Twitter alternative Mastodon is fixing its sign up process—and adding

The platform, on Monday, announced a series of changes to make it more intuitive for new users—and rewarded current members with an update on some long-requested features. Together, the actions could give Mastodon a boost, just as Bluesky’s momentum begins to surge and Twitter’s star continues to dim.

Mastodon is a decentralized social media platform. That makes it better suited to tailored communities, especially for underrepresented groups. But for newcomers, it can be befuddling. Now, the site is offering a streamlined option.

“We now have a default sign-up option that works with a server we operate,” Eugen Rochko, founder and CEO wrote in a blog post. “If you wish to leave or join a different server, you can do so at any time.”

While having the decentralized option is core to Mastodon’s culture, Rochko wrote that the company realizes it’s not necessarily something that will appeal to everyone. Having a central gathering hub is more in line with people’s expectations of social media. And with competition growing, it’s critical to make the site something that appeals to a wider audience.

“If we only attract people who already care about decentralization, our ability to make decentralization mainstream becomes that much harder,” he said. “Making the onboarding process as easy as possible helps new users get past the sign-up process and more quickly engage with others. This gives us a far better chance of showcasing what decentralized social networks have to offer instead of having that person bounce and never hearing from them again.”

New users won’t be restricted to the more central option at sign-up. Those who have a specific server they’d like to call home on the platform can do so directly.

In the early days of Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, Mastodon saw a rush of sign-ups, with its active user base skyrocketing from 300,000 to 2.5 million in a month. In recent months, though, interest in the platform has faded.

A February report from 42matters, a mobile and connected TV intelligence company, finds that downloads of Mastodon are down 99% from their mid-November peak. Despite those growing pains, however, Mastodon has reached the point where it now has over 1 billion posts per month.

To keep current users engaged, and perhaps to lure back those who initially signed up but haven’t been especially active on the platform, Mastodon also said many long-desired features are just about ready to roll out, including quote posts, which Rochko has been less than enthusiastic about in the past. That will give Mastodon some familiarity to long-time Twitter users, who have grown used to these sort of features on that site. 

“We’re excited to bring you some of the most requested features, such as quote posts, improved content and profile search, and groups,” wrote Rochko. “Keep a lookout for these updates soon.”

Together, the two sets of updates for new and existing users should create a more consistent experience, which could put additional pressure not only on Twitter in the months to come, but also on Bluesky, right as its growing pains are in the spotlight.