Mastodon rolled out a new email newsletter feature that lets creators send posts directly to subscriber inboxes, even to people without Mastodon accounts. This expands Mastodon's appeal beyond its existing user base by making it easier for writers to reach readers through a familiar channel — email — which could help the open-source platform compete with centralized alternatives like Substack. The timing comes as Mastodon and other decentralized platforms push back against the dominance of corporate social networks.