Legal Twitterati trials alternative social media platform in the wake of Musk takeover
Lawyers and legal commentators are hedging their bets on the future of Twitter by creating profiles on the social media platform Mastodon.
First launched in 2016, Mastodon is a social networking site that doesn’t run ads and is free to use.
Although it outwardly appears similar to Twitter, the site is run by a variety of different servers with differing codes of conduct, privacy policies and so on. Users must select a server (or apply to join a server in certain cases), but can interact with others on the site regardless of the server they have selected. Those who run the servers have the final say in moderating posts.
The move follows billionaire Elon Musk’s eye-catching changes to Twitter including plans to make users pay £7 per month to receive blue tick verification.
Amongst the legal Twitterati to set up Mastodon accounts are the Secret Barrister, David Allen Green, and Adam Wagner. Green has amassed over 13,000 followers on the platform after joining a several days ago, whilst Wagner, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers has over a thousand and the Secret Barrister over 5,000.
But it appears not everyone is on board just yet…
How long before Mastodon is taken over by Elon Tusk?
— David KC (@DavidMuttering) November 6, 2022
how long are we going to keep pretending ‘mastodon’ doesn’t sound a bit like a rude word or are you all grown ups or something
— Joanna Hardy-Susskind (@Joanna__Hardy) November 6, 2022
Some users have already encountered difficulties with CrimeLine, an account run by barrister Andrew Keogh, claiming their profile had been suspended after they posted “one case report and and a link to the latest case feed”.
They explained on Twitter: “I appealed the suspension and that appeal was refused. There is no further appeal mechanism. I am banished.”
Will you be joining Mastodon?
