







Eugen Rochko is stepping down as CEO of decentralized social network Mastodon. Felix Hlatky will now become the executive director as the company becomes structured as a nonprofit government by a board.
Mastodon creator shares what went wrong with Threads and ponders the future of the fediverse
In a wide-ranging interview with Eugen Rochko, creator of the decentralized social network Mastodon, Rochko shared why Threads federation fell flat, why ActivityPub and ATProto will likely never merge, and what it will take to grow the fediverse.

Mastodon - Decentralized social media
Learn more about Mastodon, the radically different, free and open-source decentralized social media platform.

Mastodon Exit Interview
I am currently winding down the Mastodon bots I used to post sunrise and sunset times. The precipitating event is that the admin of the instance hosting the associated accounts demanded they be made nigh-undiscoverable, but the underlying cause is that it’s become increasing clear that Mastodon isn’t, and won’t ever be, a good platform for “asynchronous ephemeral notifications of any kind”. I’d also argue (more controversially) that it’s simply not good infrastructure for social networking of any kind. There are lots of interesting people using Mastodon, and I’m sure it will live on as a good-enough space for certain niche groups. But there is no question that it will never offer the fun of early Twitter, let alone the vibrancy of Twitter during its growth phase. I’ve long since dropped Mastodon from my home screen, and have switched to Bluesky for text-centric social media.
Sensemaker on Twitter / X
Tim Cook is stepping down. John Ternus becomes CEO on September 1, 2026. Cook moves to executive chairman. Here's what changed today and what it means. pic.twitter.com/wYdn5itIYw— Sensemaker (@sensemaker_ai) April 20, 2026

How Does Mastodon Work? - Kev Quirk
I’ve spoken about Mastodon numerous times on this blog. It is the social media platform I use more than any other, but for a new user it can be confusing because it doesn’t work like other social media sites.

The Failed Migration of Academic Twitter: A Case Study of...
Following changes in Twitter's ownership in 2022 and subsequent changes to content moderation policies, many in academia looked to move their discourse elsewhere and migration to Mastodon was...

The Failed Migration of Academic Twitter: A Case Study of...
Following changes in Twitter's ownership in 2022 and subsequent changes to content moderation policies, many in academia looked to move their discourse elsewhere and migration to Mastodon was...

The Future is Ours to Build - Together
We’re pleased to introduce Mastodon’s new leadership team, and to share some other important updates.

Automattic confirms Mullenweg has returned as CEO after attempted ouster by board | TechCrunch
Automattic says Mullenweg is back as "chairman and CEO of Automattic, with full support of the board."

Eugen Rochko (@Gargron@mastodon.social)
Attached: 1 image It's the third time I am receiving what I can only generously assume to be an automated e-mail from #WSocial trying to convince me, the original founder (and still active advisor and proponent) of one of their competitors, to start posting on their platform.

The politics of decentralization and the libertarian allure of Mastodon – Structural Integrity
I am currently reading the fabulous “Hayek’s Bastards” by Quinn Slobodian. It made me think about decentralisation in Mastodon (yes, the federated social network). And it made me think about the lack of a coherent progressive vision for the digital age. I will explain what that book has to do with both. But let’s go back to the political meaning of “decentralisation” in digital discourse first.

Beyond Mastodon and Bluesky - Toward a Protocol-Agnostic Federation
You’ve heard of stuff like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Make an account on one, and it only works there. You can’t send a DM to your friend on Twitter from Facebook Messenger. You can’t browse your friend’s Instagram feed from Twitter. Each one is closed off
Tried building on Mastodon, wasn't financially viable. There's extremely little will to pay people for work in the fediverse, and Mastodon couldn't even give credit to contributors to help them raise their own profile. The only Fediverse orgs that have paid me are IFTAS and Nivenly.
Pedro Vezza
Why did you decide to bet on atproto over Mastodon or similar?
Moderation is an unsolved problem. Fascism & transphobia prosper in parts of Mastodon. There’s no support to deal with this. The hardest part is funding. It relies on community funding for server costs. There’s also a huge amount of work to be done around the scenes, moderating and fixing problems.
Why we discontinued our Mastodon server
gfsc.community