5 months ago
Mastodon doesn't require you to pick an instance, but Bluesky and Threads are easier to use by not having instances to pick; CW: long (almost 2,000 characters), Fediverse meta, Bluesky, Meta Platforms, Threads
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5 months ago
It certainly makes it easier to choose if you don't have much of a choice.
But on the flip side, people still use email even though there are multiple options available. Sure, most people flock to the giants, like Outlook or Gmail, but a huge percentage of them do not. Most web hosting accounts come with free email on your own domain, for example. That is why a lot of companies and organizations have email addresses on their own domain names.
It may be easier for people to sign up with one instance, but it is not a show stopper for decentralized social media.
But on the flip side, people still use email even though there are multiple options available. Sure, most people flock to the giants, like Outlook or Gmail, but a huge percentage of them do not. Most web hosting accounts come with free email on your own domain, for example. That is why a lot of companies and organizations have email addresses on their own domain names.
It may be easier for people to sign up with one instance, but it is not a show stopper for decentralized social media.
@Scott M. Stolz
You've said it. The majority of online people think e-mail is an exclusive Google or Microsoft product.
Sure, most people flock to the giants, like Outlook or Gmail, but a huge percentage of them do not.
You've said it. The majority of online people think e-mail is an exclusive Google or Microsoft product.
@Jupiter Rowland I am not sure about that. Anyone with a professional job or business knows that it isn't just the giants, since their company usually has its own email domain. And many universities give their students an email address on the university's servers. Plus the fact that you wind up emailing people on different domains is a dead giveaway that not everyone is on Gmail.
4 months ago
re: Mastodon doesn't require you to pick an instance, but Bluesky and Threads are easier to use by not having instances to pick; CW: long (almost 2,000 characters), Fediverse meta, Bluesky, Meta Platforms, Threads
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@Kye Fox Still, it's even worse than StatusNet back then. StatusNet was so being reduced to Identi.ca that more third-party clients were hard-coded to Identi.ca than not, either because it wasn't worth adding the extra UI controls for only 10% of all StatusNet users or because the developers themselves didn't know that Identi.ca is one out of many Statusnet instances and not not a centralised monolithic silo.
4 months ago
Mastodon doesn't require you to pick an instance, but Bluesky and Threads are easier to use by not having instances to pick; CW: long (almost 2,000 characters), Fediverse meta, Bluesky, Meta Platforms, Threads
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@Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic That is why I plan on taking a dual approach to the fediverse.
Strategy 1: Promote decentralization & federation, and educate people on the benefits of it. And make it easier for people to run their own fediverse server, if they want.
Strategy 2: Create branded communities and encourage them to join for the content, the apps, and the community. They find out about federation as they participate when they realize that not everyone is on the same server. It's like if they sign up for Gmail and discover that they can email people on other domains.
Strategy 1 is great for free thinkers and people who are concerned about their privacy and agency. Strategy 2 is a way to get mainstream people onto federated platforms.
Strategy 1: Promote decentralization & federation, and educate people on the benefits of it. And make it easier for people to run their own fediverse server, if they want.
Strategy 2: Create branded communities and encourage them to join for the content, the apps, and the community. They find out about federation as they participate when they realize that not everyone is on the same server. It's like if they sign up for Gmail and discover that they can email people on other domains.
Strategy 1 is great for free thinkers and people who are concerned about their privacy and agency. Strategy 2 is a way to get mainstream people onto federated platforms.
@Dr. Daniel Dizdarevic
It's actually hard to find accounts at all. You have to go search for them yourself.
That's because, at the end of the day, Mastodon is what ๐ is, too: a microblogging platform. And not a social network.
A social network would suggest contacts to you, based on your existing contacts, your profile and their profiles. Facebook does that, and so do the primary Facebook alternatives in the Fediverse. Mastodon doesn't because ๐ doesn't. Because they're soapboxes, they're all about pumping out content and not about connecting and interacting.
If you think Mastodon is unspeakably awesome as a social network, spend one year on Friendica and think again.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Mastodon #Facebook #Friendica #SocialNetwork #SocialNetworks
Otherwise it's hard to find accounts to follow outside your instance, which worsens the experience.
It's actually hard to find accounts at all. You have to go search for them yourself.
That's because, at the end of the day, Mastodon is what ๐ is, too: a microblogging platform. And not a social network.
A social network would suggest contacts to you, based on your existing contacts, your profile and their profiles. Facebook does that, and so do the primary Facebook alternatives in the Fediverse. Mastodon doesn't because ๐ doesn't. Because they're soapboxes, they're all about pumping out content and not about connecting and interacting.
If you think Mastodon is unspeakably awesome as a social network, spend one year on Friendica and think again.
#Long #LongPost #CWLong #CWLongPost #FediMeta #FediverseMeta #CWFediMeta #CWFediverseMeta #Mastodon #Facebook #Friendica #SocialNetwork #SocialNetworks
@Jupiter Rowland
Well, that is the nature of platforms modelled after pre-X Twitter. They have always been soapboxes.
I think the real future of the fediverse is communities, discussion groups, and forums. A place where people belong and interact as a group with similar interests.
Because they're soapboxes, they're all about pumping out content and not about connecting and interacting.
Well, that is the nature of platforms modelled after pre-X Twitter. They have always been soapboxes.
I think the real future of the fediverse is communities, discussion groups, and forums. A place where people belong and interact as a group with similar interests.
@Scott M. Stolz
Always has been.
I think the real future of the fediverse is communities, discussion groups, and forums. A place where people belong and interact as a group with similar interests.
Always has been.
@jupiter_rowland It's hard, but not impossible. You may have to do the legwork, and it takes time. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. I'm glad we don't have smart algorithms, because they make it all the more convenient for you to build your own filter bubble. To be fair, instances do this too, but it's mainly a concern with small ones.
But you're right, of course, Mastodon is all about content, discussions are secondary. Thus, I'm glad there are different projects for different purposes.
But you're right, of course, Mastodon is all about content, discussions are secondary. Thus, I'm glad there are different projects for different purposes.
@Jupiter Rowland
True. But there is a difference between a broadcast style platform like Mastodon, and a forum or discussion group you join.
I think we are going to go back to the days of forums, except this time the forums will be federated and you don't need to create a new account on every forum.
Always has been.
True. But there is a difference between a broadcast style platform like Mastodon, and a forum or discussion group you join.
I think we are going to go back to the days of forums, except this time the forums will be federated and you don't need to create a new account on every forum.