Mastodon is finally fixing its biggest entry barrier
Mastodon, a decentralized social media platform, announced on Wednesday plans to launch new features targeting content creators and simplifying the onboarding process for new users.
The move signals a shift in strategy for the open-source network as it seeks to compete with centralized rivals like X and Threads. By redesigning user profiles and introducing email-based updates, the platform aims to attract journalists, public figures, and institutions that have historically relied on ad-driven networks for audience reach.
The upcoming updates include a redesigned profile view to showcase creator work and an enhanced “compose” experience. A new email notification option will allow users to follow creator updates without maintaining a Mastodon account, according to a blog post by technical director Renaud Chaput and product designer Imani Joy.
To address long-standing complexity in user sign-ups, Mastodon will refine its onboarding flow to better explain server selection. The organization stated it will also promote smaller, independent servers to prevent new users from defaulting to the largest instances, which the company says undermines decentralization.
“Mastodon is best when communities are spread across many independent servers, each with its own character and focus,” the organization stated in its blog post.
For server administrators, Mastodon is introducing tools to manage moderation and maintenance. These include the ability to use external blocklists, automated content scanning for spam and illegal material, and options to reduce media storage by serving remote posts through trusted third parties.
The platform currently has between 750,000 and 1.0 million monthly active users, according to various trackers and Mastodon’s own internal data. Growth has fluctuated since the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk in late 2022, though retention has been hampered by the platform’s technical barriers.
The announcement follows a leadership restructuring at the beginning of the year. Felix Hlatky has taken over as executive director from founder Eugen Rochko, who stepped down as CEO as the organization transitioned to a nonprofit structure. Dr. Marius Rothermund, a German lawyer, was also appointed as a second managing director to oversee legal compliance during the transition.
Mastodon operates as a network of independently hosted servers using the ActivityPub protocol. The organization recently added “Quote Posts” with enhanced user controls and is developing “Collections,” a feature for account recommendations.