Mastodon, the open source alternative to Twitter, has been experiencing a steady surge in monthly active users, reaching an impressive milestone of 2.1 million, as reported by Eugen Rochko, the founder and CEO of Mastodon after Twitter’s Logo Change to ‘X’.
This notable growth comes after a previous peak of 2.5 million users between October and November, shortly after Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter.
Mastodon, which had once been a smaller network with around 300,000 monthly active users, found its fate often intertwined with Twitter’s actions, particularly its missteps.
Following Twitter’s acquisition by Musk, a Twitter exodus occurred, with long-time users seeking alternatives due to changes implemented on the microblogging site.
The changes ranged from widespread layoffs to questionable product strategies, such as the mishandled relaunch of Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, which diluted the value of verification.
Twitter users may find themselves frustrated with Musk’s recent implementation of rate limiting, which reduces the number of tweets accessible to users and subscribers.
This peculiar product decision essentially hampers users from viewing content on the platform, especially after today’s rebranding to ‘X’ change Twitter’s logo. Musk justified the change as necessary to combat a surge in bots and spam on Twitter.
Although many social networks employ rate limiting to tackle similar issues, they typically do not extend these limitations to end users, thus preventing them from accessing the platform’s content and advertisements.
Additionally, the decision to enact rate limiting on Twitter, restricting the number of tweets viewable by users and subscribers, could also be a contributing factor to Mastodon’s renewed growth.
While some Twitter users experimented with Mastodon, not all stuck with it, resulting in a drop in monthly active users from 2.5 million to 1.7 million at the beginning of the month.
Some users may have explored other emerging Twitter alternatives like Bluesky, T2, Spill, and Post, while others reduced their activity or left Twitter altogether, leading to a decline in Twitter’s traffic.
The resurgence of Mastodon’s active user base could be attributed to various factors, including renewed interest in ActivityPub, the decentralized social networking protocol powering the Mastodon network and other apps.
Meta’s new Twitter competitor, Instagram Threads, has committed to integrating with ActivityPub, bringing more awareness to decentralized social networking.
Moreover, Mastodon has been benefiting from polished third-party Mastodon clients that make using the platform more enjoyable and less complicated. These include apps developed by former Twitter third-party app makers, like Ivory, Woolly, and Mammoth.
The official Mastodon mobile app also received a refresh, addressing pain points and offering enhanced customization options.
Beyond its own developments, Mastodon’s appeal has garnered interest from other tech companies, with WordPress acquiring a plug-in to feed WordPress blogs into Mastodon, Medium launching its own Mastodon server, and Flipboard integrating with the network in its social reading app.
As Mastodon’s user base continues to grow, it remains to be seen how Twitter’s evolving decisions and the momentum of ActivityPub will shape the platform’s future is this happening due to Twitter’s Logo Change to ‘X’. The competition between Twitter and its open source rival is sure to keep the social media landscape dynamic and ever-evolving.
