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My primary reason for having a Mastodon account is so that when I write my next blog, I can syndicate posts out to it.
The 500 character limit is a nice improvement on Twitter's 140. I don't think the technical stuff that Mastodon/GNU Social uses is necessary. Strangely, I don't think federation is important either. But whatever.
Read more: https://indieweb.org/
Server run by the main developers of the project 
It is not focused on any particular niche interest - everyone is welcome as long as you follow our code of conduct!
@tommorris Somewhat agree. I'm still not seeing the big win on federation either (I'd love to federate if it would help in a tangible way).