Mastodon is implementing changes to make its social networking service more user-friendly and attractive, particularly for mainstream users seeking alternatives to X or Threads. The decentralized platform announced a redesign of user profiles, aiming to appeal to both organizations and individuals. Built on the ActivityPub protocol, Mastodon gained attention after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, now X. Its decentralized nature allows users to change servers if they are dissatisfied with operations or moderation.
However, this setup can be complicated compared to traditional social networks like X. Users must choose a server to join, and different timelines, namely local and federated, can confuse newcomers. Following others can also be cumbersome. Consequently, Mastodon has struggled to expand its user base, now at around 800,000 monthly active users, down from one million during the height of Twitter drama.
To combat this, Mastodon has addressed issues that could drive users away. In February, the platform simplified onboarding and added features such as Quote Posts and Collections. The current focus is on overhauling user profiles with several visual changes.
Profiles now feature a single “Activity” tab with a dropdown menu, providing options to customize post views by toggling replies and boosts. Hashtags are now prominent at the top of the Activity tab, allowing for filtering posts by clicked tags. The pinned posts carousel, which was unpopular, has been removed in favor of featuring one pinned post, with others accessible via a “View all pinned posts” button.
Mastodon also introduced an informational pop-up explaining the unique handles, which consist of two @’s referencing account and server names. Users now have more control over profile appearances, with options to hide certain tabs or replies. Custom fields are displayed side-by-side for more vertical screen space, and can now be edited on iOS and Android, not just the web.
Additional design tweaks reduce profile clutter, such as removing the “following you” badge and relocating the “personal note” to an overflow menu. Profile edits are centralized in account settings, enabling easy management of featured hashtags, links, and other information.
Link verification, designed to establish credibility without centralization, is now more accessible. Users can crop and add alt text to profile images and cover photos.
The changes will first be implemented on the mastodon.social server and other servers opting for the nightly build. The update will roll out to more servers with the Mastodon 4.6 software update in the coming weeks.