Mastodon, an open source decentralized alternative to X (formerly Twitter), is rolling out several new features, including updated notifications, new detection tools, and an updated look. Some of these changes were available in the nightly release, but are now officially rolled out in the stable release.
Social networks introduce grouping of notifications, so notifications in Mastodon are somewhat similar to notifications in X. This means that if your post is gaining traction, you'll be able to better understand your notifications. Instead of seeing a notifications page with hundreds of individual notifications for the same post, you'll now see an overview of how many people have boosted or liked your post.
Image credit: Mastodon
Mastodon is also launching a new system to filter unwanted notifications. You can decide how or whether you want to receive notifications from people you don't follow, people who don't follow you, recently created accounts, or unsolicited private mentions.
For example, you can choose not to see notifications for unsolicited private mentions, or choose to have notifications sent to a special inbox that you can see at any time. Mastodon's private mentions aren't as protected as X's direct messages, but they still provide a better way for high-profile users who receive a lot of inbounds to filter out unwanted requests.
Additionally, Mastodon provides users with more insight into how moderation decisions impact them.
The service will now notify you if you lose followers or become unfollowable from another server due to a moderator's decision, and will allow you to export the list of affected profiles. You will also receive in-app notifications if a moderator's decision specifically targets your account.
Image credit: Mastodon
Mastodon said it is working to make it easier for new users to start using the platform, but has found that users often skip follow recommendations during the onboarding process and end up with a quiet feed. To fix this, the company will display recommendations on the first page of your home feed, above the first post older than four hours.
The social network is also generally better at following recommendations, giving users a mix of recommendation results, such as popular profiles in your language and profiles that many people you know are following. Please note that the The company says that to increase transparency, Mastodon will display the reasons for its recommendations.
Image credit: Mastodon
As for the new look of the service, Mastodon has redesigned its new post composer to be more intuitive to use. You can now rearrange the media you've uploaded and see how your post will look when it's shared.
Additionally, Mastodon's icons and color palette on the web app have been updated.
Another new feature that brings Mastodon more in line with X is the start of link previews. Now you can easily see their profile and instantly follow or unfollow them by hovering over their name.
Image credit: Mastodon
Mastodon is also formally rolling out ways to highlight writers and journalists.
The feature, first announced in July, will feature a clickable author signature on link posts that will direct users to the author's account on Fediverse. This update will help journalists gain more exposure and grow their following, while ensuring users always have the latest news.
In the future, Mastodon plans to introduce highly requested features such as quote posting and the ability for server operators to subscribe to managed blocklists.