![2KEHETN The Twitter and Mastodon app logos are seen in this photo illustration in Warsaw, Poland on 12 November, 2022. Mastodon is a decentralized, open-sourc](https://images.newscientist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/06144044/SEI_150878913.jpg?width=1200)
IT HAS been nearly six months since Twitter’s transformation from iconic social media platform into the eccentric personal project of tech billionaire Elon Musk. I abandoned my account last November, save for work announcements – I didn’t want to stick around and watch the place fall apart. Still, I craved a digital hangout where I could connect with friends and colleagues, test out my half-baked ideas and look at cute pictures of capybaras.
I tried out several platforms, from newcomers like Post to the well-established TikTok, and nothing felt right. How do you know when you have found an online …