational, framework, tools, doing, shifts, effect, change, commercial, entity, potential, option, choosing, already, wish, maintains, recommended, providers, sortable, category, language, beyond, requiring, certain, potentially, sensitive, relaxed, listed, picker, agree, adopt, meaning, pledge, actively, moderate, against, hate, speech, take, daily, backups, emergency, provide, months, advance, notice, case, shutdown, covenant, joinmastodon, org, choice, policy, implications, brand, might, often, hear, than, technically, latter, correct, plume, longer, articles, peertube, videos, channels, misskey, alongside, customizable, dashboard, pixelfed, image, sharing, share, consume, pleroma, modular, engine, universe, name, over, wide, web, servers, uses, standardized, open, called, implements, seamlessly, another, left, right, operate, alone, post, messages, talk, letting, send, gmail, someone, outlook, fastmail, protonmail, long, know, mention, message, bittorrent, ipfs, scuttlebutt, xmpp, phone, networks, physical, mail, facebook, examples, grade, centralization, instead, central, there, multiple, number, blogging, stream, optionally, attach, audio, video, discover, ones, microblog, welcome, webpushsubscription, translation, token, termsofservice, tag, suggestion, statussource, statusedit, shallowtag, shallowquote, scheduledstatus, rule, role, relationshipseveranceevent, relationship, reaction, quoteapproval, privacypolicy, previewcardauthor, previewcard, poll, notificationrequest, notificationfallback, notification, mediaattachment, marker, identityproof, filterstatus, filterresult, filterkeyword, featuredtag, featureapproval, familiarfollowers, extendeddescription, error, customemoji, context, collectionwithaccounts, collectionitem, collection, asyncrefresh, application, appeal, annualreport, announcement, measure, ipblock, emaildomainblock, domainallow, dimension, cohort, canonicalemailblock, accountwarning, entities, streaming, markers, lists, timelines, scheduled_statuses, statuses, proofs, oembed, push, directory, custom_emojis, announcements, health, grouped, async_refreshes, emails, annual, retention, measures, ip_blocks, email_domain_blocks, domain_allows, dimensions, canonical_email_blocks, suggestions, mutes, followed_tags, follow_requests, filters, featured_tags, favourites, endorsements, bookmarks, blocks, methods, rate, limits, scopes, guidelines, best, practices, datetime, formats, rest, bearcaps, microformats, spec, compliance, design, reference, themes, css, styling, state, management, components, frontend, guide, issues, responsible, disclosure, routes, dev, contributing, libraries, logging, obtaining, client, access, playing, data, developing, roles, webhooks, database, index, corruption, troubleshooting, errors, actions, scaling, migrating, backing, upgrading, release, cli, captcha, onion, object, storage, optional, full, official, ios, android, moving, externally, settings, set, promoting, yourself, others, dealing, unwanted, quoting, posting,

Text of the page (random words):
mastodon documentation what is mastodon using mastodon signing up for an account setting up your profile posting to your profile using the network features quoting other posts dealing with unwanted content promoting yourself and others set your preferences more settings using mastodon externally moving or leaving accounts official ios and android apps running your own server running mastodon preparing your machine installing from source configuring your environment configuring full text search installing optional features object storage onion services captcha single sign on setting up your new instance using the admin cli upgrading to a new release backing up your server migrating to a new machine scaling up your server moderation actions troubleshooting errors database index corruption webhooks roles developing mastodon apps getting started with the api playing with public data obtaining client app access logging in with an account libraries and implementations implementing quote posts implementing collections contributing to mastodon technical overview setting up a dev environment code structure routes security issues and responsible disclosure frontend guide components state management css and styling creating themes design tokens reference spec compliance activitypub webfinger security microformats oauth bearcaps rest api datetime formats guidelines and best practices oauth tokens oauth scopes rate limits api methods accounts blocks bookmarks domain_blocks endorsements favourites featured_tags filters follow_requests followed_tags mutes preferences reports suggestions tags admin accounts canonical_email_blocks dimensions domain_allows domain_blocks email_domain_blocks ip_blocks measures reports retention trends annual reports apps emails oauth async_refreshes collections grouped notifications health instance announcements custom_emojis directory trends notifications push oembed profile proofs search statuses media polls scheduled_statuses timelines conversations lists markers streaming api entities account accountwarning admin account admin canonicalemailblock admin cohort admin dimension admin domainallow admin domainblock admin emaildomainblock admin ip admin ipblock admin measure admin report announcement annualreport appeal application asyncrefresh collection collectionitem collectionwithaccounts context conversation customemoji domainblock error extendeddescription familiarfollowers featureapproval featuredtag filter filterkeyword filterresult filterstatus identityproof instance list marker mediaattachment notification notificationfallback notificationpolicy notificationrequest poll preferences previewcard previewcardauthor privacypolicy profile quote quoteapproval reaction relationship relationshipseveranceevent report role rule scheduledstatus search shallowquote shallowtag status statusedit statussource suggestion tag termsofservice token translation v1 filter v1 instance v1 notificationpolicy webpushsubscription what is mastodon welcome to the mastodon documentation what is a microblog similar to how blogging is the act of publishing updates to a website microblogging is the act of publishing small updates to a stream of updates on your profile you can publish text posts and optionally attach media such as pictures audio video or polls mastodon lets you follow friends and discover new ones what is federation federation is a form of decentralization instead of a single central service that all people use there are multiple services that any number of people can use grade of centralization examples centralized twitter facebook instagram federated email xmpp phone networks physical mail distributed bittorrent ipfs scuttlebutt a mastodon website can operate alone just like a traditional website people sign up on it post messages upload pictures and talk to each other unlike a traditional