The reason Mastodon and the Fediverse is spread out on so many servers is it protects it from being taken over by anyone. Not even the richest can buy this place.

Centralised services like Twitter are incredibly easy to buy out. If you move from Twitter to another centralised service, sooner or later that will get bought out too.

The point of the Fediverse is to break this buyout cycle, to let people be permanently in control of their accounts. More info here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/mastodon-and-the-fediverse-beginners-start-here/#whyisthefediverseonsomanyseparateservers

Mastodon and the Fediverse: Beginners Start Here | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

p.s. Mastodon is part of the Fediverse, more info here:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/mastodon-and-the-fediverse-beginners-start-here/#whatismastodon

You can move your account and keep your followers & follows if a server is closing down:

➡️ https://fedi.tips/how-to-use-mastodon-and-the-fediverse-basic-tips/#WhatIfAServerClosesDown

For full independence, it is much cheaper and easier than you think to start your own server, more info here:

➡️ https://growyourown.services/grow-your-own-social-network/

The smallest Mastodon server starts from around $8 a month, and that includes the hosting company doing all the technical stuff for you.

Mastodon and the Fediverse: Beginners Start Here | Fedi.Tips – An Unofficial Guide to Mastodon and the Fediverse

An unofficial guide to using Mastodon and the Fediverse

no way to move your content though?
@feditips Not totally as simple as that, since some hosting companies don't have mastodon install scripts ready to go. Mine doesn't!
@feditips And yet 80% of new people are piling into about 5 instances. Decentralized you say...
@mike @feditips That's still 4 more than twitter had...
@mike @feditips as a #nontech #newbie. I went on and was offered only three or four choices of server. Doubtless there was some way to find mare, but I don’t know what that might have been #techglitch

@feditips

For the price of a blue check mark, you, too, can own an entire ̶T̶w̶i̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ Mastodon.

@feditips The average cost of acquisition for a server in the fediverse is no doubt much, much lower than acquiring a large centralized provider. Also, as I understand this model, user data isn't distributed, so there are still centralization risks for people's accounts together with these much lower barriers to entry in buying out servers.
@feditips $8/mo for an independent branch of decentralized social network sure beats $8/mo for a measly scrap of "skin" in some narcissistic billionaire's demented game.

@feditips a nice overview by @thelinuxEXP

Mastodon, Peertube, Pixelfed: easily replace Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

https://tilvids.com/w/7ec57164-aef3-4861-a33b-61dd7629faac

Mastodon, Peertube, Pixelfed: easily replace Twitter, Instagram and YouTube

PeerTube