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An EXTREMELY Simple Guide to Mastodon (for when someone says it's too complicated to catch on)
(www.staygrounded.online)
this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2023
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The difficulty is not in using it, the difficulty is having people use it. Social network platforms matter jack shit when the ones you want to actually follow aren't on it.
It's a bit of a joke post because a lot of the coverage around Mastodon gets really into the weeds with Federation, ActivityPub, etc. and journalists often describe it as "too techie" for "normal" users.
Well, "normal" users don't care about the technical backend of Twitter or Facebook so it always felt a bit disingenuous to me it was presented this way. Hopefully my post can dispell some of the confusion!
People don’t care about the tech stack of Big Social, but they’re not talking just about ActivityPub. When they go to Facebook and Twitter they do not have to select an instance. They create an account and boom. It would be disingenuous to compare and state that Mastodon offers the exact same. That’s more what people means that it’s too techie.
It’s not just frictionless. Plus, due to the maturity and the fact that the communities people care about are already on those platforms the ends justify the means for users.
Has nothing to do with the actual backend and is 100% identity management. This entire thread is like a kde forum. A bunch of nerds with zero awareness why is not the year of Linux desktop again.
Bit of a self fulfilling prophecy there
Gotta get people on it in order to have people on it. Doesn't happen overnight. A handful of people I followed elsewhere have now moved to Mastodon, but it took some time for that to happen
Yep. "Slowly, then all at once".
Personally, I think once the journalists and news orgs (finally) get on board, that will inspire government agencies to make the change, and that will be the true tipping point away from 𝕏.
Journos don't lead, they follow. While ostensibly they're on Twitter to promote their articles, in practice they're there to follow politicians and keep an eye on trending hashtags.
Something buzzworthy needs to happen on the Fediverse first.
Aren't a few news organizations moving over already? I've seen a handful of local journalists shift too
People are too addicted to the parasocial relationship of celebrities and the like to just follow normal users.
Absolutely. And to be fair, "a chance at fame and attention" is the sales pitch from the commercial platforms. They don't want users having "meaningful conversation". There's a great essay/rant from Cat Valente called "Stop Talking to Each Other and Start Buying Things".