website mastodon websites can interoperate letting their users communicate with each other just like you can send an email from your gmail account to someone from outlook fastmail protonmail or any other email provider as long as you know their email address you can mention or message anyone on any website using their address from left to right centralized federated distributed what is activitypub mastodon uses a standardized open protocol to implement federation it is called activitypub any software that likewise implements federation via activitypub can seamlessly communicate with mastodon just like mastodon websites communicate with one another the fediverse federated universe is the name for all websites that can communicate with each other over activitypub and the world wide web that includes all mastodon servers but also other implementations pleroma a modular microblogging engine pixelfed federated image sharing platform which lets you share and consume media posts misskey which includes microblogging alongside a customizable dashboard peertube which lets you upload videos to channels plume which lets you publish longer form articles and many more including individual and personal websites the fediverse does not have its own brand so you might more often hear follow me on mastodon than follow me on the fediverse but technically the latter is more correct practical implications choice of service provider and policy because mastodon is just software that can be used to power any website potential users of mastodon have the option of choosing a service provider from already existing mastodon websites or to create their own mastodon website if they wish the mastodon project maintains a list of recommended service providers at joinmastodon org sortable by category and or language some websites may have moderation policies that go beyond this such as requiring the use of certain tags on potentially sensitive content and some websites may have more relaxed moderation policies but websites listed in the picker all agree to adopt the mastodon server covenant meaning that they pledge to actively moderate against hate speech to take daily backups to have at least one emergency admin and to provide at least 3 months advance notice in case of shutdown maintaining communities that feel safe for all of its members is not easy mastodon provides a lot of foundational framework and tools for doing it and shifts the power to effect change from one commercial entity to the communities themselves eugen rochko jul 6 2018 cage the mastodon a centralized social media platform has a hierarchical structure where rules and their enforcement as well as the development and direction of the platform are decided by the ceo mldr a decentralized network deliberately relinquishes control of the platform owner by essentially not having one eugen rochko dec 30 2018 why does decentralization matter funding and monetization mastodon websites are operated by different people or organizations completely independently mastodon does not implement any monetization strategies in the software some server operators choose to offer paid accounts some server operators are companies who can utilize their existing infrastructure some server operators rely on crowdfunding from their users via patreon and similar services and some server operators are just paying out of pocket for a personal server for themselves and maybe some friends so if you want to support the server hosting your account check if it offers a way to donate mastodon development is likewise crowdfunded via patreon and via opencollective no venture capital is involved in my opinion instant public global messaging and conversation should in fact be global distributed between independent organizations and actors who can self govern a public utility without incentives to exploit the conversations for profit eugen rochko mar 3 2018 twitter is not a public utility interoperability between different software in practical terms imagine if you could follow an instagram user from your twitter account and comment on their photos without leaving your account if twitter and instagram were federated services that used the same protocol that would be possible with a mastodon account you can communicate with any other compatible website even if it is not running on mastodon all that is necessary is that the software support the same subset of the activitypub protocol that allows for creating and interacting with status updates to find out more about the technical specifications required to interoperate with mastodon see activitypub webfinger and security to read more about what activitypub allows us to do see why activitypub is the future all of these platforms are different and they focus on different needs and yet the foundation is all the same people subscribing to receive posts from other people and so they are all compatible eugen rochko jun 27 2018 why activitypub is the future free libre software unlike proprietary services anyone has the complete freedom to run examine inspect copy modify distribute and reuse the mastodon source code provided they guarantee the same freedoms for any derivative work just like how users of mastodon can choose their service provider you as an individual are free to contribute features to mastodon or publish a modified version of mastodon that includes different features these modified versions also known as software forks are required to also uphold the same freedoms as the original mastodon project for example glitch soc is a software distribution that adds various experimental features many individual forks exist as well perhaps themed slightly differently or including small modifications to the codebase because mastodon is libre software that respects your freedom personalizations like these are not only allowed but encouraged the ultimate power is in giving people the ability to create their own spaces their own communities to modify the software as they see fit but without sacrificing the ability of people from different communities to interact with each other eugen rochko feb 20 2017 the power to build communities a response to mark zuckerberg decentralization is biodiversity of the digital world the hallmark of a healthy ecosystem a decentralized network like the fediverse allows different user interfaces different software different forms of government to co exist and cooperate eugen rochko dec 30 2018 why does decentralization matter choose your path learn how to use mastodon signing up for an account learn how to install mastodon preparing your machine learn how to write an app for mastodon getting started with the api learn about the mastodon backend and how to contribute technical overview last updated january 14 2024 improve this page also available in 简体中文 日本語 polski sponsored by join mastodon blog view source cc by sa 4 0 imprint