Eugen Rochko is stepping down as CEO of decentralized social network Mastodon. Felix Hlatky will now become the Executive Director as the company become structured as a nonprofit government by a board.
Mastodon is bigger than me, and though the technology we develop on is itself decentralized—with heaps of alternative fediverse projects demonstrating that participation in this ecosystem is possible without our involvement—it benefits our community to ensure that the project itself which so many people have come to love and depend on remains true to its values. There are too many examples of founder egos sabotaging thriving communities, and while I’d like to think myself an exception, I understand why people would prefer better guardrails.
I don’t think so. He often hold down PRs and when push them almost all the times makes sure that they wont be compatible with the majority of activtypub implementations.
That may have been some time ago? The team has been larger than just Eugen for quite a while now. In terms of “won’t be compatible with the majority of AP implementations”, is there a specific PR that has been changed to make something incompatible? I’m not sure I understand what you are describing. I’d love to know where we can improve, here.
Right, but I mean, the platform was originally designed without them in mind, and there’s no real reason why every piece of software needs to have every piece of functionality… I’m can see why they wouldn’t be prioritising it
I suspect I would love it if groups were in mastodon, but I’m not entirely sure it won’t backfire in some horrendous way (this is social media after all)
“This kind of thing” being big picture dynamics of how to run a social media project.
I’ve also had a mastodon PR stall, but I think they get so many, many with competing demands, and have so few staff, that it’s not really surprising that it’s a bit mess on that front…
I love and hate how Eugen starts this whole project, leads it into being something truly unique and wonderful that directly challenges some of the most evil and wealthy people on the planet, sets up institutional guardrails to make sure it will not be corrupted by any one individual gone mad with power, gives away his position after 10 years once he’s sure the organization is in good hands, and then concludes in reflection that he does not “have the right personality” for running a project like this.
I hope it has not been to hard for him, and that he’ll look back at it all as a positive experience in spite of the negative interactions. I don’t think any sane person has a personality that is “right” for the kind of abuse public figures receive on the internet. But from the perspective of Mastodon and the Fediverse, it seems pretty clear that he was exactly the right type of personality for the job—including by stepping down when the time felt right.
I get it and don’t hate it. If one of my projects took off like that and gained traction the absolute LAST thing I’d want to be is CEO of the whole damn thing. That’s just not who I am. I’d hope I’d be able to find and hand it off to someone more qualified for that position. So I totally get where Eugen is coming from as I would have done the exact same thing.
read https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/11/my-next-chapter-with-mastodon/ and https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2025/11/the-future-is-ours-to-build-together/
Thank you for sharing
That’s nice of him to acknowledge that.
Eugen has always seemed pretty clear-eyed about this kind of thing.
I don’t think so. He often hold down PRs and when push them almost all the times makes sure that they wont be compatible with the majority of activtypub implementations.
That may have been some time ago? The team has been larger than just Eugen for quite a while now. In terms of “won’t be compatible with the majority of AP implementations”, is there a specific PR that has been changed to make something incompatible? I’m not sure I understand what you are describing. I’d love to know where we can improve, here.
Groups
Mastodon doesn’t have groups?
https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/pull/19059
Over three years without any progress.
Right, but I mean, the platform was originally designed without them in mind, and there’s no real reason why every piece of software needs to have every piece of functionality… I’m can see why they wouldn’t be prioritising it
I suspect I would love it if groups were in mastodon, but I’m not entirely sure it won’t backfire in some horrendous way (this is social media after all)
“This kind of thing” being big picture dynamics of how to run a social media project.
I’ve also had a mastodon PR stall, but I think they get so many, many with competing demands, and have so few staff, that it’s not really surprising that it’s a bit mess on that front…
I love and hate how Eugen starts this whole project, leads it into being something truly unique and wonderful that directly challenges some of the most evil and wealthy people on the planet, sets up institutional guardrails to make sure it will not be corrupted by any one individual gone mad with power, gives away his position after 10 years once he’s sure the organization is in good hands, and then concludes in reflection that he does not “have the right personality” for running a project like this.
I hope it has not been to hard for him, and that he’ll look back at it all as a positive experience in spite of the negative interactions. I don’t think any sane person has a personality that is “right” for the kind of abuse public figures receive on the internet. But from the perspective of Mastodon and the Fediverse, it seems pretty clear that he was exactly the right type of personality for the job—including by stepping down when the time felt right.
I get it and don’t hate it. If one of my projects took off like that and gained traction the absolute LAST thing I’d want to be is CEO of the whole damn thing. That’s just not who I am. I’d hope I’d be able to find and hand it off to someone more qualified for that position. So I totally get where Eugen is coming from as I would have done the exact same thing.
What I hate about it is that this unwillingness to be in a position of power is so correlated with actually being suited for it.
That first post is very good. I really appreciate the way he’s handled the first 10 years, and I hope he has fun doing whatever he does next.