English subtitles for clip: File:What is Mastodon.webm
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1 00:00:00,530 --> 00:00:04,410 What is Mastodon? 2 00:00:04,410 --> 00:00:08,530 Mastodon is an open source social network. 3 00:00:08,530 --> 00:00:13,840 Similar to Twitter or Tumblr, users can make profiles, post messages, images or videos, 4 00:00:13,839 --> 00:00:18,099 and, of course, follow other users. 5 00:00:18,100 --> 00:00:23,180 Messages follow a 500-character limit and are displayed in a chronological order. 6 00:00:23,180 --> 00:00:27,910 Unlike other platforms, however, Mastodon is decentralized, meaning that there is no 7 00:00:27,910 --> 00:00:30,750 one server, company or person running it. 8 00:00:30,750 --> 00:00:35,150 While other social media platforms are owned and operated by a single corporation who has 9 00:00:35,149 --> 00:00:41,559 full control over everything, anyone can create and run their own server of Mastodon. 10 00:00:41,559 --> 00:00:43,289 How does this work? 11 00:00:43,289 --> 00:00:48,739 When someone creates their own version of Mastodon, this is called an “instance”. 12 00:00:48,739 --> 00:00:52,979 Since Mastodon is open source, anyone can create their own instance of Mastodon with 13 00:00:52,979 --> 00:00:54,829 their own set of rules. 14 00:00:54,829 --> 00:00:59,499 Because of this, all instances are owned, operated and moderated by the community that 15 00:00:59,500 --> 00:01:05,520 creates them, and not some large corporation which tracks your data to sell to advertisers. 16 00:01:05,519 --> 00:01:10,489 In most cases, Mastodon instances are crowdfunded, not financed. 17 00:01:10,490 --> 00:01:13,360 But how do these instances communicate with one another? 18 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:18,140 While users within an instance can, of course, follow each other, they can also decide to 19 00:01:18,140 --> 00:01:20,520 follow users within other instances. 20 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:26,050 So, while each instance of Mastodon is privately operated, their users can still communicate 21 00:01:26,049 --> 00:01:28,279 with members of other servers seamlessly. 22 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:32,530 Of course, communities who want to remain private don’t have to communicate with other 23 00:01:32,530 --> 00:01:36,700 servers; this is in the hands of its users. 24 00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:41,600 Mastodon also offers effective anti-abuse tools to help moderate instances as users 25 00:01:41,600 --> 00:01:42,780 see fit. 26 00:01:42,780 --> 00:01:47,110 Ultimately, Mastodon is a social network which puts the user first. 27 00:01:47,109 --> 00:01:51,999 Unlike traditional social media, Mastodon can’t go bankrupt, it can’t be sold, and 28 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,840 it can’t be completely blocked by governments. 29 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:59,670 Users are free to join whichever community they want, and communicate with whomever they 30 00:01:59,670 --> 00:02:00,670 want. 31 00:02:00,670 --> 00:02:04,870 With over a million registered users across multiple different languages, Mastodon is 32 00:02:04,869 --> 00:02:06,729 growing fast. 33 00:02:06,729 --> 00:02:08,529 Not sure which instance to join? 34 00:02:08,530 --> 00:02:11,480 Click the link below to find one that’s right for you.