Should Your Brand Be On Mastodon? ??????????, If You Learned the Key Lesson of the Social Media Era.

Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to propose your brand, if it's bold and open to experiment, ?????? wish to test the waters on Mastodon. Then I'll tell you why I think this is so and why not. And then you will likely decide to avoid the risk and effort of Mastodon, at least for now. Why would you wish to ignore my suggestion? I think the answer has less to do with what Elon Musk is doing to Twitter or how Mastodon works and more to do with whether your brand learned the key lesson of the social media era.

I wish to start with two brief cautions: First, I am not a Mastodon expert. Like many of you, I'm just learning how the federated microblogging service is alike and different from Twitter. Second, this post shares my personal observations. While I professionally covered and ran social media a decade ago, my career has since turned toward topics of customer experience. Now, I am just one informed social media user offering an individual perspective, not a professional analyst dispensing advice.

Should your brand be on Mastodon? Virtually no one asked this question until the past week or two. As chaos at Twitter has spiraled into headlines and outages on the service, brands that have found Twitter a mission-critical (or, at least, mission-helpful) platform are wondering what happens next. Will Twitter implode suddenly, degrade slowly, or succeed in the end? I make no prediction on Twitter's future, but it's certainly not lost on anyone that some users have left and others find the platform a less trustworthy, useful, and enjoyable place.

My opinion is that your brand should maybe consider testing Mastodon. This is the platform that seems to have picked up the greatest benefit as people either abandon Twitter or seek to test a Twitter alternative. And, as with any other social platform gaining traction, your brand ought to monitor Mastodon and consider if and how it fits into your engagement strategies.

Why be on Mastodon? Because, it may be where your customers are going. It might be where people talk about you. It could become a place where people seek service and support. It can be a place where you add value to others' experiences. People may need, want or expect your brand there--if not now, possibly in time. A brand willing to experiment might create a presence, make sure it's appropriately monitored, and simply ask how it can help people or answer questions--and then wait to see what happens. (If nothing else, those responsible for corporate social media will want to keep an eye out for branded Mastodon profiles that impersonate the brand or are started by unauthorized employees.)

Why avoid Mastodon? Lots of reasons, actually. For one, the tools you use to manage your Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook presence won't work on Mastodon. In fact, those tools may never exist. That's because Mastodon wasn't built and won't exist for brands, advertising, and revenue. It is open-source?software developed by a non-profit organization supported by contributions.

If you aren't clear how Mastodon feels about brands, read the Join Mastodon page: “Social networking that's not for sale. Your home feed should be filled with what matters to you most, not what a corporation thinks you should see. Radically different social media, back in the hands of the people.”

In fact, some might suggest brands are not welcome on Mastodon; I do not believe that is true, but your brand will only be accepted if it behaves. That means recognizing your brand is on equal footing with every other person and profile on the platform. And, there are no guarantees. Since Mastodon is federated and different administrators run each server (or instance), it is possible your brand isn't welcome in certain corners of Mastodon. Each admin creates their own rules and regulations. And, those who run the instance have considerable moderation power--they can choose to block users, read direct messages, and delete posts. Mastodon is not a safe place for brands as is Twitter, so it's vital you know the risk, commit to understanding the community, and proceed with caution. (One brand strategy that may develop could be to start a branded instance, administer your own server, set the rules, and moderate the engagement, but that, for now, is an approach requiring effort and investment with little certainty of success.)

All of which is to say: There's a learning curve, and there's little reason to think your brand will succeed by any traditional measure of social media engagement or reach. Because Mastodon is federated, you cannot expect the sort of broad reach that platforms like Twitter and Facebook provide. Mastodon is a place more oriented to one-to-one dialog; not a social platform to amass an army of followers.

Have you learned the key lesson of the social media era? I think it boils down to this: Will your brand join Mastodon to benefit the company or to benefit its customers? That is, in fact, the key lesson all brand should have learned about social media (but, sadly, most have not.)

As Twitter and Facebook started developing into networks with the scale that attracted brands, many urged brands to establish their presence. But, there were two camps: Those who said the place for brands was to listen, engage, add value, offer support and create value for customers. And another camp who told your brand it would get free advertising, that building follower counts was guaranteed success, that quality content would build organic reach, that tactics like sweepstakes and Farmville giveways worked, and who promised brands they could extract value from customers.

By now, I hope you realize the former camp was correct and the latter camp encouraged a lot of wasted time and money. Consumers welcome brands into social media on their terms, not on brand's terms. This is much more true on Mastodon than on social networks where you are the product and brands are the customers. If you come to listen, respond, add value and build community, Mastodon might work for you. But if you are considering Mastodon because you believe this will be an awareness-, lead- or conversion-building source, stop now.

Mastodon doesn't work like Twitter. There is no algorithm. Your brand can't sponsor anything. There is no advertising. Your content won't succeed because you accumulate followers but because people find it valuable and worth favoriting or boosting. And if you annoy people, they'll block you (or kick you off the server). Mastodon is closer to a pure people-centric social media platform than any other, so I'd recommend you either approach it with humility and customer-centric intent, or stay away.

How do I join Mastodon? What should my strategy be? I will not answer these questions. How a brand chooses the right server, what content to offer, and how to engage is beyond my knowledge, and I trust brighter minds will offer meaningful guidance in the months ahead. But, this much I know: The future of Twitter is uncertain. Mastodon is growing. And it feels important to gain some experience on how Mastodon is different from, more complex than, and perhaps an improvement upon Twitter.

It may be premature for a brand to join, but you could certainly decide to do so as a pilot. If you do, make sure to recognize your brand isn't a special flower on Mastodon. It won't “win” on Mastodon. It cannot turn Mastodon into a competition to beat the size of competitors' networks. There is only one reason to join Mastodon, and that's because you want to help, support, and know your customers who are adopting the burgeoning platform.

Be customer-centric and humble, and Mastodon could be a welcoming and interesting place. But put your marketing or sales goals first, and your brand could fail on Mastodon as quickly as, well, Twitter seems to be imploding.