As already announced in GWDG news 12/2022, our own Mastodon instance for AcademicCloud opens its doors today. All institutions and partners in the AcademicCloud network (institutes and universities in Lower Saxony, all Max Planck institutes and other selected partners) can use the service directly: https://academiccloud.social.

Mastodon is a social media platform that has been increasingly discussed in recent weeks and months as a sustainable and independent alternative to the microblogging service Twitter. Unlike Twitter, responsibility here is not concentrated on a single provider, but spread across countless interconnected instances that together form the ‘FediVerse’. The majority of these instances are privately owned and many have reached their limits due to the recent surge in interest. Choosing the right “home” instance is often the first big challenge for new users.

We want to do our part and become part of the FediVerse by providing our own instance for the academic community. We want to promote academic exchange and make it easier for interested users to get started. Some experienced Mastodonians may find a second or new home here as well.

Profiles with specific names (e.g. for the public communication of whole institutes, universities or projects) can be requested via support@gwdg.de. For this purpose, please also tell us the AcademicID to be used for access.