MASTODON AND ITS TOOLS

Mastodon is a fascinating and growing platform in the world of social media that offers a fresh and user-friendly user-friendly alternative to the established networks. At its core, Mastodon is a decentralized, open source network that focuses on privacy and user control. It differs from traditional social social media through its unique structure and philosophy.

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What is Mastodon?

Mastodon is a microblogging service, similar to Twitter (X), but with some key differences that make it special. make it special. It was launched in 2016 and has had a steadily growing user base ever since.

Decentralized structure

One of the outstanding features of Mastodon is its decentralized nature. The network consists of different servers known as “instances”. Each instance is operated independently and has its own rules and community norms. This structure allows users to choose a community that suits their interests and values. interests and values.

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How does Mastodon work?

Toots: Instead of tweets, there are “toots” on Mastodon. These are posts that can contain up to 500 characters, significantly more than on Twitter.

Federation: Mastodon instances can communicate with each other. This means that users can share content with people on other instances and see content from them.

Content control: Users have extensive control over what they see and share, including advanced privacy settings and content alerts.

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What can you do with Mastodon?

Communicate and network: Exchange thoughts, share news and interact with a diverse community.

Discover niche communities: Find specialized instances that focus on specific topics, hobbies or interests.

Share media: Post photos, videos and links, similar to other social networks.

Privacy and security: Benefit from a platform that takes privacy seriously and gives users more control over their data.

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Why choose Mastodon?

Less commercial: No ads or algorithmic feeds that determine what you see.

Community-oriented: The decentralized nature fosters a stronger sense of community.

Freedom and flexibility: Open-source and customizable, ideal for those who value independence and personalization.

Mastodon is more than just an alternative to traditional social media; it’s a community based on respect, openness and diversity. Whether you’re a longtime social media user or just looking for a fresh, ethical approach, Mastodon offers an exciting platform to express yourself and connect with others.

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Mastodon in the browser

If we use Mastodon in the browser, it’s quite simple. We can access any Mastodon instance directly via its web link. There is no special software that we need to install. We simply open our browser, enter the URL and we’re ready to go. This is ideal for us if we want to access Mastodon quickly and without much effort.

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Mastodon on the smartphone

There are various apps for use on the smartphone, which we can choose depending on the operating system:

For iOS: A popular choice is “Toot!”, which is known for its user-friendly interface. Another option is “Metatext”, which is appreciated for its simplicity and efficiency.

For Android: Here, “Tusky” is a frequently recommended app known for its clear and intuitive user interface. Another option is “Fedilab”, which offers a variety of features for advanced users. These apps allow us to conveniently use Mastodon on the go. We can write posts, reply, scroll through scroll through our feed and interact with the community, all directly from our smartphone.

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Tools and programming

There are tools for using Mastodon via the terminal that offer us a completely different experience:

Toot: A command line client that allows us to use Mastodon via the terminal. With “Toot” we can write and read posts and interact easily with the Mastodon community.

Mastodon.py: This is a Python library that allows developers to create Mastodon bots or clients. For those of us who like to program, Mastodon.py is a great way to use Mastodon in a very personalized way. individual way.

These terminal tools are ideal for us if we have a deeper technical understanding or just want a different way of interacting with Mastodon. way of interacting with Mastodon.

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Toot-Client

Installation of Toot

Open your terminal and run the following command to install “Toot”:

pip install toot

Login to Mastodon

After the installation you have to connect “Toot” to your Mastodon account:

Run toot login.

You will be asked to name your instance and then log in to the browser, which will give you an authentication code which you must enter in the terminal. This is then permanently stored in toot. Corresponding paths are displayed to you.

Basic commands

Post toot:

toot post "Your toot text"

View timeline:

toot timeline

Reply to a toot:

toot reply <TOOT_ID> "Your reply"

Advanced functions

Post media files:

toot media post <DATAPATH>

Search:

toot search "Search term"

Show help:

toot --help

Use of Toot TUI

“Toot TUI” provides a text-based user interface for Mastodon. To use it, perform the following steps:

Start Toot TUI with the command:

toot tui

You will see an interactive interface where you can navigate with the arrow keys. To post, reply or perform other actions, follow the instructions on the screen.

Tips for use

Customization: You can customize the configuration of “Toot” by editing the configuration files that are normally found in the ~/.config/toot/ directory.

Updates: Check regularly for updates to “Toot” to get new features and security improvements.

Community: Use the Mastodon community for tips and support if you encounter challenges.

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References

[1] Mastodon - Mastodon gGmbH. (2023). “Mastodon: Your social network, decentralized.” Mastodon. https://joinmastodon.org/

[2] Toot! - Dag Agren. (2023). “Toot! for Mastodon.” App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/toot/id1229021451

[3] Metatext - Metabolist. (2023). “Metatext: A free, open-source iOS client for Mastodon.” App Store. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/metatext/id1523996615

[4] Tusky - Tusky Project. (2023). “Tusky for Mastodon.” Google Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.keylesspalace.tusky&hl=en&gl=US

[5] Fedilab - Fedilab. (2023). “Fedilab: A multifunctional Android client to access the distributed Fediverse.” Google Play Store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.fedilab.android

[6] Toot (CLI) - Iorin. (2023). “Toot: Mastodon CLI & TUI client.” PyPI. https://pypi.org/project/toot/

[7] Mastodon.py - Mastodon.py Project. (2023). “Mastodon.py: Python wrapper for the Mastodon API.” GitHub. https://github.com/halcy/Mastodon.py

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License

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Licence

With this licence, you may use, modify and share the work as long as you credit the original author. However, you may not use it for commercial purposes, i.e. you may not make money from it. And if you make changes and share the new work, it must be shared under the same conditions.

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