Migrating to a New User on Mastodon
Over the past year I have become a bigger proponent for platform like Mastodon. With such adoption, some things are not always as clear as you might expect them to be.
In this instance I wanted to change from one user to another. Example:
user1@noc.social to user2@noc.social
It is possible, but not as seamless as you might have come to expect from other experiences.
To this type of migration, you must do the following:
1. Create the new use account (e.g., user2@noc.social)
- Navigate to Preferences > Account;
- Scroll until you see Moving from a different Account;
- Create an account alias, in this instance you’re using your old account (e.g., user1@noc.social);
2. Log into existing account (e.g., user1@noc.social
- Navigate to Preferences > Account;
- Scroll until you see Move to a Different Account;
- Add the new handle you will use (e.g., user2@noc.social);
- Enter the password for the existing account (e.g., user2noc.social);
That’s it, your followers will be moved from user1@ -> user2@ and when a user goes to user1@ they will be redirect to your new user.
This is especially cool if you have been dying to get your name, but found it hard before on other platforms.
Things to Note:
Although it says it redirects a user, the experience is a bit wonky. It adds a banner saying the user moved instead of redirecting.
While it ports your followers, it doesn’t port who you are following. You will have to find people again and companies again.
Recommend doing this early on, but not doing it once you have set up a base.
I use noc.social for my Mastodon account. You too can create an account if you want to see what it’s about, it’s free. And you can find me at @tony@noc.social