Reading on Mashable about a new free and open-source social networking platform called Mastodon.

There are quite a few platforms like this: Diaspora, Friendica, GNU social, Hubzilla. They are software which you can install to host your own social network server but also allow you to connect, share, mention and tag other users on other servers.

This would make social networking more like how email works: Gmail, AOL, OutlookDOTcom/Hotmail, and Yahoo users can all email each other without having to be on the same host.

This is the opposite of how Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn​ don’t connect to each other. I imagine federated social networks becoming much more used if the big proprietary networks bottom out.