fosstodon.org is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Fosstodon is an invite only Mastodon instance that is open to those who are interested in technology; particularly free & open source software.
If you wish to join, contact us for an invite.
Yes, that thought is very much the death-knell, it seems. My sister made a point to learn a new skill each year of her 50s, and I think I will follow suit.