Building a Privacy-First Social Platform at Mastodon - Andy Piper

What if you, not a corporation, owned your online identity? Mastodon is building a decentralized social web where users are back in control.

#1about 1 minute

What is Mastodon and how does it work

Mastodon is a decentralized social network built on open protocols, allowing users to join different servers while remaining part of a larger interconnected network.

#2about 3 minutes

Understanding the Fediverse and the ActivityPub protocol

The Fediverse is a collection of interconnected servers that use the ActivityPub protocol to enable seamless communication and content sharing across different platforms.

#3about 4 minutes

How content moderation works on a decentralized network

Content moderation on Mastodon is handled at the individual server level, empowering server administrators and users to create and choose communities that align with their values.

#4about 4 minutes

Mastodon's non-profit structure and funding model

As a German non-profit organization, Mastodon is funded through sponsorships and grants rather than advertising or data monetization, ensuring its focus remains on user privacy.

#5about 4 minutes

The official Mastodon app and user onboarding experience

The official Mastodon app aims to simplify the onboarding process for new users by providing a polished and accessible entry point into the decentralized network.

#6about 4 minutes

Managing explosive growth and scaling challenges

Mastodon experienced a massive influx of users following changes at other social media platforms, leading to significant scaling challenges for both the main server and the wider network.

#7about 4 minutes

Exploring the technology stack behind the Mastodon platform

Mastodon is built on a technology stack featuring Ruby on Rails for the backend, React.js for the frontend, PostgreSQL for the database, and Redis with Sidekiq for background processing.

#8about 4 minutes

Fostering open source contributions and community development

The Mastodon project thrives on open source contributions, with a core team managing the roadmap and reviewing pull requests from a global community of developers.

#9about 4 minutes

The future roadmap and planned features for Mastodon

Mastodon's future roadmap includes significant features like end-to-end encrypted direct messages and a carefully considered implementation of quote posts to enhance user interaction.

#10about 4 minutes

Interoperability with other platforms in the Fediverse

Through the ActivityPub protocol, Mastodon users can seamlessly interact with content from other specialized Fediverse platforms like PixelFed for photos and PeerTube for videos.

#11about 4 minutes

Understanding digital identity and account portability

Mastodon provides users with control over their digital identity by allowing them to migrate their account, including followers, from one server to another within the network.

#12about 4 minutes

Content discovery and curation without a central algorithm

Content discovery on Mastodon is a user-driven process that relies on following accounts, tracking hashtags, and exploring federated timelines rather than a centralized algorithm.

#13about 3 minutes

Mastodon's role as an ethical social media alternative

Mastodon positions itself not as a direct replacement for big tech platforms but as a viable, ethical alternative focused on user control, privacy, and open standards.

#14about 3 minutes