Call an organization Newsmast introduces a new approach to decentralized social media with the release of an updated version of Mastodon mobile application which now integrates content from two servers into one interface — a different approach compared to how Mastodon, the open source Twitter/X alternative, usually works. The idea is to give Mastodon users a way to connect, follow, and participate in topic-based timelines, called Communities, that can help them better understand the content scattered across the distributed social web.
With the Newsmast app, the organization aims to solve a challenge facing decentralized social media communities — how to better curate content and serve it to users so they can find things they care about.
He’s not the only one thinking about this. Social magazine app Flipboard, for example, has created “offices” that are human-curated feeds in areas such as Science, Technology, Culture and News for users to follow. Newsmast also credits the Mastodon app and Mozilla-backed startup Mammoth for the inspiration around Communities. In Mammoth, Smart Lists offer similar functionality, curating topics of interest and news sources into easily accessible lists for others to follow.
Newsmast’s approach is similar to these, in that it curates “Communities” — or local feeds hosted on its own server, newsmast.social. Newsmast has created communities in various larger categories such as Government & Politics, Business & Labor, Science, Technology, Culture, Sports, Lifestyle and more, which users can choose to follow on its app. For example, the technology group includes Communities such as artificial intelligence, engineering, and programming, in addition to a broader Technology Community.
Image Credits: Newsmast screenshot
In addition, Newsmast offers a system where anyone can create their own Mastodon server with a selection of curated communities. Users could then connect to this server in place of the Newsmast server in the Newsmast app. For example, one could create a server focused only on art or AI, and then have dedicated communities on that server that users could follow and interact with.
This server “plug-in” integrates additional content into the Newsmast app under the “My Communities” banner. Alternatively, you can scroll to interact with only the content in one community, individually.
Like any other post, Community content can be liked, reposted (boosted), replied to, bookmarked, followed, or added to lists.
For those who prefer their current Mastodon app, either the official app or a third-party app like Mammoth or Ivory, users can follow the Newsmast community feeds instead of using the Newsmast app directly. Later this week, Newsmast will also open up its API to developers, meaning your preferred Mastodon app could also be integrated into Newsmast Communities for a more seamless experience.
Image Credits: Newsmast screenshot
This plug-in server architecture is an idea of how things could work differently in the decentralized social media world.
Typically, Mastodon users join an instance (a server — such as mastodon.social) and can then browse their local server’s timeline and a federated timeline, which includes all public posts by users they know in your presence. However, this approach can be limiting compared to centralized social media such as Twitter/X, where all content available across the network is available in one place. On Mastodon, server owners can choose to block other servers — such as those hosting adult or spam content, or smaller servers that are not actively managed, for example. Some server owners even have banning Instagram threads was discussed when a federal application is made.
Meanwhile, users on larger servers often have hard-to-track federated schedules that can include a wide variety of content and topics published in many different languages. Because of this, it often doesn’t make sense to sift through this firehose of information to find the topics and people that interest you.
Newsmast’s plugin server with its curated Communities is designed to filter NSFW content, but others could choose to build servers that don’t — or servers that filter bots, filter only bots (!!), filter only image posts or filter anything for everything.
“Community timelines bring a wealth of curated content so people can explore new topics, make connections and join the conversation,” said Newsmast co-founder Michael Foster in a statement shared with TechCrunch. “And the plug-in architecture could be a platform for all kinds of specialized Fediverse servers in the future.”
Company-curated Communities are not created through scraping or aggregation, but are populated with posts from other Newsmast users or through federation. Unlike following a hashtag, these Communities also include factors like following, filters, and muting. (Indeed, some Mastodon users they got confused (because Newsmast accounts were following them and amplifying their content, without understanding the larger purpose.)
The Newsmast app is supported by a UK-based charity Newsmast Foundation, which focuses on creating a new vision for social media. The company intended to create a Twitter-like service using a philanthropic, ad-free structure to offer an alternative to Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Threads. The app was released last summer but didn’t fully work with Mastodon for several more months.
Communities are available today on Newsmast iOS and Android apps and will soon be available on desktop and as a Progressive Web App, we’re told.
