7 ms·

We have tons of decentralized platforms. The amount is not the problem. The problem is the user experience. For users who don’t care about anything behind the s

We have tons of decentralized platforms. The amount is not the problem. The problem is the user experience. For users who don’t care about anything behind the scenes and only cares about the experience, why would they go out of their way to figure out Mastodon when Facebook has a one-step signup process? The reason central platforms win is because they have to be dead simple to use in order to attract any users. Decentralized platforms get their initial users because of how cool the technology is, but those people (people like me and you) aren’t UX experts and don’t prioritize UX. It has to be easier than the central platform, and the central platform has the benefit of millions/billions of dollars to throw at it. Which means the decentralized platforms have to work even harder to overcome that. It’s not impossible, but it does require engineers to overcome their desire to build cool things and instead focusing on building a user experience that’s better than what Facebook/Twitter/etc can provide.

zozbot234 6y ago
Joining a Mastodon server is just as simple as signing up to Facebook. The difference is that no single Mastodon instance has centralized control over their users; you always get the option of signing up elsewhere, or using your own instance.
- freehunter 6y ago
  It’s the “signing up elsewhere or using your own instance” that’s the problem. You’re joining a Mastodon server and if you want to go to another server you have to actually move things. It takes actual effort. It seems like the Mastodon developers look at email and think “if it works for email it’ll work here” and don’t understand that people deal with email because they have to, not because they want to. I don’t want to have to change my email address when I switch providers and I don’t want to have to move all my stuff if my favorite Mastodon server decides to shut down. That’s not a solution that’s just another problem. It’s bad user experience.
  - zozbot234 6y ago
    > and if you want to go to another server you have to actually move things. It takes actual effort. Not sure how that's worse than something like Facebook, where you literally don't get that option. If you want your asserted identity to be reasonably secure and easy to assess for other users, you have to find a trusted host or do your own hosting; that's no different from any other service.
    - freehunter 6y ago
      This is what I’m talking about with developers not understanding users. I even said “users don’t care what’s behind the scenes”. Any normal user who is looking to leave Facebook wants Facebook The Product but not Facebook The Company. They don’t care about hosting or asserting identity. They don’t want options, they want a product.
      - mrmonkeyman 6y ago
        Yes, we heard you. But how is leaving Facebook easy? How is it easier than switching Mastodon instances?
  - allarm 6y ago
    People use email because it’s the best communication system existing. If someone doesn’t want to change his address he creates his own self-hosted mail server. Or just use his own domain name when using email service with thord party email providers. Email system is amazing, the issues with ux are in fact minimal, almost non-existent.
    - wombatpm 6y ago
      Ok so make mastodon as easy as gmail. I can use Gmail.com or my own domain. Let me have same flexibility with my internet identity. I wish the USPS had gotten into the official Internet identity game. One place to receive legal emails, store my private keys, public keys etc. protected by law.
    - 6y ago
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago
  This is what I would have thought, but I've heard from more than one friend who was frustrated by having to choose an instance in the first place. What makes one better or worse than another? What if I choose wrong? What if I need to move? This isn't difficult, per se, but it's not as easy as signing up for Twitter for the simple dumb reason that you don't need to make that choice. And the concerns about "wrong choices" aren't entirely unfounded; the first Mastodon instance I signed up for was effectively abandoned by its sysadmin. The decentralization still makes it hard to search for new users to follow compared to Twitter (checking right this moment, when I click on someone I follow to see who they follow, it only shows me people they follow on the same instance); depending on the Mastodon client I'm using, it can actually be a little hard to follow someone even when I find them if they're not on the same instance I am. Again, technically none of this is super difficult, but for a user who isn't philosophically committed to the fediverse, tiny little frustrations start to add up quickly.
  - cycloptic 6y ago
    >What makes one better or worse than another? Most public mastodon instances usually have an about page that describes what their intended audience is. You can also look through the public timeline to see what users are saying first before signing up. If you aren't sure, pick a larger general instance. Despite all that, in my opinion you'll probably get more mileage out of joining an instance run by someone you know and trust. >What if I choose wrong? What if I need to move? On newer versions of mastodon there is already a migration option to import/export your data between servers. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/06/how-to-migrate-from-one-server-to-another/ https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/06/how-to-migrate-from-on... Regarding your second paragraph: If you'd like to fix bugs in your chosen mastodon client, I'm sure that would be welcomed.
    - thayne 6y ago
      > you'll probably get more mileage out of joining an instance run by someone you know and trust. What if you don't know or trust anyone that runs a Mastodon instance? And don't have the time/means/expertise/motivation to run one yourself?

