In another sign of shifting forces in the social media universe, the UK’s national public service broadcaster, the BBC, is dipping a toe into the fediverse by setting up its own Mastodon instance.
The BBC is labelling its move as an experiment — and, to be clear, it’s not abandoning its presence on more mainstream social networks at this stage (or possibly ever) — with the organization saying it plans to be on Mastodon for six months. After which it says it will take a decision on whether or not to continue, based on evaluating factors such as how much engagement its presence is generating and how much cost is entailed in hosting its own little piece of the fediverse.
“We aim to learn how much value it has provided and how much work and cost is involved. Does it reach enough people for the effort we need to put in? Are