How to migrate from Twitter to Mastodon

Twitter is an important social networking tool for academics. As its future is unclear, some may want to migrate to a different social network offering familiar features and populated with other academics. Mastodon is an open-source alternative currently growing at a rapid pace that you may want to explore.

Step 1: Identify which instance you want to join

Mastodon is installed on many servers which are connected together in a network as part of the Fediverse. Your account will be on one of them (much like your email address is with a specific host). You can follow (and be followed by) people on other servers, and you can also check the “local feed” to discover things posted by people you do not know yet on your server.

Since this is a useful serendipitous practice (a way to hear about people you didn’t know could be interesting), it is better to join a server that is in line with your goals. For academics, we would suggest having a look at this list of academic and research Mastodon servers. You can also try to register on

scholar.social
sciences.social
fediscience.org
scicomm.xyz
h-net.social (for humanities and social sciences)
historians.social (guess what)
econtwitter.net (yes, really)
hcommons.social (humanities)
esq.social (for lawyers)
eupolicy.social (for people interested in EU policy)
fedihum.org (for digital humanists)
sciences.re (a French-speaking science-oriented server)
mastodon.ngo (for people invested in NGOs and activism)

Switch does not have a server yet, but we think they would be a great host for Swiss academics. Hopefully they will realise it at some point.

Step 2: Create an account

If you are still unsure about the server you want to join, don’t panic – just select one, you can always move to another later. Register on the server you selected, fill in your bio and avatar, and post an #introduction using #hashtags relevant to your subjects of interest.

Add your mastodon handle (for example 🐘 @GVAGrad_Library) in your Twitter bio, on your personal site, on your ORCID account, and in other places where people may be looking to find you.

Install a Mastodon app on your mobile device. Toot! is recommended on iPhone, and Tusky on Android (they also allow you to log in with multiple accounts if needed).

Step 3: Follow interesting people

If you are migrating from Twitter, you may want to use Fedifinder to subscribe to other people who moved to Mastodon. This tool is one of the reasons why we recommended adding your Mastodon handle to your Twitter bio.

Second, check for people using the same #hashtags you put in your own description.

Later, you can also just check the local timeline for your server (or the public timeline for any other) by going to yourserver/public/local (for example https://sciences.social/public/local) and follow interesting people.

You can obviously start by following the SNSF, the Library and checking our own list of subscriptions.

Another useful strategy after you have followed a few accounts is to check who they are subscribed to using Followgraph: enter your Mastodon handle and it will show you the accounts most followed by those you already know.

Step 4: Start posting!

Mastodon is similar to Twitter, with key differences:

You can adapt the level of privacy of anything you post : public, unlisted (not shown in timelines, potentially useful for successive posts in threads), followers only, or mentioned people only.
Content warning (CW) tags let you hide the contents of a post with a description. Use this liberally for spoilers, violence, NSFW, off-topic stuff, or just longer posts that may not interest everyone. Some (but not all) servers require political conflict-related content to be CW-ed.
Hashtags should be used liberally. You can actually follow/subscribe to a hashtag!
You can select the language in which you post. I tend to forget, but I suppose it allows people to filter out languages they don’t understand.
Image description is highly encouraged (and might be mandatory on some servers).
Lists exist but you can only include people you are following.
You can reply, boost (retweet), favourite (like), or bookmark toots. The latter is great for useful content you may want to check again later.
You can also filter terms to add automatic content warnings for you or to hide them completely from your feed.
There is an edit button! Aren’t you glad you moved?
There is no integrated gif catalogue. Memes must be hand-crafted. This site has no future. </s>
Quote-boosts (quote-retweets) are not implemented at the moment, a choice made to limit hostility on the platform, but the local culture is changing and they are now added to the development roadmap.

Step 5: Tip your admins

Mastodon servers have costs, but are not supported by advertisement. If you enjoy your time there, consider checking whether they accept donations and pitching in.

Illustration: Mastodon, CC By Thomas Quine