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This is true, and I also think the 'lack of an algorithm' keeps many people away. While many of us don't want to be force fed a list of 'for you' messages, a lot of people are hoping to get traction for viral tweets and build an audience of people who will get/read/respond to their posts, and that engagement doesn't exist on Mastodon in the same way.
That is a great point that I personally have never heard. A lot of these people want to be influencers. They want to be paid to have a following and post stuff. Thats not possible here, at least not in the same way.
That's one thing that I have noticed and appreciated about both Fediverse and Mastodon: they're boring.
And I mean this in the most positive way. Commercialized social media has zeroed in on the 'ol dopamine pump to move content around. This place is full of interesting articles, discussions, and even shitposts, but it all lacks the sheer eyeball-grabbing, visceral pleasure provoking, potential of the bad stuff. It's like going on a diet or kicking a bad habit. Instead of doom-scrolling or looking at piles of cat memes all day, you just kind of get "full" and go do something more productive with your time. It's fantastic.
But that's also at odds with "viral" content. It seems that, for now at least, thought provoking, genuinely interesting, and well produced content gets the most traction. Call me regressive, but I see this as a feature and it's no wonder that folks will keep away because of it.