3d ago

I wish more would appreciate Mastodon

97 comments

I'll say it again and again and again:
The fediverse is hamstrung by the need to choose a specific server.
I remember trying to help people join Mastodon when Musk bought Twitter. Every question I heard was about picking a server.
What's a server?
Why do I have to pick a server?
How do I pick a server?
Then there were the more thoughtful questions.
What happens if the server I chose goes down?
What happens if someone chooses the same user name as mine on a different server?
Mastodon, Lemmy, etc. won't get mainstream traction until someone solves this simple hurdle.
- The first time someone told me about mbin/lemmy, I had that exact issue and just gave up on it for a few months. This is especially true as there doesn't really exist any account migration (nor, probably, can there be one without any kind of centralized auth server or the like). I finally did move over, but two of the instances I used just shut down, one with basically no warning.
- And they don't even say server but "instance". Like need special words to keep the unwashed out.
- @DemBoSain @Sunshine
  I think that a part of the "server hurdle" can be solved - at least for brand new users - by initiatives like the Vivaldi Social network.
  New to Vivaldi? Nice - welcome. Would you like to join Mastodon? Register here. Boom.
  If people have heard about Mastodon and are curious about it, this is the easy way to get them hooked. No talk about servers or instances - you register and you are off to the races.
  How this all plays into the decentralized nature of the Fediverse and who is going to fund those servers is a different question - but it is definitely the easiest gateway for new users (as you can see, I was one of them).
- I keep hammering home: instance doesn't matter when you start. It's more important for you to join. Once you join, you'll figure out the instance and then you can switch.
  
  Can you though? You'll lose all your data, your posts, your liles, your comments, your curated list of communities and usually also your Username. People don't like giving up their entire existence just because they made a wrong choice in the beginning.
  
  This is the position of migrating social medias in the first place though.
  
  Which is why it's such a hurdle for those that get attached. They don't want to go through that again with no notice.
- @DemBoSain @Sunshine you're like my dog on walkies.
  What's a tree?
  Why do I have to pick a tree?
  How do I pick a tree?
  What happens if the tree I pick suddenly moves?
  What happens if there's already another dog at that tree?
  Jokes aside — as long as people desperately try to see problems where there in fact aren't any, people will have problems.
  And no, explaining the fediverse to newcomers isn't a problem. Never was, unless people wanted it to be, so they have an excuse to join bluesky.
  
  First of all, please read my comment again. These aren't my comments, these are questions from other people. I have a Mastodon account. I've had one since Musk bought Twitter, and the one I have now isn't my original. Because I moved servers and didn't have a problem doing that.
  Second, grow up. You're ridiculing people who have used Facebook since it opened up to non-students. And some of these are valid concerns. For some people they're deal-breakers, and they should be addressed of we want the fediverse to grow.
  
  @DemBoSain so the restaurant industry is hamstrung by people having to choose a certain restaurant if they what to go out eating. Do you sometimes read that stuff that you're posting?
  People managed to choose phone or computer to buy. Then they managed to choose an internet provider. Both are way, waaaay more difficult and complicated than choosing a fediverse server.
  People would manage to choose one as well. They decide to choose evil companies like bluesky voluntarily. Very much so.
  
  Holy shit. These are REAL WORLD EXAMPLES. goodbye.

97 comments