Rewind: Can Mastodon seize the moment from Twitter?

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 July 2023

⏱️ 84 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

ActivityPub is back in the news, thanks to Meta’s Threads launch and Elon’s continued immolation of Twitter — now X. That makes this the perfect time to dig into the Decoder archives to hear what Mastodon CEO Eugen Rochko thinks about the future of social media. Mastodon got a head start as the most well-known of the rising decentralized social networks, but that’s changing fast. Bluesky, on a competing protocol, is picking up steam and Threads promises to decentralize in the future, using the same ActivityPub protocol as Mastodon. That’s a big deal, with big potential. Verge Editor-at-Large David Pierce has been covering all this very closely. Before we jump into the interview with Rochko, I spoke with David to help update everyone on what ActivityPub even is, and what it could mean for the future of social media. Links: More than two million users have flocked to Mastodon since Elon Musk took over Twitter - The Verge A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the hot new open-source Twitter clone - The Verge Elon Musk - The Verge Benevolent dictator for life - Wikipedia Mastodon Social Eugen Rochko (@[email protected]) Erase browser history: can AI reset the browser battle? - The Verge Twitter alternatives for the Musk-averse - The Verge We tried to run a social media site and it was awful | Financial Times Denial-of-service attack - Wikipedia Can ActivityPub save the internet? - The Verge Five reasons Threads could still go the distance - The Verge What's next for Threads - The Verge Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23422689 Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. It was produced by Creighton DeSimone and Jackie McDermott and it was edited by Callie Wright. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Editorial Director is Brooke Minters and our Executive Director is Eleanor Donovan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for this show comes from the podcast This is Small Business Next Generation.
0:05.7	In this new docu-series from Amazon, follow four teams of aspiring entrepreneurs as they
0:10.5	compete in the Rice University Business Plan competition, pitching their best business
0:15.0	ideas to top VCs and investors for a chance to win up to $3 million for their startups.
0:20.8	Co-hosts, Andrea Marquez and Mitch Gilbert are your guides.
0:24.2	Who will have what it takes to succeed?
0:26.3	This is Small Business Next Generation is out now.
0:29.3	Go listen on your favorite podcast app and subscribe to keep up to date.
0:59.3	A unified spend platform that lets you control all your spend, automate, compliance and close
1:05.2	the books in real time.
1:06.9	You can get started at Brex.com slash decoder.
1:09.9	That's B-R-E-X dot com slash decoder.
1:13.4	Hello and welcome to Decoder.
1:16.8	I'm Neil Apatel, editor and chief of the Verge and Decoder is my show about big ideas and
1:21.0	other problems.
1:22.5	We are technically off this week on Decoder, but I wanted to bring back an interview from
1:26.3	earlier this year because it's so relevant right now.
1:29.7	It's my conversation with Mastodon CEO, Eugene Rochco.
1:33.9	Mastodon is probably the most famous decentralized social network, but that's going to change
1:38.5	fast.
1:39.5	Meta's new Instagram threads platform is due to be decentralized in the future, using
1:45.2	the same activity pub protocol as Mastodon.
	...

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