Mastodon looks like Twitter, functions like Twitter, apes Twitter's features such as using @username, and even calls its posts "Toots." You really can't honestly argue that Mastodon isn't trying to be Twitter.
just because hacker news has usernames, comments, and voting, that doesn’t mean it’s “trying to be reddit”
there are countless little things one can change that make it an entirely different experience even if some features are similar.
just like hackernews to reddit, the experience i’ve had on mastodon has been a noticeable improvement over twitter. yes, there are comments and voting in hackernews, but the experience is noticeably different—and better—than reddit.