After withdrawal of non-profit status: Mastodon to be given a new structure
A non-profit organization will be responsible for the development and operation of Mastodon. It is possible that it is not based in Germany.
(Image: Marcelo Mollaretti/Shutterstock.com)
Responsibility for the short message service Mastodon is to be placed in the hands of a non-profit organization in the future. This organization will also be responsible for the for-profit Mastodon GmbH, which will take over the day-to-day business, [link to https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/01/the-people-should-own-the-town-square/]the Mastodon team announced in a blog post.
The planned changes are therefore, among other things, a reaction to the withdrawal of the non-profit status almost a year ago. At the same time, the aim is to ensure that the legal and operational structures are better aligned with the company's own objectives. It is therefore also possible that the organization responsible for Mastodon will leave Germany.
Focus on easier usability
The article assures users that the operation of the two central Mastodon instances, mastodon.social and mastodon.online, will not change; both will continue to be made available to the public. The short message service itself is to be further developed so that it is easier to use and content and accounts are easier to find. More investment is also to be made in trust and safety measures. Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko himself is to relinquish his management responsibilities and concentrate more on the product strategy.
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With less than one million active accounts, Mastodon is one of several short message services that have benefited from the changes at X (formerly Twitter). More users are now active not only there, but also on threads from Meta and Bluesky. Mastodon experienced explosive growth immediately after Elon Musk's takeover of X, but things have calmed down again since then. The company responsible for the service had its non-profit status revoked in spring 2024 without giving any reasons. The company wants to take the necessary time to make the changes that are now pending, as well as to decide where in Europe the planned organization will be based.
(mho)
