Mastodon has turned down more than five investment offers from Silicon Valley venture capital firms in recent months, as its founder pledges to protect the fast-growing social media platform's non-profit status.
Mastodon, an open-source microblogging site founded in 2016 by German software developer Eugen Rochko, has seen a surge in users since Musk bought the company.
He said he had received offers from more than five US based investors to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in backing the product.
He said the platform's non-profit status was "untouchable" and that it was part of its attraction.
Mastodon won't turn into everything you dislike about it. It can be sold to a controversial billionaire and it can be shut down. The platforms have different paradigms.
The accounts of Mastodon and several journalists were temporarily suspended after they shared information about Musk's private jet. The policy of banning links to other social media platforms was suggested by the company.
This was a reminder that centralized platforms can impose arbitrary and unfair limits on what you can and can't say, and that monthly active users of Mastodon increased from 300,000 to 2.5 million.
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Data from Sensor Tower shows that daily downloads of Mastodon went from 6,000 on October 27 to 243,000 on November 18. The usage of other smaller sites has increased.
Mastodon has some of the same features as Twitter but is made up of a lot of independent moderated server. Thefederated system allows users to join one server and connect with others on other server
According to the 2021, annual report, Rochko paid himself 2,400 per month last year, an increase of 500.
Donations will be used to fund the platform. The site is raising over £25,000 a month through its memberships on the platform. In the six months from June to December, earnings were just over 55,000
The initial wave of new joiners peaked at 64,000 on December 18 after Musk restricted links to other social media sites.
Increased activity and confusion over moderation policies on different server have caused problems for new users.
According to Josh Cowls, a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, Mastodon could evolve into a "satellite" platform to respond to Musk-related outrages.
He wants Mastodon to replace commercial social networks. At the same time, it is bigger than it ever has been.
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