Register And Login

Register and login

Mastodon works differently from traditional social media platforms. You create one account on one server, but from there you can interact with users across the global Mastodon network.

This guide explains how to register and log in to the Mastodon server operated by SURF: social.edu.nl.

[!IMPORTANT] You must be affiliated with a SURF-connected institution to access the Mastodon environment at social.edu.nl.

1. Register a personal account (one-time)

Prerequisites

  • You are affiliated with a SURF-connected education or research institution.
  • Your institution participates in the Mastodon pilot.

Steps

  1. Open social.edu.nl in a web browser and click Login.
  2. Choose SURFconext.
  3. Select your institution.
  4. Log in using your institutional account.
  5. You will see (once only) which data your institution shares for access.
  6. Click the wide blue button at the bottom of the page to give consent.
  7. Choose your Mastodon username.
@username@social.edu.nl

[!WARNING] Your username cannot be changed later.

  1. Click Continue.

2. Log in to your personal account

  1. Go to social.edu.nl and click Login.
  2. Select SURFconext.
  3. Choose your institution.
  4. Log in.

[!TIP] In mobile apps, always select social.edu.nl as your home server.

3. Request a group account (one-time)

Group accounts allow multiple people to post on behalf of one account.

Request procedure

  1. Email mastodon@surf.nl
  2. Provide the desired account name (letters, numbers, underscores, max 30 chars).
  3. Also provide a group email address, not your personal (institutional) email address.
  4. SURF creates the account and assigns access via SURFconext Invite.

4. Log in to a group account

  1. Log in via SURFconext.
  2. Select the group account you are a member of.

You are now logged in as the group account.