Bye, Twitter. All the cool kids are migrating to Mastodon.

In the battle between a massive prehistoric beast and a fluttering bird, we all know what's destined to come out on top. 

But in the case of Mastodon, a social network with the potential to take on Twitter, the former just so happens to be the underdog. And yet, it's an underdog with serious spunk. 

Started by 24-year-old Eugen Rochko, Mastodon allows users to create accounts, follow others, and post status updates called "toots." In many ways it's like Twitter, but it is also so not like Twitter.

Importantly, Mastodon is not a third-party Twitter client, but its own service entirely. What makes it stand out? It has better privacy controls than Twitter. Also, neo-Nazis are explicitly banned.  Read more...