• OpenStars
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    4
    ·
    5 months ago

    Thank you for the explanation!:-)

    But can someone follow you from a different Mastodon instance than the one you are currently on? Or was that something that changed in the last year? Maybe I misunderstood or it wasn’t explained to me well, but I definitely get that people don’t want to switch instances bc they will lose all their old followers, but is that the main impediment to people using Mastodon - they just don’t want to switch to using it? If so, it’s enough, bc as we have seen, these large entities like Twitter are a lot more fragile than people used to believe.

    • originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      ·
      5 months ago

      mastodon is a federating micrblog platform… so anyone on any other instance of any kind that also speaks AP/microblog can interoperate. instance is just an address.

      the main thing keeping people from leaving twitter are their own egos. as you point out, ‘ive got x followers! ill have none in the fediverse!’

      • OpenStars
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        5 months ago

        Hehe, I’ve switched between at least three different Fediverse accounts since leaving Reddit, but okay sure if that’s how they want to interact with the world…

        Tbf it does point to the more fundamental differences between the platforms, with like anonymous shitposting on the Fediverse (which is like 90% Star Trek and Linux memes:-P) vs. tech or other topical blogging on Mastodon where their actual irl names mean something (e.g. I would be inclined to read something from Robert Reich, but Alex Jones not so much).

        And the funny part is that, according to that article I linked in another comment in this thread, their followers are already leaving, now that Twitter has morphed into X (just like advertisers, hey-oh!). They aren’t even necessary going elsewhere, so much as simply leaving, and waiting for something to solidify.

        So, much like all the people on Reddit that self-report now as being shocked - shocked I tell you, shooketh! ⚡ - that the platform is feeding them crap that they don’t want to see (but which the algorithm demands that they view - all hail The Algorithm, forever may it reign 😭), the time to be bold and jump somewhere else was when Musk took over and people could have made a coordinated exit strategy. Or maybe if enough people got (ahem 💵 “involved” 💰 i.e. 🤑 enough to affect the market) they could even have ousted him as CEO entirely and saved Twitter to be bought by someone else. Anyway, the second best time is now, before their followers never log back in to that advertisement-infested cesspool of human garbage again, in order to see their messages about where they have decided to jump ship too.

        Like fascist governments all around the globe, WE the people gave these demons the power that they hold over us.

        • Rufus Q. Bodine III@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          5 months ago

          I love Lemmy. But the thing I miss most about Reddit is being able to connect with ppl who have deep obscure knowledge about specific things. That will come as Lemmy grows.

          • OpenStars
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            5 months ago

            Definitely it will but I don’t expect it to happen soon. Social media has turned fairly toxic, and now that people have been saturated with those bad experiences, many people have simply moved on. Some to offline, some to far more obscure rather than centralized spaces, some even are dead of COVID, or lost or are stressed about keeping their jobs in Big Tech, etc. A new generation will rise up to replace them and those likely will use a federated source, or they may turn away from “social media” altogether and use more like wiki writing or even micro-blogging.

            What people choose to not understand is that while they are free to do whatever they wish, so too are other people - e.g. a community mod removing their post, an instance admin banning them altogether, or even simply someone else leaving the room when all the kids shout and make too much noise.

            Lemmy requires heavy and constant curation, and a thick skin during that never-ending process, to be usable. Not everyone is willing to do that, especially people who are perfectly happy to entertain themselves in other pursuits. Thus the most capable people are the least likely to put up with our crap.

            Hopefully I’m wrong, or at least just wrong enough that that aspect of the Fediverse still grows despite that counter trend.

            Lastly, there is hope for improvements on the technology side - e.g. if you could see someone who is consistently downvoting you even for solid quality stuff, that’s someone you can block to reduce that negative “noise” feedback, except right now the voting is essentially anonymous since there is no way off a non-instance admin to view it (outside of K/Mbin, I mean like even on those platforms iirc I’ve tested and you can only view those originating from another K/Mbin instance, at the time, again iirc). When things become more equitable in that regard, it should entice more people to remain.