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On the topic of Mastodon, I wonder if the reason it hasn't caught on so much (outside of this use case) is precisely because it's federated. When a new social

by SCdF 9y ago

On the topic of Mastodon, I wonder if the reason it hasn't caught on so much (outside of this use case) is precisely because it's federated. When a new social network comes along, I often sign up ASAP just to try to grab SCdF, because I'm a human and vane. I will usually give it a bit of a crack once I've done that, but the need to squat my username is a big (and I realise, stupid) driver for me. I've known about Mastodon for awhile now, but I don't feel any pressure to sign up and check it out because there is no danger of someone else taking my username. Worst case I could just host my own instance against my domain.

dredmorbius 9y ago
Social media have a tremendous number of factors contributing to success or failure. It's hard to pin it to single factors. Technology is almost never the initial driver, though it's also quite frequently a determining factor at scale. The most critical key factor is probably in achieving a coherent and compelling founding cohort. Both Usenet and Facebook effectively started at selective-admissions academic institutions -- Usenet at UNC and Duke, then spreading through the early Arpanet. Facebook, of course, at Harvard. Usenet failed for numerous reasons, including superior alternatives (largely blogs and mailing lists), but also because for various reasons (cultural and technical), hostng Usenet feeds was both not profitable and an increasing liability. Spam, warez, pr0n, and various other activities created risks, and there was no real option for advertising or other means of revenue generation. (Universities hosted Usenet as long as they did in part because it addressed an institutional need: communications and collaboration across distances. There was no effective alternative at the time.) Facebook has managed to do what Usenet couldn't, which is to survive, so far, the Eternal September. At 2.2 billion users, it's the largest single integrated social networking system ever. Something I note with appreciation despite pretty much despising the company and what it's doing. As to Mastodon: I'm on it, I'm asctive. It's faded a bit since April as initial interest is giving way, but it remains active. And GNU Social of course rocks on (and rags on the New Upstart to Get Off Its Lawn....)
- SCdF 9y ago
  > Technology is almost never the initial driver In this instance it's not technology exactly, it's more that the design of the social network means I don't have to feed my narcissism by signing up straight away. I in no way think that this is everyone's reason, I just thought it was an interesting perspective to share.
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    I see that as a feature. I'm not signed up to Twitter. I occasionally read it. Lately, when I do so, I get a full fucking screen interstitial popping up multiple times in a fucking session. I close the fucking tab. Care to see my Mastodon stuff? Feel free. https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius Fun hack: it's possible to create an in-Mastodon reference tree of your own, and any answering, toots: https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/34102 https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/34102
- kuschku 9y ago
  > Facebook has managed to do what Usenet couldn't, which is to survive, so far, the Eternal September. At 2.2 billion users, it's the largest single integrated social networking system ever. Something I note with appreciation despite pretty much despising the company and what it's doing. Actually, they didn’t. When parents of everyone signed up, Facebook started becoming uncool, and most younger people don’t use it anymore (which is why they bought Insta and WhatsApp). Facebook is currently running massive ad campaigns in Germany (like, every single billboard you see, every youtube ad you watch, every 5th TV ad is from Facebook) to get users back .
  - dredmorbius 9y ago
    I know that. Usenet was destroyed. It took a while, but it died. Facebook, though, survived. It has not in fact died. It has 2.2 billion users. MUAs, not just profiles. There was a time, yes, when Facebook was literally Harvard. And it is no longer literally Harvard. I've written about that. At Mastodon, as a Tootstorm, if you're interested: https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/1058991 https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/1058991
kstrauser 9y ago
> I wonder if the reason it hasn't caught on so much I wouldn't say it hasn't caught on. There are nearly 1,200 federated Mastodon servers and nearly 800,000 users (source: https://instances.social/list/old https://instances.social/list/old), and my timelines are constantly full of new content.

by SCdF 9y ago

dredmorbius 9y ago

Social media have a tremendous number of factors contributing to success or failure. It's hard to pin it to single factors. Technology is almost never the initial driver, though it's also quite frequently a determining factor at scale. The most critical key factor is probably in achieving a coherent and compelling founding cohort. Both Usenet and Facebook effectively started at selective-admissions academic institutions -- Usenet at UNC and Duke, then spreading through the early Arpanet. Facebook, of course, at Harvard. Usenet failed for numerous reasons, including superior alternatives (largely blogs and mailing lists), but also because for various reasons (cultural and technical), hostng Usenet feeds was both not profitable and an increasing liability. Spam, warez, pr0n, and various other activities created risks, and there was no real option for advertising or other means of revenue generation. (Universities hosted Usenet as long as they did in part because it addressed an institutional need: communications and collaboration across distances. There was no effective alternative at the time.) Facebook has managed to do what Usenet couldn't, which is to survive, so far, the Eternal September. At 2.2 billion users, it's the largest single integrated social networking system ever. Something I note with appreciation despite pretty much despising the company and what it's doing. As to Mastodon: I'm on it, I'm asctive. It's faded a bit since April as initial interest is giving way, but it remains active. And GNU Social of course rocks on (and rags on the New Upstart to Get Off Its Lawn....)

SCdF 9y ago
> Technology is almost never the initial driver In this instance it's not technology exactly, it's more that the design of the social network means I don't have to feed my narcissism by signing up straight away. I in no way think that this is everyone's reason, I just thought it was an interesting perspective to share.
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  I see that as a feature. I'm not signed up to Twitter. I occasionally read it. Lately, when I do so, I get a full fucking screen interstitial popping up multiple times in a fucking session. I close the fucking tab. Care to see my Mastodon stuff? Feel free. https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius Fun hack: it's possible to create an in-Mastodon reference tree of your own, and any answering, toots: https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/34102 https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/34102
kuschku 9y ago
> Facebook has managed to do what Usenet couldn't, which is to survive, so far, the Eternal September. At 2.2 billion users, it's the largest single integrated social networking system ever. Something I note with appreciation despite pretty much despising the company and what it's doing. Actually, they didn’t. When parents of everyone signed up, Facebook started becoming uncool, and most younger people don’t use it anymore (which is why they bought Insta and WhatsApp). Facebook is currently running massive ad campaigns in Germany (like, every single billboard you see, every youtube ad you watch, every 5th TV ad is from Facebook) to get users back .
- dredmorbius 9y ago
  I know that. Usenet was destroyed. It took a while, but it died. Facebook, though, survived. It has not in fact died. It has 2.2 billion users. MUAs, not just profiles. There was a time, yes, when Facebook was literally Harvard. And it is no longer literally Harvard. I've written about that. At Mastodon, as a Tootstorm, if you're interested: https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/1058991 https://mastodon.cloud/@dredmorbius/1058991

kstrauser 9y ago

> I wonder if the reason it hasn't caught on so much I wouldn't say it hasn't caught on. There are nearly 1,200 federated Mastodon servers and nearly 800,000 users (source: https://instances.social/list/old https://instances.social/list/old), and my timelines are constantly full of new content.