Microblogging: third-party providers add innovative functions to Mastodon

Although there has been movement in the social network market since Elon Musk's Twitter takeover, it is more about who is similar enough to the short message service to inherit it. However, while it is mostly about which service has how many users, it is less often about technical innovations and attempts to expand Twitter's original concept. Criticism of algorithmic timelines, automatic recommendations and measures to extend usage time is not abating. However, there have long been some interesting concepts for Mastodon in particular. Various applications use the openness of the Twitter alternative in the Fediverse to do things differently.

Don't be afraid to put it down

Mastodon looks particularly unusual in the Rodent app, for example, at least if you want it to. Although the application, which is only available for Android, has the usual modes, such as the one with a chronological timeline in which the posts of all followed accounts are displayed one after the other, there is another unusual feature.

Only the most active of these accounts are listed one below the other, and the numbers next to them show how many posts they have made or shared. This makes it possible to jump directly to the posts of those users that are of particular interest, and at the same time reduces the fear of missing something ("FOMO"). The view can also make it clear how few accounts actually fill your timeline.

Another new feature is Phanpy, a stylish interface for Mastodon that is only available as a web interface, but can also be installed as a PWA on smartphones. When scrolling here, as one is accustomed to from Twitter, from top to bottom through the timeline, it is intermittently interrupted by small galleries. These collect posts that have only landed in the timeline via the share function, and do not necessarily have to come from accounts that you follow yourself. This noticeably loosens up the otherwise very rigid timeline, and at the same time distinguishes posts that actually come from followed accounts from those that have been shared to your timeline.

Another interesting function is called "Catch-up" by Phanpy. This allows you to summarize posts – up to a maximum of 800 – from the last one to twelve hours in a special view. Here you can filter according to certain accounts and other criteria – including "information density", i.e. preferably short posts. It is also possible to directly list the links - usually to news sites – that have been shared particularly often during this period. The function is designed to make it easy to get an overview of what you have missed after a break from Mastodon. Just like Rodent, the idea is that Mastodon can be put aside for a while without fear of missing anything.

Trunks (for iOS, Android and the browser), on the other hand, relies on even more filters than the competition: not only can you select directly in the timeline which types of posts – i.e. original, shared, sent as a reply or all – you want to see, you also have your options under posts to bring order to the variety. Selectable filters can be used to display the "best" or "most controversial" responses to a post first, and the classic chronological view is also available. The app, which is constantly being further developed, can also be visually customized with themes.

Different types of access

Unusual for traditional social networks, but completely normal for Mastodon as part of the so-called Fediverse, are the major differences that exist between the various access options in terms of presentation. There are not only many ways to make the application look like Twitter. Different apps also have different focuses: For example, you can easily follow Mastodon accounts from the Instagram alternative Pixelfed , only there their posts are brought to the fore with images. The magazine app Flipboard, on the other hand, can also be linked to Mastodon, but then focuses on online news that is linked to from there.

These examples show how Mastodon benefits from the fact that the underlying software is free and open to third-party providers. If you want to develop clients for it, you don't have to worry about suddenly being locked out, as happened on Reddit and Twitter last year. In addition, the software provided by Mastodon itself is not necessarily the most visually appealing or the most comprehensive in terms of content - for example, it cannot be used to time posts. This ensures that alternative types of access are tried out, from which these applications benefit. If Meta's short message service Threads is linked to Mastodon in this country, interest in such software is likely to increase once again. It is therefore worth keeping an eye out.

(mho)