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Since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, he has had a controversial start with mass redundancies and a new feature on the platform which allows users to purchase verification status. This has seen Mastodon, the new social media competitor gain popularity.
Mastodon calls itself a new democratic platform because it gives users more control and transparency. There is no algorithm, and there is the ability to moderate and delete content on the platform. Data on the platform is not controlled by one entity and users are not monitored in the same way as other social media platforms.
The move to Mastodon appears to be a retaliation by Twitter users over Elon Musk's decision making but also signals that social media users are looking for transparency and authenticity on social media. Is the era of flawless filters and targeted content over?
Having a platform which isn't controlled by a major entity also comes with its risks such as the ability to ban offensive content but what is needed is the balance between freedom of speech and offensive, discriminatory or hateful comments/content.
Since Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, he has faced criticism and has since dropped the right to purchase verification status after a wave of fake accounts on the platform used this option to impersonate other public figures.
As with any change it takes time to adapt but what the takeover has shown is that people are ready to make the move and be on a platform where they feel they are not getting decentralised information but able to make their own choices about what content they want to receive and share.
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