It's lovely that the furry elephant network continues to receive good press and and is experiencing an influx of new users. I'm also glad the alternative network that is finally succeeding isn't named something like "quitter", because defining oneself by something one is against isn't a great idea and quitting doesn't sound like a good beginning. That said, "mastodon" reminds me of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures, which isn't so positive either.

Naming of social networks has always been a hit and miss affair, but popularity doesn't seem to depend on choosing a good name or even good technology. Google+ is much better than Facebook but didn't go anywhere. Jaiku was better than Twitter at the time it was purchased by Google, and there were one or two that I personally liked, such as Twine, which never really took off.