Holler at me with an at-reply when you join Mastodon, so I know you're there and can follow you back!

Yes, it is a bit like a discussion board! The difference is that discussions aren't sorted together under subjects, as they'd be in any board ... they're in a feed like Twitter. But without the virality-sorting mechanics (which have all the negative side effects you've talked about) it has more of a discussion-board vibe to it ...