zozbot234 6y ago

Joining a Mastodon server is just as simple as signing up to Facebook. The difference is that no single Mastodon instance has centralized control over their users; you always get the option of signing up elsewhere, or using your own instance.

freehunter 6y ago
It’s the “signing up elsewhere or using your own instance” that’s the problem. You’re joining a Mastodon server and if you want to go to another server you have to actually move things. It takes actual effort. It seems like the Mastodon developers look at email and think “if it works for email it’ll work here” and don’t understand that people deal with email because they have to, not because they want to. I don’t want to have to change my email address when I switch providers and I don’t want to have to move all my stuff if my favorite Mastodon server decides to shut down. That’s not a solution that’s just another problem. It’s bad user experience.
- zozbot234 6y ago
  > and if you want to go to another server you have to actually move things. It takes actual effort. Not sure how that's worse than something like Facebook, where you literally don't get that option. If you want your asserted identity to be reasonably secure and easy to assess for other users, you have to find a trusted host or do your own hosting; that's no different from any other service.
  - freehunter 6y ago
    This is what I’m talking about with developers not understanding users. I even said “users don’t care what’s behind the scenes”. Any normal user who is looking to leave Facebook wants Facebook The Product but not Facebook The Company. They don’t care about hosting or asserting identity. They don’t want options, they want a product.
    - mrmonkeyman 6y ago
      Yes, we heard you. But how is leaving Facebook easy? How is it easier than switching Mastodon instances?
- allarm 6y ago
  People use email because it’s the best communication system existing. If someone doesn’t want to change his address he creates his own self-hosted mail server. Or just use his own domain name when using email service with thord party email providers. Email system is amazing, the issues with ux are in fact minimal, almost non-existent.
  - wombatpm 6y ago
    Ok so make mastodon as easy as gmail. I can use Gmail.com or my own domain. Let me have same flexibility with my internet identity. I wish the USPS had gotten into the official Internet identity game. One place to receive legal emails, store my private keys, public keys etc. protected by law.
  - 6y ago
chipotle_coyote 6y ago
This is what I would have thought, but I've heard from more than one friend who was frustrated by having to choose an instance in the first place. What makes one better or worse than another? What if I choose wrong? What if I need to move? This isn't difficult, per se, but it's not as easy as signing up for Twitter for the simple dumb reason that you don't need to make that choice. And the concerns about "wrong choices" aren't entirely unfounded; the first Mastodon instance I signed up for was effectively abandoned by its sysadmin. The decentralization still makes it hard to search for new users to follow compared to Twitter (checking right this moment, when I click on someone I follow to see who they follow, it only shows me people they follow on the same instance); depending on the Mastodon client I'm using, it can actually be a little hard to follow someone even when I find them if they're not on the same instance I am. Again, technically none of this is super difficult, but for a user who isn't philosophically committed to the fediverse, tiny little frustrations start to add up quickly.
- cycloptic 6y ago
  >What makes one better or worse than another? Most public mastodon instances usually have an about page that describes what their intended audience is. You can also look through the public timeline to see what users are saying first before signing up. If you aren't sure, pick a larger general instance. Despite all that, in my opinion you'll probably get more mileage out of joining an instance run by someone you know and trust. >What if I choose wrong? What if I need to move? On newer versions of mastodon there is already a migration option to import/export your data between servers. https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/06/how-to-migrate-from-one-server-to-another/ https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2019/06/how-to-migrate-from-on... Regarding your second paragraph: If you'd like to fix bugs in your chosen mastodon client, I'm sure that would be welcomed.
  - thayne 6y ago
    > you'll probably get more mileage out of joining an instance run by someone you know and trust. What if you don't know or trust anyone that runs a Mastodon instance? And don't have the time/means/expertise/motivation to run one yourself?