Decentralized social network Mastodon announced that it is making it easier to create an account on the fediverse — or at least its own server. Now, when you try to sign up on Mastodon, it will give an easy option to create an account on mastodon.social instead of choosing a server.
One of the prime complaints of joining the Mastodon network has been the complicated flow of sign-ups for different servers. This process can be overwhelming as compared to a centralized social network such as Twitter or Instagram.
Mastodon founder and CEO Eugen Rochko said in a blog post that this new feature is not taking away users’ choice of picking a server or moving to a different one after signing up. They can select “Pick my own server” if they want to join a different instance.
Rochko also mentioned that the upgraded onboarding makes it easier for people to get started and understand the advantages of decentralization later.
“You may be asking, how a default server option furthers decentralization. We believe it’s important for Mastodon to be good as a product on its own merits, and not just because of its ideology. If we only attract people who already care about decentralization, our ability to make decentralization mainstream becomes that much harder,” he said.
“This gives us a far better chance of showcasing what decentralized social networks have to offer instead of having that person bounce and never hearing from them again.”
Last year, after Elon Musk took over Twitter, several users started to register on Mastodon to find an alternative network. At one point Rochko’s team had to stop sign-ups to mastodon.social to ensure good quality of service.
With the latest update, the social network is upgrading its infrastructure and moderation tools to ensure smooth and safe experiences for users.
Additionally, Mastodon is soon rolling out improvements like quoted replies and better content and profile search along with ability to create groups. This will make it a more competent social network for people trying to build followings and communities.
Hopefully, these features will make it to third-party Mastodon clients like Ivory, Mammoth and Woolly.
In the last few weeks, Jack Dorsey-backed decentralized Bluesky has seen a lot of activity. While the network is still in invite-only mode, the organization recently launched an Android app, rolled out new moderation tools, shipped new developer tools and crossed the 50,000-user mark. The network has a similar design to Twitter when it comes to interacting with posts, and that makes it attractive to users who might want to go to an alternative network.