Mastodon is looking to newsletters to help revive the open social web

Mastodon, the open, decentralized alternative to big tech apps like X and Threads, is betting that email can help solve the biggest problem the open social network faces: audience growth.

With the latest release of the software, the social networking platform is introducing email newsletters, a feature that will allow writers to send their posts directly to subscribers’ inboxes, even if those subscribers don’t have or want a Mastodon account.

This feature could allow Mastodon to evolve beyond being just another AltX, and provide a way for creators to build mobile audiences on the decentralized web, reducing their dependence on other social media platforms. By linking the functionality to email, a communications system that has stood the test of time, Mastodon may appeal to those who want to support creators outside of large tech ecosystems without requiring them to sign up for a new social network.

This feature arrives as part of Mastodon 4.6, a broader update that introduced other changes, such as updated user profiles and support for “Packages” — Mastodon takes on user-created suggested follow lists posted elsewhere on the social web as “Starter Packs.”

Alternatively, users can simply enter their email address to start getting updates from the creator. Mastodon’s default post character limit is 500 characters. However, individual server administrators can modify this limit, which means that some servers may be set up specifically to distribute longer posts.

Through newsletters, the company sees potential for media organizations to join Mastodon, and for freelance journalists and bloggers who want to allow anonymous visitors to subscribe to their accounts. The anonymity these subscriptions provide can also encourage sign-ups among those who do not wish to be tracked by newsletter platforms for privacy reasons.

Since Mastodon accounts are transferable, creators can still take their audience with them if they want to move to a new server.

The company explains in a blog post that the new feature, for now, is intended more for its enterprise users, a nod to its recent move to offer hosting and moderation services to organizations and entities that want to run their own servers.

If adopted, email support could allow Mastodon to grow its footprint beyond the 735,000 monthly active users it sees today, down from a peak of over 2 million just a few years ago. The broader open social network, known as fediverse, has more than a million active accounts.

However, there are some caveats to using newsletters on Mastodon. Creators who want to take advantage of this feature will need to have a specific role on the server with the right permissions, which means either setting up your own server, choosing a Mastodon-hosted server, or having a conversation with your current server operator.

The company said it chose not to make newsletters a default feature because sending emails could “significantly increase Mastodon server operating costs.”