Zhang, Z;
Zhao, J;
Wang, G;
Johnston, SK;
Chalhoub, G;
Ross, T;
Liu, D;
... Shadbolt, N; + view all
(2024)
Trouble in Paradise? Understanding Mastodon Admin's Motivations, Experiences, and Challenges Running Decentralised Social Media.
Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
, 8
(CSCW2)
, Article 520. 10.1145/3687059.
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Abstract
Decentralised social media platforms are increasingly being recognised as viable alternatives to their centralised counterparts. Among these, Mastodon stands out as a popular alternative, offering a citizen-powered option distinct from larger and centralised platforms like Twitter/X. However, the future path of Mastodon remains uncertain, particularly in terms of its challenges and the long-Term viability of a more citizen-powered internet. In this paper, following a pre-study survey, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 Mastodon instance administrators, including those who host instances to support marginalised and stigmatised communities, to understand their motivations and lived experiences of running decentralised social media. Our research indicates that while decentralised social media offers significant potential in supporting the safety, identity and privacy needs of marginalised and stigmatised communities, they also face considerable challenges in content moderation, community building and governance. We emphasise the importance of considering the community's values and diversity when designing future support mechanisms.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Trouble in Paradise? Understanding Mastodon Admin's Motivations, Experiences, and Challenges Running Decentralised Social Media |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1145/3687059 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1145/3687059 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2024 Copyright held by the owner/author(s). This is an Open Access paper published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | decentralisation, social media, citizen-powered internet, admin experiences, content moderation, online communities |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Computer Science |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10201276 |
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