If I was to nominate the two things I find most striking about Mastodon they'd be:
1. the ability to edit posts after posting; this (as my followers will know) is a facility that I use a lot (and thanks to my great crew of typo spotters);
2. the norm of civility that we all maintain; of course trolling & slamming is not completely absent, but at least in my timeline & discussions/conversations civility have been the over-riding characteristic of my exchanges.
People on the Fediverse are simply nice, in general, I find.
I'm fortunate to be on a good instance though, who I'm sure do a good job of keeping the forces of darkness away.
I genuinely feel fortunate to have this polite, inclusive corner of the internet as I do, as I'm otherwise quite socially isolated.
I'm sure many people here spent time on bulletin boards back in the day, and the civil vibe on here feels not dissimilar to the assorted forums I used to frequent in the 90s.
Emeritus Prof Christopher May
Shivviness