title: Migrating from Twitter to Mastodon --- pub_date: 2022-11-11 --- author: Nico Schottelius --- twitter_handle: NicoSchottelius --- _hidden: no --- _discoverable: yes --- abstract: How to move from Twitter to Mastodon --- body: ## TL;DR If you are in a hurry, here is the minimal amount of information you need to move from Twitter to Mastodon: * Find a server you like * Create an account Ready and go! ## The longer story Mastodon is not Twitter and will never be. However both Mastodon and Twitter are social media networks. Mastodon however is **decentralised**. ## Decentralised Social Media What does that mean, decentralised? It means anyone can run a Mastodon server and connect to everyone else. This is very much how the Internet was designed: a place of many systems that talk to each other. Twitter on the other side is a centralised solution. All data and communication is hosted by Twitter. If Twitter is going down, everyone is affected. Mastodon on the other hand is much more robust. You can and have to choose a Mastodon instance that you like. ## Which Mastodon instance to use? There are plenty of instances around and you can choose the one you trust most or your friends are on. Or, you can even [run your own Mastodon instance](https://docs.joinmastodon.org/user/run-your-own/). ## Your own Mastodon instance Why would you want to run your own Mastodon instance in the first place? Let's take a few steps back, to understand the fundamental difference between Twitter and the Fediverse. The Fedi-what? We so far said Mastodon everywhere, but in reality, Mastodon is just one software that allows you to communicate decentralised. In general, we refer to the decentralised communication as the "FEDIVERSE". That's settled, now let's go back to why anyone would want to run their own instance. First of all, running your own mastodon instance allows you to use your own, custom domain. So my handle is [@nico@ipv6.social](https://ipv6.social/@nico) and it indicates I am somewhat interested in #IPv6 related topics, just from the domain of the instance I am on. If you already have a domain, many people also choose to use the subdomain "social", like social.example.com. There is a second, maybe equally significant point when it comes to Mastodon. That is the question of who is going to take care of the instance, who is going to update the software and who is actually going to pay for running the instance? ## In the fediverse, you are not a product Compared to Twitter, where advertisement turns the user into a product, in the fediverse you are not a product. That also means that the organisation running a Mastodon instance does actually need to pay for the service. Whether that is running a VPS, running a Raspberry PI or having it hosted by someone else, somebody has to provide the resource for it. This is fundamentally different compared to Twitter, but also Facebook, where you are basically also just a product. The big advantage of this is that there is no advertisement, no central user analytics, but much more freedom. Like we say in Switzerland, you [Khasch nit z'Füferli und z Weggli ha](https://dict.leo.org/forum/viewGeneraldiscussion.php?idForum=4&idThread=1051992&lp=ende&lang=en) or in proper English: you cannot have everything. ## Mastodon Hosting by ungleich Shameless plug at the end - we have just launched [Mastodon hosting by ungleich](/u/products/mastodon-hosting/) to provide you an easy way to start in the fediverse. Remember, you don't have to go with us, but the beauty of the fediverse is you can host your own, use somebody else's server or use a hosted Mastodon instance. Looking forward to hearing you in the fediverse and if you have any comment, do not hesitate to reach out to me at @nico@ipv6.social.