# Flocking to Mastodon: Tracking the Great Twitter Migration

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.14294 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.14294/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 28 Feb 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Characterizing LLM-driven Social Network: The Chirper.ai Case](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.10286/) (2025)
- [Lady and the Tramp Nextdoor: Online Manifestations of Economic Inequalities in the Nextdoor Social Network](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.05232/) (2023)
- [Decentralised Moderation for Interoperable Social Networks: A Conversation-based Approach for Pleroma and the Fediverse](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.03048/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk has spurred controversy and uncertainty among Twitter users. The move raised as many praises as concerns, particularly regarding Musk's views on free speech. As a result, a large number of Twitter users have looked for alternatives to Twitter. Mastodon, a decentralized micro-blogging social network, has attracted the attention of many users and the general media. In this paper, we track and analyze the migration of 136,009 users from Twitter to Mastodon. Our analysis sheds light on the user-driven pressure towards centralization in a decentralized ecosystem and identifies the strong influence of the social network in platform migration. We also characterize the activity of migrated users on both Twitter and Mastodon.