Mastodon? Do you mean Fediverse / Activitypub?

No one should call IRC "mirc", email "outlook", or the web "chrome", come on bro.

It is routinely called Mastodon. Your response is a fantastic example of why nerd communities suck.

Nerd communities, you mean reddit?

Mastodon is like the Internet Explorer of Activitypub software. It's what a lot of people think is fediverse. But developers and power users prefer Firefox and have many valid reasons to dislike Internet Explorer.

Nobody should call hook-and-loop fastener 'velcro' either, but good luck changing people's habits.

Discord is just fancy IRC

No, it's much more than that. Matrix is fancy IRC.

Whenever someone says this I can only presume they've never used at least one of the two. Or think that IRC invented the concept of text messaging

Zoom is just fancy telegraphy

sorry my sarcasm didn't make it through the computer screen

Sarcasm is usually conveyed through any of tone of voice, facial expression, or gesticulation; none of which transmit through the written word. Standard operating procedure is to add something like /s.

I have chosen to interpret your response as sarcasm