Mastodon is a free and open-source social network platform founded in October 2016. Unlike Facebook and Twitter, it isn’t a solitary platform but encompasses a network of thousands of servers that are operated by various organizations and individuals giving a unique social media experience.
So far it has not been tried to its capacity, but in the past few weeks, Mastodon has enjoyed an upsurge in users thanks to the recent turmoil with Twitter after its takeover by Elon Musk. Several Twitter users have begun looking for alternatives and with Mastodon offering similar microblogging features and a safe social media environment, it has turned to a preferred choice for many users.
Basically, Mastodon is a federated social network, and this is where it fundamentally differs from other platforms like Twitter and Instagram. Using decentralized technology, you can deploy your own Mastodon Server at your end to launch your own private social network. A classic example can be a college or an organization using the Mastodon code to create their own closed social network. These servers, also called instances, function like independent sites built on the same Mastodon technology but each with their own code of conduct, privacy / moderation policies, content focus, number of users and other rules and regulations that are implemented locally unlike corporate social media where they are imposed top-down.
Anyone who desires to use Mastodon, must make an account at a Server that suits their needs and requirements. Some servers allow you to create an account instantaneously while others prompt you to apply for any account which is activated only after due process. This account then lets you follow / connect with other people regardless of which server is hosting their account.
There are presently more than 7500 Mastodon servers, and the list is fast growing after the recent developments in Twitter and users often find it difficult and challenging to find Mastodon servers for joining.
In this article we will be exploring 5 Mastodon Servers List Websites to help you to easily find a Server instance to create an account depending on the topic that you are interested.
1. JoinMastodon.org
This is one of the finest websites to easily search for Mastodon servers. You can use the drop-down lists at the top to filter the websites based on their Legal Structure like Public organization or Individual, Language and type of Sign up such as Instant or Manual review. You can also choose the region where the server is legally based by clicking on the required Zone (continent) in the left panel. Additionally, you can select the topic or community in which the server specializes such as Technology, Music, Journalism, Food, Travel etc by clicking on any option in the panel on the left.
Once you have applied all the filters, click on ‘Apply for an account’ or ‘Create an account’ depending on what the server permits and go ahead and finish the necessary steps.
Click here to navigate to JoinMastodon.org
2. Mastodonservers.net
Let’s move on the next website offering an exhaustive Mastodon Servers List. Unlike the above website, this one allows you to search for any topic that you can think of like Politics, Sports, Gaming, Technology using the appropriate keywords.
Servers dealing with Popular and Trending topics are directly available on the web page for joining. You can click on the ‘More’ button beside any topic for additional servers offering the same topic. Click on any server instance to read more about it and gain information like Number of Users, Statuses, Mastodon Version, whether Instant signup enabled etc. Subsequently, you can click on ‘Join this server’ to create or apply for an account.
When you browse to the bottom of the webpage, you will find hundreds of topics that you can click on to get to the perfect Mastodon server of your choice.
Click here to visit Mastodonservers.net
3. Instances.social
This wonderful website gives you a big list (roughly 4000) of Mastodon Servers as well as a wizard type approach that helps you to locate a server that best suits your requirements.
The wizard asks you a couple of questions like Language, Preferred no. of users, Moderation rules (if required) such as policies regarding Nudity, Pornography, Illegal content etc and then provides you a searchable list of matching Mastodon servers to choose from along with useful data such as number of users, number of posts, version of Mastodon and more. You can click on any server instance to read more about it and then go ahead and create or apply for an account.
To visit Instances.social, click here.
4. Mastodon Server Search Tool
Mastodon officially offers a server search tool using which you can delve a bit in-depth while searching for Mastodon Servers. Using this tool, you can look up for words included in the name, URL or description of the server and the language most used on the server. Additionally, this tool permits you to filter the search results based on number of total users, active users, characters used per post and more.
The search results provide additional information such as the Name & Description of the Mastodon server, Date of creation, Server stats (no. of posts / logins / registrations), most used Hashtags, whether Blacklisted, Mastodon version, Type of registration (open / admin approved).
To visit Mastodon Server Search Tool, click here
5. Coxy – List of Mastodon Instances
This website lists Mastodon Server Instances with interesting names alphabetically. You must manually go through the Server names as they are not searchable unlike the previous websites. A few country-specific categories have also been provided to help you to find your chosen Mastodon Server.
Click on any of the servers to open their main page that you can use to gain more information about the server and create or apply for an account.
Click here to visit Coxy.
Closing Words:
There are thousands of Mastodon Instances addressing different topics and concerns with diverse rules and regulations as well as privacy policies. You can use the websites above to browse through the extensive list of servers, learn more about them and their statistics and then decide which Mastodon Server you would like to join. Most of the websites above will help you to easily make your choice but I personally like Mastodonservers.net as it offers some good amount of information about the server and its stats before you can take any decision.
